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Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from...

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4.8 out of 5

1,481 global ratings

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4 star		10%
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Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II

byDouglas A. Blackmon

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A devastating indictment of America's ugly and shameful past - a MUST read

Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2018

Through painstaking detail and heartbreaking stories, this book sheds light on the systematic, calculated, and willful creation of a system of "neo-slavery" that replaced slavery after it was supposedly abolished. What this book exposes is profoundly disturbing, and is a devastating indictment of what the United States of America purposely did to its new black "citizens". If it were possible to forgive the original sin of slavery, it is impossible to forgive what occurred after slavery. It is a crime against humanity that has never been fully exposed, acknowledged, prosecuted, or punished.

Slavery was not abolished. It was simply (and predictably) replaced by an even more devastating system of legal, codified oppression that made the incarceration of "free" black men, a desirable and profitable practice, and a central component of economic prosperity for white businesses. "Laws" were created specifically to fine and arrest black men so their "debt" could be sold to white businesses who would in turn use the men as forced laborers. The demand for this cheap labor was insatiable. Black men were arrested for "talking too loud" in front of a white woman, or being "disrespectful". Many were arrested without even being charged - that's how blatant the practice was. Vagrancy laws were also created and used for the sole purpose of "rounding up" as many black men as possible to feed this new system of slavery. Many of these men died working in unspeakably brutal conditions in mines, foundries, plantations, and railroads. This system was a brutal manifestation of how whites viewed blacks, a view that, like it or not, is still at the core of American consciousness.

This book is a painful, depressing, but necessary read. It should be required reading in high school and college.

86 people found this helpful

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Confusing Layout

Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2020

I bought this book because I figured it would help bridge the gap from antebellum south to WW1 in a palatable way - by following a family story through the crisis. Sadly, It's more of an information dump than anything else it dodges left, right , up and down and occasionally refers back to the family that the author mentions early in the book but there's no flow. It's not laid out in a way that I could absorb it. But maybe that's just me.

2 people found this helpful

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From the United States

A devastating indictment of America's ugly and shameful past - a MUST read

Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2018

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Through painstaking detail and heartbreaking stories, this book sheds light on the systematic, calculated, and willful creation of a system of "neo-slavery" that replaced slavery after it was supposedly abolished. What this book exposes is profoundly disturbing, and is a devastating indictment of what the United States of America purposely did to its new black "citizens". If it were possible to forgive the original sin of slavery, it is impossible to forgive what occurred after slavery. It is a crime against humanity that has never been fully exposed, acknowledged, prosecuted, or punished.

Slavery was not abolished. It was simply (and predictably) replaced by an even more devastating system of legal, codified oppression that made the incarceration of "free" black men, a desirable and profitable practice, and a central component of economic prosperity for white businesses. "Laws" were created specifically to fine and arrest black men so their "debt" could be sold to white businesses who would in turn use the men as forced laborers. The demand for this cheap labor was insatiable. Black men were arrested for "talking too loud" in front of a white woman, or being "disrespectful". Many were arrested without even being charged - that's how blatant the practice was. Vagrancy laws were also created and used for the sole purpose of "rounding up" as many black men as possible to feed this new system of slavery. Many of these men died working in unspeakably brutal conditions in mines, foundries, plantations, and railroads. This system was a brutal manifestation of how whites viewed blacks, a view that, like it or not, is still at the core of American consciousness.

This book is a painful, depressing, but necessary read. It should be required reading in high school and college.

86 people found this helpful

Fifty shades of slavery

Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2019

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The Civil War did not end the institution of slavery. Instead, slavery shape shifted into practices that were even worse. Practices that continued until WWII, before shape shifting again. Even in the 1970's, I saw "white only" signs in Mississippi . As long as we fail to recognize the historical truth, discrimination will not end.

I have this book four stars, because of comments made about the Holocaust. The rich Jew trope reflects classic Anti-Judaism rhetoric. A very small number of the Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust were wealthy. Most had lived in abject poverty for centuries. The author really needs to study the history of Jews to see even more shades of slavery.

46 people found this helpful

A Story That Must Be Told -- It will change your perspective on our history in this country!

Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2017

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This book had an incredible impact on my perspective of mankind, and the racial injustices associated with the history of our country. I was entirely blind as to what transpired in the south after the civil war, and for that part, even the north's willingness to look the other way. However, after reading the book, it becomes evident that these injustices still exist today, although masked under different laws and perpetrators. This is a must read. An incredible read! A book that will no doubt change your perspective on the history of this country.

33 people found this helpful

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2020

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First off I have to say that as a “White” man of Jewish upbringing I am fully aware of the prejudices “my people” have faced over the last 4 centuries, but had no realization or clue of what “Blacks or African Americans” have faced since the end of the Civil War. Yes, I knew of how “Blacks” were treated and enslaved (as many races and cultures of the past were), and are still being treated, or for that matter how “Native Americans,” “Chinese,” Irish,” or “Muslims” or any immigrant to this country has been treated and is currently being treated!

As an elementary school teacher (35 years with a master’s degree) and coming from a family of educators (father, mother, uncle, sister, and both brothers) I always knew history was skewed, less then accurate, and incomplete, favoring the “White” man, the religious proselytizers, or the victor of battles! It is just the way it is.

So, this book, although difficult to read and redundant at times, is eye opening and important in this time of social injustice (BLM) and strife! As I mentioned above history is skewed and terribly incomplete and this book is a start at recognizing the past and teaching our children about the truth and how look at historical written works.

Open your eyes.... read this and other books like this because there is always two sides to history!

5 people found this helpful

Vonnie and Bert Schoneveld

White Fear in the Face of African American Population Growth in Southern U.S.

Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2018

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This book opened my eyes to something I was totally ignorant of. It was interestingly written and in great detail. It gave me a much better insight on white European and African American relationships. It also helps me to understand the strong opposition to Barak Obama's presidency and the reactionary behaviour of the current presidency.

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15 people found this helpful

Margaret Sheffield

Should be required reading!

Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2017

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This book should be required reading for every American. It brings into clear focus the reality of the continuation of slavery for African Americans long after "emancipation." At very least a summary of its contents should be a chapter in every school book on American history taught in our schools. It is a hard read, but well worth the discomfort of facing the truth of our shared past of greed, violence and the shocking apathy of our leaders.

16 people found this helpful

SHOCKING...INFORMATIVE...BRILLIANT...RIVETING...

Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2020

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Wow! No wonder this book won a Pulitzer Prize! It is simply a sensational book on every level. It is well-written, meticulously researched, and gripping in the telling. This book should be a must read for anyone who wants an understanding of how we got where we are today in race relations in this country, especially in terms of criminal justice.

This book brings to light in painstaking detail how the South got around the abolition of slavery. The end of the Freedmen’s Bureau and the subsequent removal of Union Troops from the South in 1877 signaled the beginning of the Post-Reconstruction South. This change would lead to events that would have negative consequences with respect to the now free black population. This would later be exacerbated by the terrible ruling in the landmark 1896 United States Supreme Court case of Plessy v. Ferguson. With its separate but equal doctrine, it reaffirmed the Jim Crow segregation laws that had been passed by the Post-Reconstruction south.

The problems in the South were manifold. The biggest question was who were going to work on the plantations? Who were going to work the jobs that whites shunned? The South muddled along until Post-Reconstruction, and then the idea of convict leasing came into play with the collusion of law enforcement, the judiciary, and local and state officials.

What the 13th Amendment, enacted in 1865, had expressly forbidden was brought in through the back door, once the front door was barred. The only difference was that it was now called convict leasing, a practice that would continue in the South in til well into the 20th century and the passage of the Civil Right Law of 1964.

This book details how black people lived during this time, how convict leasing worked, the roundups of the black population when labor was needed, and the corruption of the penal system. Thus, a dual system of justice was born in the South: one for blacks and one for whites, and never the twain would meet. This book explains who was impacted by it, the human tragedy of it, how and why it was allowed to proliferate, who profited, and what measures were taken to curtail it, only to see those efforts stonewalled and thwarted.

This reprehensible practice was yet another blight on these United States. The human tragedy of it all was staggering. Yet, the thinking that was in play then, still has cultural remnants of it in our criminal justice system today. It also severely hampered the economic and social progress of the black population in many respects.

This really is an eye-opening look at our history, one that has been found wanting in many respects. This exhaustive work on these complex issues is a superlative expose’ of a little known segment of American history, one that has now been brought forth into the light and examined by this very thoughtful author. It is a part of history with which more people should be conversant, if only to get a better understanding of these United States.

2 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Confusing Layout

Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2020

Verified Purchase

I bought this book because I figured it would help bridge the gap from antebellum south to WW1 in a palatable way - by following a family story through the crisis. Sadly, It's more of an information dump than anything else it dodges left, right , up and down and occasionally refers back to the family that the author mentions early in the book but there's no flow. It's not laid out in a way that I could absorb it. But maybe that's just me.

2 people found this helpful

Shocking and frustrating topic. A MUST read

Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2020

Verified Purchase

I wouldn't imagine that semi-slavery system was present in the South after the Civil War, not to mention it vast scale as outlined by this book. This reading is shocking and frustrating. It is difficult to sustain the corrupted system that was set by officials of the South States, in full support of all States' organizations and representatives and the outrageius atrocities executed by these people against Afro Americans. It is hard to believe that this repressive and so unjust ptactice has perceived for almost a century past the civil war while it was evident to anybody who was not entirety blind. It is surely among the most degrading chapters in America's history, a chapter each American should be absolutely ashame of.

The book does a magnificent job in searching this dark times and sharing the facts and stories in a most vivid and interesting way. For most of its parts, jt's a page turner, even though it is not a fiction book but rather an objective research. There are some parts where the stories start repeating themselves or seem a bit out of a chronological scale, but nevertheless - it's good, though veru upsetting reading, and even more important - it's a must reading for every American to be able to understand how deep and shocking were the exploit and unfair conduct implemented against African Americans in such vast parts of the US not so far ago.

Karen from Los Angeles

A Must Read-US Slavery in the 20th Century

Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2014

Verified Purchase

"Slavery by Another Name," is a thought provoking and maddening book about slavery in the south during the turn of the twentieth century through the 1960's. You will become very angry when you read how Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Florida et al had local town city officials ready to arrest African Americans on made up
trump up charges, such as vagrancy.
Usually, an African American either took the train or walked to a neighboring town or city looking for work. The local Sheriff meets up with him and either says you owe Mr. Anderson $7.50 for a loan he never borrowed. You need to pay up now or you will be charged with xyz. Mr. Anderson pays for the debt plus new charges. Next the African American is brought before a judge and pronunced guilty and sentenced to 6 on up months of forced labor. He is then asked to sign a contract agreeing to the terms. Usually the forced laborer is illiterate and can't read the contract. He signs a "X" for his signature.
These arrestees were held in the local town jail without basic living conditions. The Sheriff would sell them at a profit to regional mines, lumber yards and coal companies, farmers, and other forced labor camps. The monies were split between the pretend victim (Mr. Anderson), the judge and the sheriff.

These labor camps treated their inmates worse than their African American ancestors before the Civil War. Once they arrived to work at the mines they were chained and shackled. Each slave was given a quota of product they were required to provide at the end of the day. Their days started at 3am or 4am and ended around 11pm. If they missed their quota they were harshly whipped by being stretched nakedly over a barrel to receive at least fifteen lashes. Many died from these daily beatings. Their threadbare clothes or in many cases no clothes were never washed.

Lack of safety was another lethal issue. Because these labor camps were doing everything they could to save on expenses the mines, lumber yards and coal companies used century old equipment that increased loss of limbs and lives.
Due to the lack of sanitary conditions disease ran rapid through the slave workers camps.

The slaves (forced labor) lived in too small filthy hovels where they were chained together each night. They were fed substandard food each night and not enough to meet male caloric intake. Making the slaves weaker every work day.

The details of the book stays with you to share with friends and family.

I highly recommend this book if you want to learn more about slavery in the twentieth century. It is very topical with the kidnapping of the Nigerian girls.

28 people found this helpful

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