• grue@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Yep, in combination with “vagrancy” laws.

    Here’s how the scheme worked:

    1. Refuse to hire blacks for anything more than “might as well still be slavery” wages.

    2. Arrest unemployed blacks for “vagrancy.”

    3. Re-enslave them (see “except as punishment for crime” clause of the 14th Amendment) and disenfranchise them as a bonus.

    Edit: BTW, I highly recommend this video, which is where I learned about this (because it sure as Hell wasn’t properly taught in my Georgia high school).