In 2024, California voters could have ended slavery with Proposition 6. Unfortunately, they chose not to. Incarcerated journalist Steve Brooks offered an underestimated reason why.
Brooks realized that many believed the ballot measure meant ending all prison labor, not explicitly forced prison labor. Many also lacked context. Prison jobs pay starvation wages. Many don’t instill much-needed skills for employment post-release. And since prisons prioritize labor exploitation, incarcerated people have little time for rehabilitative drug treatment, education, and mental health resources.
But there’s more. Californians also voted for Proposition 36, increasing punishment for drug and property “crimes.” Legislation and mainstream media have already regressed into “tough-on-crime” propaganda. And both propositions expose the cultural influence of prisons -- and capitalism.
Though some working-class voters bristled at Proposition 6 seemingly letting incarcerated people “get out of work,” that’s misplaced frustration. It’s capitalism that wrongfully exploits and strips the autonomy of all workers. Slavery isn’t more acceptable for incarcerated people. Our enslaved ancestors were called “lazy” for escaping plantations and resisting forced labor, too.
Dividing exploited incarcerated from non-incarcerated people to justify forced prison labor is the same logic that justified pre-13th Amendment slavery. Black people are subjugated and scapegoated either way. Proposition 6 was a missed opportunity for reparations and unity between the incarcerated and non-incarcerated working class. But that doesn’t mean it was the last.