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

512 Pages·2008·3.3 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 terrific 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 magnificent 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
CONTENTS
A Note on Language
Introduction: The Bricks We Stand On
PART ONE: THE SLOW POISON
I. THE WEDDING
Fruits of Freedom
II. AN INDUSTRIAL SLAVERY
"Niggers is cheap."
III. SLAVERY’S INCREASE
"Day after day we looked Death in the face & was afraid to speak."
IV. GREEN COTTENHAM’S WORLD
"The negro dies faster."
PART TWO: HARVEST OF AN UNFINISHED WAR
V. THE SLAVE FARM OF JOHN PACE
"I don't owe you anything."
VI. SLAVERY IS NOT A CRIME
"We shall have to kill a thousand…
to get them back to their places."
VII. THE INDICTMENTS
"I was whipped nearly every day."
VIII. A SUMMER OF TRIALS, 1903
"The master treated the slave unmercifully."
IX. A RIVER OF ANGER
The South Is "an armed camp."
X. THE DISAPPROBATION OF GOD
"It is a very rare thing that a negro escapes."