Plantation owners and slaveholders used the legal system to enact a second set of laws specifically intended to make freed black Americans subject to white rule and operated workplaces, schools and public spaces with separate rules.

The American prison system even has a carve out in the 13th amendment that allows the operation of a majority black prison in the south as a plantation where prisoners aren’t paid for their labor. To this day. There is an actual factual black slave plantation right now.

[–] OwenEverbinde@lemmy.myserv.one 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Yes. And it's horrible! And we should have done more!

We should -- like I said -- have stripped property from the slaveowners. They surrendered unconditionally! The North could have done with them as it liked.

It should have confiscated the property of everyone who profited from slavery prior to the war, and given that property to the slaves. And yes, the North should have killed as many people (be they slaveowners or bootlickers) as was necessary to carry out that transfer of property.

Station troops on the plantations. Shoot everyone who shows up with torches to burn them down and deprive former slaves of their newfound wealth.

But what I'm trying to say is: no more than that number. No more killing than is absolutely necessary to achieve that goal.

We should be imagining Jeff Bezos in prison, not dead. You don't want to make allies out of the people who want him dead. Those people are not good friends.

[–] bloodfart@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

How do you think Jim Crow was established? With violence.

It was not simply due to congressional reconstruction that programmatic land reform wasn’t attempted in the south. People were actively pursuing campaigns of violence during reconstruction.

There was no alternative to violent resistance.

There is no alternative to violent resistance.