Craig, It’s interesting that you think I’m playing a “victim card,” because I don’t see myself as a victim. I think your assessment says more about your own conditioning that it does about me.

I will say, I used to share the opinion that slavery was long over and that Black people need to move on from the topic at this point. That was before I learned more about how the (in)justice system works, both first-hand and through resources like the ones I shared at the end of my article.

the 13th Amendment gives federal, state, and local governments a Constitutional right to enslave those convicted of crimes. Under the 13th Amendment, slavery was not fully abolished — in fact, it has greatly expanded, migrating from the plantation to the prison. We see evidence of this in the United States’ incarceration rate per capita, which is the greatest in the world. Despite making up less than 5% of the world’s population, the U.S. houses nearly 25% percent of its prisoners.

While citizens of all races now suffer from this modern slavery system, Black people — for whom slavery was originally racialized and coded into law — are disproportionately represented. Black people make up nearly 50% of the prison system even though they comprise only 13% of the population. Many compounded factors contribute to this disparity, not the least of which is racial prejudice that still permeates the hearts and minds of many across our society.

I more fully describe my personal experience and reflections in another Medium article, “I Thought Injustice Didn’t Have to Do With Race.”

Btw, my native country is the United States.

Thanks for taking the time to read and respond.