Californians launch campaign to end slavery for good ahead of November elections
Sacramento, California - Advocates in California gathered outside the State Capitol in Sacramento on Tuesday in support of a ballot measure to end slavery in all its forms.
The newly launched Yes on Prop 6 campaign is urging Californians to vote in favor of a measure to remove language from the state constitution allowing involuntary servitude in cases of criminal punishment – a phenomenon many advocates and targeted communities have described as a direct continuation of chattel enslavement.
"We have to eliminate all vestiges of slavery everywhere and this November, we have the opportunity to do so here in California," Stanley Thermidor, policy and advocacy strategist for A New Way of Life, said in a press release.
"With Prop 6, rather than being forced into labor and slavery, incarcerated people will have access to rehabilitative programming and education so they can return home as constructive community members."
The ballot measure to close the slavery loophole was one of the 14 priority bills included in the California Legislative Black Caucus' initial reparations package, developed following the release of the California Reparations Task Force's final report.
The proposal will go before voters on November 5 after passing out of the State Senate in June.
Prop 6 aims to shift focus toward rehabilitation
If Prop 6 succeeds, advocates say the refocus on rehabilitation will go a long way toward protecting the nearly 40,000 people employed in the state's prison system from gross exploitation.
"Prison slave labor forces incarcerated individuals to work in dead-end jobs when they could be learning skills and accessing rehabilitative programming that helps ensure they have the skills needed to succeed on the outside," said Chasety Reynolds, a formerly incarcerated woman and a fellow for All of Us or None.
According to Yes on Prop 6, the California Prison Industry Authority generates around $180 million from unpaid or severely underpaid labor in carceral facilities.
Cover photo: Courtesy of Yes on Prop 6