Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II

574 Pages·2009·3.51 MB·English

by  Douglas A. Blackmon

Praise for Douglas A. Blackmon's
S L A V E R Y
BY ANOTHER NAME
"Vividly and engagingly recalls the horror and sheer magnitude
of…neo- slavery and reminds us how long after emancipation
such practices per sisted…. Provides insights on how we might
regard the legacy of slavery, reparations, and perhaps even our
justice and correctional system, with echoes for our own time."
—The Boston Globe
"A terri(cid:48)c journalist and gifted writer, Blackmon is fearless in
going wher ever the research leads him."
—Atlanta Magazine
"Personalizing the larger story through individual experiences,
Blackmon's book opens the eyes and wrenches the gut."
—Rocky Mountain News
"For those who think the conversation about race or exploitation
in Amer ica is over, they should read Douglas Blackmon's
cautionary tale, Slavery by Another Name. It is at once
provocative and thought-provoking, sobering and heartrending."
—-Jay Winik, author of The Great Upheaval:
America and the Birth of the Modern World, 1788-1800
"A powerful and eye-opening account of a crucial but
unremembered chapter of American history. Blackmon's
magni(cid:48)cent research paints a devastating picture of the ugly and
outrageous practices that kept tens of thousands of Black
Americans enslaved until the onset of World War II. Slavery by
Another Name is a passionate, highly impressive and hugely
important book."
—David J. Garrow, author of
Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King Jr.
and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
"Wall Street Journal Bureau Chief Blackmon gives a
groundbreaking and dis turbing account of a sordid chapter in
American history—the lease (essen tially the sale) of convicts to
‘commercial interests’ between the end of the nineteenth century
and well into the twentieth."
—Publishers Weekly
DOUGLAS A. BLACKMON
S L A V E R Y
BY ANOTHER NAME
Douglas A. Blackmon is the Atlanta Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal. He
has written extensively on race, the economy, and American society. Reared in
the Mississippi Delta, he lives in downtown Atlanta with his wife and children.
www.slaverybyanothername.com

To Michelle, Michael,
and Colette
Slavery:…that slow Poison, which is daily contaminating the
Minds & Morals of our People. Every Gentlemen here is born a petty
Tyrant. Practiced in Acts of Despotism & Cruelty, we become callous to
the Dictates of Humanity, & all the finer feelings of the Soul. Taught
to regard a part of our own Species in the most abject & contemptible
Degree below us, we lose that Idea of the dignity of Man which the
Hand of Nature had implanted in us, for great & useful purposes.
GEORGE MASON, JULY 1773
VIRGINIA CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION