First published 2008
Blackmon exposes a brutal system that trapped African Americans in forced labor from Reconstruction until World War II. Southern governments crafted laws targeting Black citizens, arresting them on false charges and imposing impossible fines. When prisoners could not pay, states sold their labor to corporations. U.S. Steel, coal companies, lumber operations, and plantations built fortunes using these captive workers. The author shows how sheriffs, judges, and business owners conspired to maintain constant supplies of unpaid labor. Drawing from court files, corporate records, and survivor testimonies, Blackmon reveals how millions of African Americans were purchased, traded, and abused long after slavery officially ended. State governments collected massive profits while Black communities lived in terror. The system collapsed in the 1940s when wartime propaganda concerns made racial oppression a security threat. This book exposes forgotten crimes and links them to modern fights for racial equality.
Genres: history, 20th-century, african-american, non-fiction, social-justice, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-fiction, investigative-journalism
Setting: South, United States
Period: Reconstruction, World War II
480 pages · Hardcover · Doubleday Books
Content warnings: racism, slavery, violence