The following is blurb from one of many stories of human trafficking survival…
Not long after, the trafficker took her to work in Nevada. She ended up being trafficked by someone else in that state.
Michelle says he occasionally gave her gifts, but he was also very violent.
“In my personal situation anyway, he might give me a gift very few and far between many beatings — bad beatings, beatings that let me know that I could potentially be killed by him if I didn’t confer to what he wanted me to do,” says Michelle.
One beating was particularly harsh.
“I can remember one beating that was so bad, both of my eyes — I don’t know if you’ve seen anybody’s eyes bleed — but my eyes, both of them, literally bled,” she says.
A couple of days later, the trafficker had her back out selling her body.
Perform an internet search for “sex trafficking survival stories in America.” There are many, many more.
Today is Juneteenth—that the day that slavery ‘ended’ in the United States. Until a few years ago, it was on par with other holidays like Festivus. But now Juneteenth is being elevated into a paid holiday for several retailers. Some even want it to be recognized as a Federal holiday. They bent the knee to the mob.
We should refuse to celebrate this holiday. Slavery still exists in this country. If you’re celebrating the abolition of slavery it must rightfully include all forms of slavery, not only for certain people. And no, some forms are not worse than others.
We hope as a collective of humans that we would eliminate this atrocious practice. Unfortunately, humanity writes new chapters. We’re good at this. The end of the novel is nowhere near complete.
Celebrating Juneteenth is unadulterated tribalism. Identity politics. Burying your head in the sand while an untreated plague festers in this country. It’s only getting worse.
In order to understand the full crux of this article, one must look at history. I’ll try to provide a short course on the subject.
Short History of Slavery
It’s difficult to find a true account of slavery. Bookshelves are littered with sensationalized accounts of American slavery. If you only listen to the media or take a teacher’s word for it, one would think that slavery started and ended in the United States. Senator Tim Kaine does. That’s far from the truth.
I would encourage you to read Milton Meltzer’s book Slavery: A World History. I doubt most self-anointed academics have actually heard of this book. If they have, they probably buried it. It hurts their narrative.
Everybody is guilty of slavery. Slave blood runs through all of us. Slave owner blood runs through all of us. This defeats the narrative that only certain races were victims of slavery, but it’s the truth.
Chattel slavery has existed since the dawn of civilization. Romans conquered the Celts as part of Caesar’s conquest of Europe. Tens of thousands of native Europeans were enslaved as part of this endeavor. These same slaves were regarded as property, had no voting rights, were used for sexual exploitation, and sometimes summarily executed on the spot.
Arabs introduced slavery into Africa as part of the Indian Ocean Slave Trade, which lasted from 650 to 1900. Indian Ocean Slave Trade predates the European slave trade by over 700 years.
Barbary corsairs enslaved over 1 million Europeans. 700 Americans were enslaved, too. These pirates operated from Africa’s North Coast and raided seaside towns as far north as Iceland and England. Men captured were forced in a variety of manual labor duties. Females were often sold as concubines. European children with blue eyes and blonde hair were the most coveted because of their angelic appearance. Most often they were sexually exploited. I’d encourage you to read a book called Pirate Coast.
The Arab Slave Trade left such a lasting impact that 17 groups from North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Persian Gulf all carry DNA from the enslaved population of Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Sub-Saharan African Ashanti Tribe inhabited modern-day Ghana several centuries ago. Slavery was a tradition in the Ashanti Kingdom. They captured slaves from warring tribes, sometimes using them as child-brides other times being sold to be used in human sacrifices.
The European Slave Trade escalated after the Catholic Church demanded that Christians stop enslaving each other. Portuguese ships arrived on African coasts where coastal African tribes traded slaves (from the other conquered tribes) in exchange for guns.
Genghis Khan (who was formerly a slave) and his Mongols ravaged Asia.
Native Americans enslaved other tribes and Africans. Pacific Islanders enslaved each other. I’m not even touching the Far East.
The only places that chattel slavery didn’t touch were places were the population was big enough to sustain a viable workforce. But those places experienced debt slavery—one being forced to work for another in order to pay off a debt or other obligation. Debt slavery continues to scourge India to this day.
With the entire world being guilty of this practice, how did the idea that slavery was wrong come about?
It was European-Christians who first questioned the utility of chattel slavery. When England and the U.S. outlawed slavery the Arab slave trade actually increased.
Modern Slavery
Most Americans think that slavery no longer exists; especially the pundits who claim slavery began and ended with America. Their ignorance only underscores the need for more education.
Modern slavery takes the form of both chattel and debt. The International Labor Organization and Walk Free Foundation recently released a report indicating that at any time an estimated 40.3 million people across the world are victims of modern slavery. 16 million of those people are in forced labor. Approximately 15 million are in forced marriages. 5 million are in forced sexual exploitation. And 4 million suffer from state-sponsored forced labor camps.
According to this report, 71% are women and girls. 99% of the 5 million trafficked for sexual purposes are women. 21% of the 5 million trafficked for sexual purposes are children. In other words, there are 1 million little girls on this planet who are victims of sex trafficking.
Let me say that again. ONE MILLION GIRLS ARE VICTIMS OF SEX TRAFFICKING.
But we want to celebrate Juneteenth.
Modern Slavery Across the Globe
Modern slavery is most prevalent in Africa where there were 7.6 slaves for every 1,000 people. Asia and the Pacific are second and third.
Forced marriage was most prevalent in Africa. Forced labor was most prevalent in Asia and the Pacific region.
It’s a $150 billion worldwide industry. Only one-third—$50 billion dollars—is the result of forced labor (mostly agriculture, construction, and mining). Two-thirds of that number—$100 billion dollars—is generated from sexual exploitation.
With over 18 million slaves India is the worldwide leader in modern slavery, mostly debt slavery. It’s deeply entrenched in their culture. Women and girls are forced to work in red-light districts to pay off debts.
With over 3 million slaves China is next on the list. Modernization led to a boom in construction and other industries involving heavy machinery. Also, girls from Cambodia, Vietnam, and other Southeast Asian countries are trafficked into China for sexual exploitation.
Pakistan rounds out the top 3 with over 2 million slaves. Like India, debt slavery runs rampant in this wonderful country. Sickness and malnutrition often force entire poor families to work off medical debts that the rich families pay.
Modern Slavery in America
Modern slavery is on the rise in this country.
According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, there was a 25% increase in human trafficking cases in 2017. This is on top of the 13% increase in 2017 and 33% increase in 2016. This number isn’t even close to going down.
75% of reported cases are for sex trafficking. The vast majority of sex trafficking victims are females with 25% of those being children between the ages of 11-20. The majority of those victims were Latin followed by Asian. About half were citizens, the other half were foreign nationals. They’re trafficking for massage parlors, prostitution, and pornography.
Most reports of human trafficking come from, not surprisingly, the border states of California and Texas. The #1 risk factor for potential victims of human trafficking? Recent migration.
Even more disturbing: The average life span of a sex trafficked victim is reported to be 7 years. These innocents are found dead from abuse STD's, malnutrition, being beaten to death by their cartel pimp, overdose, or suicide.
But how does this happen in a free country that’s celebrating Juneteenth?
For labor trafficking, it is the false promise of a job offer. It is prompted by the hope of a high-paying job or fraud. Often, these people are illegal immigrants. When a contractor or other “benefactor” discovers this then there is the ever-present threat of “calling immigration” on that person.
What about sex trafficking? Visa abuse—90-finance visas—is prevalent in sex trafficking cases. Traffickers and cartels from Mexico, Central American countries, and, to an extent, Asian countries, routinely use the visa practices to lure women from other countries with promises of a good life in America. Once they arrive, the cartel/trafficker forces them into a life of prostitution.
Then there are families from Central America who either give their children to coyotes or sell them outright. These children then endure abuse we can only imagine as the United States. They come from Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. 80% of the women and girls who cross Mexico to get to the US border are raped along the way. Coyotes often suggest for these innocents to wear contraceptives. The pretty ones are targets of the Mexican cartels who use them as a way to generate part of that $100 billion dollars I referenced before. Over 100,000 migrants have disappeared in Mexico over the course of the past several years. Startling.
But why does this happen? US policy. You give people an incentive to come they will come. In 2014 the Washington Post reported as much. Migrant children came because of the “new United States law that would allow migrants to stay.” Traffickers know this. Cartels know this. Pornographers know this. Pimps know this.
You can celebrate Juneteenth. I won’t. Not when thousands of innocent girls are currently sleeping on a concrete floor, waiting for their next abuser.
Would I ever want a holiday passed? Sure, but we need to eradicate all slavery. And we need to remember those people the same way we revere past slaves.
But to some political correctness and feel-good legislation rules the day.
I guess some lives don’t matter.
Well written Jimmy..... You taught this old man a few things. Thanks
Jimmy, Got the Meltzer book and even this history is learning something new. Thanks!