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Worse than Slavery: Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice

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David M. Oshinsky's "Worse than Slavery": Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice, tells yet another piece of recent, uncomfortable American history which must not be forgotten. Mississippi, like other southern states after the Civil War, did not deal well with freed blacks, and developed the system of "Jim Crow justice" which, in many respects, replicated slavery. Initially, the state leased prisoners -- usually blacks -- to private individuals, usually to pick cotton and do other heavy labor. As Oshinsky presciently concludes, this resulted in a more onerous existence for the black contract workers than when they were slaves. Owners, at least, had a vested interest in keeping their slaves fed and clothed, as they represented a substantial investment of capital. Persons leasing convict labor had no such capital investment, and, as a result, had no incentive (other than humanitarian, which, Oshhinsky notes, usually begged the question in white southern minds as to whether blacks were "human" at all) to keep workers from starving or working to death. The system of convict labor, considered "enlightened" by many at the time - and a great source of profit for the State - was an exercise in barbarism.

Parchman Farm, a huge cotton plantation in the Mississippi delta, represented an improvement, in that Mississippi itself owned and operated the farm and tended to feed and house the convicts. The system, however, was far from just, in that prisoners were armed and chosen to guard their fellow inmates, profit was a main goal and justification of the system, and no effort was made to rehabilitate the inmates. Only in the last quarter of this century was Parchman reformed through a series of federal court orders defining the situation as "cruel and unusual punishment."

Oshinsky writes extremely well, and both his research and insight are impressive. If one wants an example of how Reconstruction did not work, and the lives of rural southern blacks up through the civil rights victories of the last few decades, I recommend this book highly.

The title says it all: "Worse than Slavery": Parchman Farm and the ordeal of Jim Crow justice. The author supports this bold statement well by documenting the rise and fall of the Southern penal farm, with its brutality, corruption and racism. In order to put Parchman farm in perspective, Oshinsky details the atmosphere of reconstruction in Mississippi, and how the resentment and bias against African-Americans led to racial violence, and eventually a system of forced incarceration. While unlike slavery insofar as it applies to a smaller percentage of blacks, Oshinky demonstrates that the inmates on Parchman farm were worse off than slaves. Furthermore, he also proves that the convict leasing and convict farm programs reinforced the social hierarchy of the white race being superior to the black.
The book's subtitle indicates that it's primary focus will be Parchman Farm, a Mississippi correctional facility that housed mostly black convicts. However, the first 100 pages don't even deal with Parchman; instead, the author discusses the convict leasing system that preceded the penal farm. Convict leasing reflected the consensus belief that African-Americans were fit for hard labor and little else. Leasing involved a corrupt and biased legal system, which placed unfair "court costs" on black males that would only be paid off by hard labor as a convict. According to Oshinky's research, the laborers would have to work long days in harsh conditions with little or no shelter. While a lot of the inmates would die from the extreme working situations, the people of Mississippi cared very little; the leasing system gave former plantation owners access to cheap labor and reinforced racial stereotypes. The convict leasing system was also not limited to Mississippi- Oshinky documents many similar systems in other states. Eventually, outrage over the death of one of the few white laborers in the system caused the states to shut down convict leasing.
However, instead of building a prison, as was standard practice, Mississippi built a farm on some of the most fertile ground in America. It was here, at Parchman farm, where large numbers of black inmates would come to spend their days picking cotton. Oshinky's research is stunning, as he reveals some of the innermost details of Parchman life. It was a brutal, kill or be killed lifestyle where the most rabid, and often mentally challenged, guards were given shotguns and a free reign over other prisoners. Not only was this farm a brutal and sometimes deadly prison, it was also a huge money maker. According to the author, the area around Parchman was some of the most profitable and fertile real estate in the U.S.A. at that time. The Civil Rights movement and a federal judge eventually ended Parchman Farm. The scars of cruelty would remain.
Oshinky describes the tragedy and the events leading to it's existence in the only way possible- objectively. Instead of editorializing, he quotes people from the days in question and lets their experiences and biases speak for themselves. His research is exhaustive and everything is well supported and well documented. His weaving of statistics into the narrative is the most vital quality of this book, because it adds a sense of overwhelming factual support for his story. This is an amazing book, full of vivid details and stunning facts. This is a must read for anyone interested in the racial history of the South.

Rather an amazing book on one of the darker sides of American society in the south, it almost unbelievable that until just a short generation ago, such a way of life was generally accepted by the white people of the south. Concept of Jim Crow justice seem so un-American that its small wonder why black people today don't wholly trust the white people. The book deals around the Parchman Farm and the Mississippi prison system but I supposed something like this took place all over the southern states during the Jim Crow era. Its a shock to the system but probably a must read material for any one who is interested in the social history of the southern people.

Worse than Slavery: Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice
Parchman Farm


"By 1915, Parchman was already a self-sufficient operation. It contained a sawmill, a brick yard, a slaughterhouse, a vegetable canning plant, and two cotton gins. In design, it resembled an antebellum plantation with convicts in place of slaves. Both systems used captive labor to grow the same crops in identical ways. Both relied on a small staff of rural, lower-class whites to supervise the black labor gangs. And both staffs mixed physical punishment with paternalistic rewards in order to motivate their workers.'

In short, Parchman Farm was a farm with slaves." ("Worse than Slavery")

Parchman Farm was known throughout the south as a bad place to go. It was memorialized in song and fiction. ("The Midnight Special" was the train that the convicts' wives and girlfriends rode for conjugal visits; and Faulkner's short story "Old Man" is about two Parchman inmates sent out to help in the Flood of 1927)
It was predominantly black. Once you were inside, it was hard to get out(alive. at any rate )Most convicts served fixed terms and parole was a relatively new concept.
It used a system in which "trustees," usually men convicted of violent crimes and who were quick to fire their shotguns at escapees, supervised the rest.

It was expected to, and usually did, return a profit. In fact, it was a major contributor to Mississippi's economy. The system it replaced, known as "convict leasing," was, if possible, worse. And rehabilitation was not high on the Prison Superintendent's agenda. The superintendent was a farmer, not a social worker.

Historian David Oshinsky ("Polio: An American Story") uses Parchman to illustrate the long and pervasive history of Jim Crow justice in the South.
During the Civil Rights Movement, Parchman was used as leverage against out-of-state "agitators." Many of them were sent up to Parchman after being railroaded into convictions for "disturbing the peace" and "inciting."
It was only after civil rights lawyers brought class-actions against the state corrections department that reform came... and even then it was slow-going. "Worse Than Slavery" is investigative reporting and social history at its best.
Polio: An American Story
RISING TIDE: THE GREAT MISSISSIPPI FLOOD OF 1927 AND HOW IT CHANGED AMERICA

David M. Oshinky has done an excellent job of telling the story of one of the most shocking prisons in US history: Parchman farm in Mississippi. He gives an approx. 120 page introduction describing life for blacks after slavery but before Parchman that helps to understand how and why the prison came to be. this is definitely a book that will broaden the perspective of the Jim Crow South. a very well-written book. recommended

William Alexander Percy would be proud of the truthfulness with which his Delta is depicted in this wonderful book. "Worse Than Slavery" is an easy read, but one which makes any true Southerner have some degree of shame for the way blacks and poor whites were treated in the past. This book describes with great detail, often using quotes from those living at the time, Mississippi's often sad manner of living under the Jim Crowe system. It also offers a few insights on what we should be doing differently now. More than anything else, this book takes the reader back in time to a different Mississippi, good or bad. Reading the book, one can actually feel the Delta sun blazing upon the backs of the cotton pickers. One can hear the sounds of the Deep South, the music from the "juke joints", the buzz of the crickets, the hum of the cotton gin, the harmony of the Negro spirituals. "Worse Than Slavery"is well-written and necessary reading for any true Southerner.

This is a good, easy book to read, and I believe this story is based on true facts supported by one writers point of view and opinion. I believe the best way to get a true depiction of Parchman Farm is to read this book along with "Down On Parchman Farm" by William Banks Taylor. It doesn't matter which one you read first but read them back to back. Take bits and pieces from each book and form your own conclusions about whether Parchman Farm was a "hell on earth" or an effective way of rehabilitating prisoners. This book, along with the other one mentioned, is so one side and opinionated that it is hard to read one withoput the other. It is almost impossible to form an educated opinion without reading both books.

That being said this is a book detailing the infamous Mississippi penal farm in the Mississippi delta during the early to mid 20th century. the books relates the horrors and mistreatment of inmates by the Mississippi penal system. This is an exceptional book. I would reccomend this book for anyone who has an interest in Mississippi history. I would also reccomend this book for every correctional administrator, criminal justice student, or criminal psychologist.

Most of us associate the word slavery with the antebellumSouth. David M. Oshinsky brilliantly chronicles the aftermath of theCivil War in the heart of Dixie and exposes the ensuing camouflaged forms of slavery, "prison labor" and "convict leasing", that thrived for generations. Not only does the author recount the inconceivable conditions suffered by prisoners of Parchman Farm, but also reconciles the social, political, and legal environments that fabricated these new "forms" of slavery. The South's steadfast resistance to change, coupled with its dependence upon slave labor, produced a justice system designed to swiftly convict blacks of misdemeanor crimes while blatantly ignoring whites for similar charges. The imprisonment of blacks during the reconstruction era through the late 1950's, provided cheap labor for state and local governments, which subsequently assimilated their sweat and blood into the economy. Due to the lack of singular ownership of the condemned, black prisoners frequently died in the fields, the forests, and the mines, and endured inhumane treatment "worse than slavery". This incredible book delves well beyond the pastures of Parchman Farm, unearthing a disgraceful portrait of the South and revealing the deliberate reluctance of the North to enforce the change sacrificed for in the Civil War.

David Oshinsky has utilized the stories of convicts who were sentenced to serve time at Parchman Farm in an effort to define the ordeal of Jim Crow Justice in Reconstruction-era Mississippi.

Oshinsky does not focus on the daily operations of the prison, but instead focuses on the intimate daily lives of the prisoners, including those that were promoted to "trusties", and served as guards over the other prisoners (armed guards, no less).

There is no doubt that "justice" in this era was anything but just - as revealed in the book, a large portion of the prisoners at this particular facility were black males, and were often subjected to prison time for minimal offenses against property or the state - offenses that would not land any white person in prison, much less a labor camp such as Parchman Farm.

I think that David Oshinsky has demonstrated a great command of the subject material in this work & has shown how the racism of the era permeated down into the justice system and how the black men sentenced to serve time at Parchman were indeed subjected to a fate "Worse Than Slavery".

Great writing combined with great scholarship to tell the heartwrenching story of the virtual slavery instituted in the post-Civil War South through the rise of plantation prisons, where thousands of mostly black convicts were worked as hard and treated as viciously as the slaves were during the antebellum years. A shamefully neglected part of U.S. history. Oshinsky's brilliant book is a great work of scholarship and historical literature. A must-read!