Slavery was common in the United States during the 19th century, but people eventually came to their senses and realized something was wrong. Thanks to President Lincoln, slavery was legally abolished. Or so we thought.Today, the United States STILL has forms of slavery, but, not as severe as the 1800's. Latinos come to America looking for work to have a better life, but, big corporations and businesses take advantage of them, paying them below minimum wage for long, strenuous hours. In some states, workers are brought into the U.S. and FORCED(!!) to work.
All around the world, there are still forms of actual slavery. In many countries humans are sold into forced labor; they are forced to work for their "employers", which is just a nice way of saying 'master'. These slaves are forced to work long, tiring hours for no pay; and on top of that, many are frequently abused and threatened either mentally or physically. Many of these slaves are also children, obtained through trafficking, bought from traders, and bought even from the child's own family.
One of the examples I know most about comes from India. About a year ago, I read the book Sold. It was about a young girl who was went to go work in the city so she could send money back to her family. But, what she did not know was that the man that set it up was really selling her into a brothel, where she was forced to be a prostitute. This may not be a exact true story (names, dates, etc.), but it is based on what does happen to these kids in India.
Its unfair, unjust, and inhumane. Slavery is just WRONG. There is things we can do to help, though; organizations like Anti-Slavery, and Amnesty International work to protect human rights and abolish slavery once and for all. Working together as a race may be just what we need to finally create everyone equal.
(pic from: iwka.wordpress.com)
Wow Anna I learned a lot from your blog. I did my blog wrong that is but was very interesting. I liked how you used a book you read as an example of slavery. I should read that book ;)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you All THE WAY Anna! Slavery should have been abolished long ago. It just shouldn't be around today.
ReplyDeleteyes, you're right. but it seems that people have been working SO hard to abolish slavery, and when they "did," it just came back. it's sad that it still exists, even though it's in many different forms
ReplyDeleteI remember talking to my mom about that book a while back. We had a long discussion about how it was just so wrong that these sorts of things happen to people, but the scary truth is that it happens every day, maybe even to someone you know. It's helpful to see that people are actually aware and want to help :)
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