• About Us
  • Paper Locations
  • Contact
Hispanic News || Shirley Ann Flower Shop || RS Deer Ranch
Sunday, February 5, 2023
MEDIA KIT
African American News and Issues
63 °f
Houston
  • National
  • Local
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Education
  • Health
  • Politics
  • Announcements
  • Afram TV
  • Events
  • Entertainment
No Result
View All Result
African American News and Issues
  • National
  • Local
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Education
  • Health
  • Politics
  • Announcements
  • Afram TV
  • Events
  • Entertainment
No Result
View All Result
African American News and Issues
No Result
View All Result
  • AframNews Media Kit
  • About
  • Paper Locations
Home #NNPA BlackPress

Black Prison Labor Built American Business Empires

NNPA by NNPA
5 months ago
in #NNPA BlackPress, Community, National
0
Black Prison Labor Built American Business Empires
81
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedIn

By: NNPA

You might also like

MFAH Gordan Parks’ Stokely Carmichael and Black Power Exhibit

Xavier Houston Alumni Mardi Gras Gala

Emmett Jay Scott

The racial makeup of prison populations in America changed almost overnight after the Civil War, a new report has revealed.
In Tennessee, during slavery less than 5 percent of the prisoners were Black. In 1866, after emancipation, that number jumped to 52 percent. And by 1891 it had skyrocketed to 75 percent.
“More than 150 years ago, a prison complex known as the Lone Rock stockade operated at one of the biggest coal mines in Tennessee,” researchers for a joint study issued by Reveal at the Center for Investigative Reporting and Associated Press.
“It was powered largely by African American men who had been arrested for minor offenses — like stealing a hog — if they committed any crime at all. Women and children, some as young as 12, were sent there as well,” reporters Margie Mason and Robin McDowell concluded.
The organizations spent months unearthing this history, focusing on Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad, which ran the stockage and coal mine, and the company that later bought it, U.S. Steel.
They reported finding an ancestor to an individual imprisoned in the Lone Rock stockade nearly 140 years ago.
The researchers said they also interviewed the descendent of a man who struck it rich from his role in pioneering Tennessee’s convict leasing system.
“After the war, a new form of slavery took hold in the U.S. and lasted more than 60 years,” the authors noted in a podcast.
The research team reported that at the state park that sits on the former site of the Lone Rock stockade, relics from the hellish prison are buried beneath the soil.
Archeologist Camille Westmont discovered “thousands of artifacts, such as utensils and the plates prisoners ate off.”
She has also created a database listing the names of those sent to Lone Rock.
A team of volunteers assisted, including a woman reckoning with her own ancestor’s involvement in this corrupt system and the wealth her family benefited from, the researchers noted.
They said the United States Steel Corporation helped build bridges, railroads and towering skyscrapers across America.
But the company also relied on forced prison labor, the researchers asserted.
After U.S. Steel took over Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad in 1907, the industrial giant used prison labor for at least five years.
During that time, more than 100 men died while working in their massive coal mining operation in Alabama.
U.S. Steel has misrepresented this dark chapter of its history.
“And it has never apologized for its use of forced labor, or the lives lost,” they stated.
The reporters concluded that they pushed the company to “answer questions about its past and engage with communities near the former mines.”

Share32Tweet20
NNPA

NNPA

Recommended For You

MFAH Gordan Parks’ Stokely Carmichael and Black Power Exhibit

by Crystal LaShan
5 months ago
0
MFAH Gordan Parks’ Stokely Carmichael and Black Power Exhibit

Empowering and motivating were accurate descriptions of the emotions that were invoked as we experienced the Museum of Fine Arts Houston’s (MFAH) exhibit – Gordan Parks’ Stokely Carmicheal...

Read more

Xavier Houston Alumni Mardi Gras Gala

by Crystal LaShan
5 months ago
0
Xavier Houston Alumni Mardi Gras Gala

The spirit of Nawlins Folks and the Xavier Alumni Crew was in full effect! Their annual Mardi Gras Gala was beautifully decorated, the prizes for the raffle were...

Read more

Emmett Jay Scott

by Chelsea Davis-Bibb, Ed.D.
5 months ago
0
Emmett Jay Scott

Read more

Black History: Pains and Chains

by Bobby E Mills, PhD
5 months ago
0
Black History: Pains and Chains

America, “The challenge is not the distance Blacks have come, but the distance Blacks have to go.” Black history begins with a positive “Who Am I Experience?” All...

Read more

Black on Black Crime

by aframnews
5 months ago
0
Black on Black Crime

I grew up during segregated times in the Black community and we had everything we needed. Being segregated allowed us to be a true Black community where we...

Read more
Next Post
The Community College System and Black Students

The Community College System and Black Students

Latest Articles

MFAH Gordan Parks’ Stokely Carmichael and Black Power Exhibit

MFAH Gordan Parks’ Stokely Carmichael and Black Power Exhibit

5 months ago
Xavier Houston Alumni Mardi Gras Gala

Xavier Houston Alumni Mardi Gras Gala

5 months ago
Emmett Jay Scott

Emmett Jay Scott

5 months ago

NEED PAST ISSUES?

Search our archive of past issues Receive our Latest Updates
* indicates required
  • Local
  • National
  • Community
  • Education
  • Politics
  • COVID-19
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports

ARTICLES

  • Local
  • National
  • Community
  • Education
  • Politics
  • COVID-19
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports

CONNECT WITH US

  • Home
  • Advertise With Us
  • Contact

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

  • Hispanic News
  • Shirley Ann’s Flower Shop
African American News and Issues

African American News & Issues
6130 Wheatley St
Houston, TX 77091
(713) 692-1892

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Copyright © 2023. African American News & Issues. All rights reserved. Private Policy | Terms of Use |

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • National
  • Local
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Education
  • Health
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Announcements
  • Events
  • Afram TV
  • Contact

Copyright © 2023. African American News & Issues. All rights reserved. Private Policy | Terms of Use |

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?