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1. What is slavery?

2. What are some risks that people take for freedom?

3. How does the institution of slavery make you feel? Would you be willing to take the same risks as these individuals if you were put in this position?

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Racial Inequality is defined as the social inequality and advantages and disparities that affect different races. In this text set, 5th grade students will be exploring the different eras of racial inequality seen throughout history and will develop a deeper understanding of what inequality is, what it looks like, and how it still occurs today.

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1. What are some examples of civil liberties do you have?

2. How would you feel if those civil liberties were taken away?

3. Why were people willing to risk their lives and their safety?

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1. Do you think racial inequality occurs around the world?

2. Who do you think is affected by racial inequality?

3. What makes someone different from another person in terms of race?

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1. What does modern-day racism look like?

2. Where does racism occur in everyday life?

3. How can you make a difference in ending racial inequality?

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Follow The Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter

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Follow The Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter

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During slavery in the United States, many people risked their lives trying to escape the bondage of slavery and make their escape to freedom in the North. There are many challenges to escape. Will this loosely organized group of free blacks, slaves, and white sympathizers make it to freedom or will they fail? This story is about perseverance and the risks that were taken for freedom.

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Who is Harriet Tubman? by Zeldis McDounough

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Who is Harriet Tubman? by Zeldis McDounough

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Harriet Tubman was born a slave in Maryland. She first-handedly experienced what it meant to be a slave and how brutal life as a slave is. She was beaten, whipped, and almost killed by her master. When Tubman discovered the Underground Railroad, she bravely traveled back and forth from freedom back to shackles to help free others who were slaves.

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The Strength of These Arms, Life in the Slave Quarters by Raymond Bial

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The Strength of These Arms, Life in the Slave Quarters by Raymond Bial

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In this nonfiction picture book, Bial brings the reader through a grueling gallery of what life was like for slaves in their living quarters. Slaves worked on plantations and worked absurd amounts of hours with little rest and food. These gripping pictures gives the readers an inside look of the real conditions that enslaved people had to endure while living on the plantations.

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The Strength of These Arms, Life in the Slave Quarters by Raymond Bial

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Freedom on the Sea by Michael Boulware Moore

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Freedom on the Sea by Michael Boulware Moore

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Freedom on the Sea is a true story of Robert Smalls and his escape to freedom. Robert Smalls daringly used a Confederate ship to navigate himself, his family and many others to freedom. This book takes place during the American Civil War and shows the courage and bravery of a man who would risk his life in the name of freedom.

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Freewater is a riveting novel about a twelve year-old boy name Homer who flees the plantation he is living on in the South. This is a story that allows the readers to look into the realities of escaping to freedom. Sometimes you have to make a choice for yourself, would you leave your family and friends behind in the name of freedom or would you go?

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Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine & Kadir Nelson

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Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine & Kadir Nelson

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This is the story of a slave boy names Henry Brown who doesn't know how old he is and when his birthday is because records were not kept on slaves. Henry has a dream of being free and decides to make a risky decision for his path to freedom. Henry does the unthinkable and mails himself to freedom in a crate to the North.

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Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine & Kadir Nelson

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Video #1: A Short History of Slavery | 5 Minute Video

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Video #1: A Short History of Slavery | 5 Minute Video

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This video gives a short overview into the institution of slavery. In this video, Candace Owens explains the origin story of slavery and who was directly impacted by slavery.

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A Short History of Slavery | 5 Minute Video

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Video #2: Black Health Disparities Go Back To Slavery | Discovered Truth: Full Documentary

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Video #2: Black Health Disparities Go Back To Slavery | Discovered Truth: Full Documentary

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In this 26 minute documentary, it discusses the racial inequality of black barriers to healthcare and how these racial inequalities date back to slavery. This will help students to understand how racial in equalities today stem from slavery.

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Black Health Disparities Go Back To Slavery | Discovered Truth: Full Documentary

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Supportive Text #1: The Traumatic Impact of Structural Racism on African Americans

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Supportive Text #1: The Traumatic Impact of Structural Racism on African Americans

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In this article. it discusses how many African Americans and members of the black community have been impacted b y racism and racial inequality since the times of slavery and still experience trauma through social, economic, and political disparities today.

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Abstract

Many African Americans in the United States have been impacted by structural racism since slavery and continue to experience trauma because of health disparities, economic disadvantages, and segregation. This article will define race, racism, and structural racism, which has perpetuated trauma for African Americans. The authors present a theory called Post Traumatic Slavery Syndrome (PTSS) by Dr. Joy DeGruy, a social work researcher, to explain why many African Americans continue to experience trauma. PTSS is a condition that exists as a consequence of multigenerational oppression of African and their descendants resulting from centuries of chattel slavery. Looking at history and the inherent long-standing trauma that has and continue to plague African Americans can assist in addressing systemic racism and provide an opportunity to look at holistic restoration.

Race

Race, racism, and race relations affect everyone in this country, especially African Americans.¹ The U.S. Census Bureau defines a person's race based on that person's self-identification of the race or races with which he or she most closely identifies.² In addition, the U.S. Census Bureau defines 'Black or African American' as a person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa. African American is the term currently preferred by most people of African ancestry in the United States.¹ It is important to note that many Africans, who migrate to the United States do not self-identify as African American but identify as African.

The definition of race has no consensual theoretical or scientific meaning in psychology, although it is frequently used in psychological theory, research, and practice as if it has obvious meaning.³ Race is a cultural category that remains meaningful in the United States because of its continuing social and economic significance.⁴ Race shapes how we experience the world and continues to be used as the basis for the mistreatment of African Americans. The impacts of racism continue to significantly affect those who identify as African-American.

Racism

Racism in this article is operationally defined as the beliefs, attitudes, institutional arrangements, and acts that tend to denigrate individuals or groups because of phenotypic characteristics or ethnic group affiliation.⁵ This is not a recent phenomenon. Racism has plagued the United States since the 17 th century, around the time of European colonization. In the 17 th century era, millions of Africans were shipped from Africa to the Americas as slaves. This dispersion of Africans across the Americas is what is known today as the African Diaspora.⁶ Most of the Africans were separated from their families, stripped of their names and identities, beaten, raped, tortured, and in many cases lynched or hanged at the whims of their Caucasian masters. The psychological, physical, sexual, and emotional abuse Africans experienced during enslavement in the United States had long-lasting traumatic effects. More specifically, African Americans were traumatized in the United States. The marginalization of African Americans based on race has been normalized across systems and institutions of the United States, and continues to impact African Americans today.

Structural Racism

Structural racism in the U.S. is the normalization and legitimization of an array of dynamics that stem from historical, cultural, institutional and interpersonal aspects that routinely advantage Caucasians while producing cumulative and chronic adverse outcomes for people of color.⁷ Lawrence and Keleher reported that structural racism lies underneath, all around and across society. Furthermore, Lawrence and Kelecher found that structural racism encompasses: (1) history, which lies underneath the surface, providing the foundation for white supremacy in this country; (2) culture, which exists all around our everyday lives, providing the normalization and replication of racism and, (3) interconnected institutions and policies, the key relationships and rules across society providing the legitimacy and reinforcements to maintain and perpetuate racism. Structural racism creates trauma. The impacts of structural racism, can take a mental toll on African Americans. Mental health disparities based on minority racial status are well identified, including inequities in access, symptom severity, diagnosis, and treatment.⁸ However, African Americans have a history of experiencing structural racism through economic disadvantages and segregation, which have been existent since slavery. Therefore, the factors of economic disadvantages and segregation are identified stressors that may have an effect on the mental health of African Americans. Mental health inequities began during the time of colonialism and slavery, when myths of racism were being integrated into the developing field of psychiatry and psychology.⁸ By the end of the 19th century, many psychologists accepted an idea that African Americans were biologically inferior, with smaller brains and a natural instinct for labor. Studies have found that African Americans who participated in the Abolitionist and Civil Rights movements were met with prejudice by mental health practitioners, who labeled them schizophrenic due to their supposed pathologic desire for equality. To date, the research shows that African Americans are over diagnosed with schizophrenia and they are more likely to be treated with antipsychotic medications that can have lasting, negative side effects. Additionally, African Americans have higher rates of severe depression yet lower rates of treatment compared to Caucasians. African Americans are less likely to receive office-based counseling for psychological stressors and are more likely to be seen in emergency rooms.⁹

Dr. Joy DeGruy, a social work researcher, developed a theory called Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome (PTSS). This theory explains the etiology of many of the adaptive survival behaviors in African American communities throughout the United States and the Diaspora. PTSS is a condition that exists as a consequence of multigenerational oppression of Africans and their descendants resulting from centuries of chattel slavery.¹⁰ This form of slavery is predicated on the belief that African Americans are inherently/genetically inferior to their Caucasian counterparts. Dr. DeGruy identified three key patterns of PTSS behaviors that are exhibited by African Americans.¹⁰

1. Vacant Esteem

This is insufficient development of one's primary esteem, along with feelings of hopelessness, depression and a general self-destructive outlook. Vacant esteem, the belief that one has little or no worth, manifests a feeling that an individual and their partner are unworthy of healthy monogamous relationships. Under strained economic conditions, and in an effort to increase self-esteem, masculinity may move from the acquisition of socioeconomic goods to the belief that the more women one sleeps with, the more masculine he becomes.¹¹

2. Marked Propensity for Anger and Violence

Individuals can feel extreme feelings of suspicion, and perceived negative motivations of others. Violence against self, property and others, including the members of one's own familial or social group, i.e. friends, relatives, or acquaintances can be seen. Instead of acknowledging the barriers created by systematic racism and oppression, some African American men may hold African American women responsible for their inability to obtain traditional masculinity.¹¹

3. Racist Socialization and (Internalized) Racism

This pattern includes behaviors like learned helplessness, literacy deprivation, distorted self-concept, antipathy or aversion for the following:

The members of one's own identified cultural/ethnic group,

The mores and customs associated one's own identified cultural/ethnic heritage, and/or

The physical characteristics of one's own identified cultural/ethnic group.

Racist socialization manifests in the idealization of white norms and values by African Americans. The emphasis on the promotion of the nuclear family and traditional gender roles has resulted in many African Americans idealizing this model despite their inability to obtain it.¹¹

Structural Racism Today

Structural racism continues to perpetuate trauma for African Americans today. Taking a look at history and the inherent long-standing trauma that has and continues to plague African Americans can assist in addressing systemic racism that is present today. Many medical providers, behavioral health practitioners, educators, and law enforcement officers seek to understand the African American culture and how they can provide equitable service delivery. To heal African Americans, service providers must first understand the overt systemic trauma, then examine the covert systemic and institutional aspects that continue to perpetuate racism in the United States. Trauma-informed care and services could offer an important opportunity to African Americans who have been harmed and emotionally injured. In addition to being trauma-informed, service providers should provide healing centered engagement in their approach to working with African Americans. Healing centered engagement is akin to the South African term "Ubuntu" meaning that humanness is found through our interdependence, collective engagement and service to others.¹² Additionally, healing centered engagement offers an asset driven approach aimed at the holistic restoration of African Americans and their well-being. Ginwright found that healing centered engagement advances the move to "strengths-based" care and away from the deficit based mental health models that drive therapeutic interventions.¹²

In order to dismantle structural racism, we must take a close look at the historical, cultural, institutional and interpersonal aspects that lack equity for African Americans. Combatting structural racism is the responsibility of everyone, because we all must become conscious of our own responsibility as individuals. This is how we can be a part of something bigger than ourselves. Former President Barack Obama once stated, "I see what's possible when we recognize that we are one American family, all deserving of equal treatment." Therefore, it is a call to action for all Americans, regardless of your race, ethnicity, social economical status, gender, or status to put a stop to structural racism.

References

1. Belgrave, F., & Allison, K. (2019). [ African American Psychology: From Africa to America, (4 th ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. Google Scholar]

2. Census, U. S. (2016). People in families by family structure, age, and sex, iterated by income-to poverty ratio and race. Retrieved from https://www.census/gov/data/tables/time- series/demo/income-poverty/cps-pov/pov-02.html

3. Helms, J. E., Jernigan, M., & Mascher, J. (2005, January). The meaning of race in psychology and how to change it: A methodological perspective. The American Psychologist, 60(1), 27-36. 10.1037/0003-066X.60.1.27 [[ PubMed] [ CrossRef] Google Scholar]

4. Mukhopadhyay, C. C., Henze, R., & Moses, Y. T. (2013). How real is race?: A sourcebook on race, culture, and biology. ProQuest Ebook central https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

5. Clark, R., Anderson, N. B., Clark, V. R., & Williams, D. R. (1999, October). Racism as a stressor for African Americans. A biopsychosocial model. The American Psychologist, 54(10), 805-816. 10.1037/0003-066X.54.10.805 [[ PubMed] [ CrossRef] Google Scholar]

6. Rotimi, C. N., Tekola-Ayele, F., Baker, J. L., & Shriner, D. (2016, December). The African diaspora: History, adaptation and health. Current Opinion in Genetics & Development, 41, 77-84. 10.1016/j.gde.2016.08.005 [[ PubMed] [ CrossRef] PMC free article] [ Google Scholar]

7. Lawrence, K., & Kelecher, T. (2004). Chronic disparity: strong and pervasive evidence of racial inequalities poverty outcomes: Structural racism. Paper presented at the Race and Public Conference. [ Google Scholar]

8. Medlock, M., Weissman, A., Wong, S., Carlo, A., Zeng, M., Borba, C., Curry,M., & Shtasel, D. (2017). Racism as a unique social determinant of mental health: development of a Didactic curriculum for psychiatry residents. MedEdPortal: Association of American Medical Colleges. (13), 1-9. 10.15766/mep_2374-8265.10618 10.15766/mep_2374-8265.10618 [ PMC free article] [ PubMed] [ CrossRef] [ CrossRef]

9. Miller, J. (2020). A statement of the American mental health counselor association on racism as a social determinant of mental health. [AMHCA]. American Mental Health Counselors Association, 17(04), 1-6. [ Google Scholar]

10. DeGruy, J. (2017). [ Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome, Revised Edition: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing. Milwaukie, Oregon: Uptone Press. Google Scholar]

11. St Vil, N. M., St Vil, C., & Fairfax, C. N. (2019, April 1). Posttraumatic slave syndrome, the patriarchal nuclear family structure, and African American male-female relationships. Social Work, 64(2), 139-146. 10.1093/sw/swz002 [[ PubMed] [ CrossRef] Google Scholar]

Articles from Delaware Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of Delaware Academy of Medicine / Delaware Public Health Association

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The Traumatic Impact of Structural Racism on African Americans

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Many African Americans in the United States have been impacted by structural racism since slavery and continue to experience trauma because of health disparities, economic disadvantages, and segregation. This article will define race, racism, and structural ...

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Sit-In How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down By Andrea Davis Pinkney

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Sit-In How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down By Andrea Davis Pinkney

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During the Civil Rights Movement, segregation was put in place by the notion of "separate but equal". Everything was divided based on skin color like bathrooms, water fountains, restaurants, busses, and the list goes on. In this book on February 1, 1960, four young black men make the courageous decision to fight against this racial inequality of "separate but equal" and decide to go into Woolworth's Department store and simply sit at the "white's only" counter. This books describes the injustices that these black men faced to peacefully demonstrate against racism.

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Sit-In How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down By Andrea Davis Pinkney

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Children of the Civil Rights Era by Catherine A. Welch

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Children of the Civil Rights Era by Catherine A. Welch

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In this short, nonfiction chapter book, it outlines the inequalities that black children faced during the Civil Rights Era. From Emmet Till to the Civil Rights Act being passed, this book embodies the journey that these individuals had to face to fight for their civil rights.

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Children of the Civil Rights Era by Catherine A. Welch

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Who Were the Tuskegee Airmen? by Sherri L. Smith

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Who Were the Tuskegee Airmen? by Sherri L. Smith

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In this nonfiction chapter book, the author goes into detail on the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American military pilots who bravely fought in World War II. During their time in the services, the Tuskegee Airmen had to face and overcome racial prejudice and racial inequalities while serving their country.

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Who Were the Tuskegee Airmen? by Sherri L. Smith

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In this book, it discusses the different marches that were conducted throughout the South in the name of Civil Rights. This book provides information and detailed accounts of the days leading up to and during the marches for freedom.

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Marching for Freedom by Elizabeth Partridge

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Marching for Freedom by Elizabeth Partridge

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Marching for Freedom by Elizabeth Partridge

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The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles

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The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles

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This is the story about a young girl named Ruby Bridges who moved form Mississippi to New Orleans in search of a better life for her and her family. With her new transition, she is ordered to attend a formerly all-white school. She faced racial inequality head on and has to overcome obstacles that are a risk to her well being and safety.

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The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles

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Because of You, John Lewis by Andrea Davis Pickney

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Because of You, John Lewis by Andrea Davis Pickney

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In this heart warming novel, Tybre Faw learns of the heroism of John Lewis during the Civil Rights Movement, especially his famous march across the Edmund Pettis Bridge. Inspired by Lewis's courage, Tybre is determined to meet John Lewis and rise up to keep his legacy alive.

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Video #1: The Fight Against Segregation in Birmingham | Black American Heroes

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Video #1: The Fight Against Segregation in Birmingham | Black American Heroes

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In this short History video, it outlines the fight against segregation in the south and the turbulence that black Americans had to face while fighting for their civil rights. It outlines the social racial inequalities that occurred during this time.

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The Fight Against Segregation in Birmingham | Black American Heroes | History

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Video #2: Civil Rights Movement: The Fight for Equality

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Video #2: Civil Rights Movement: The Fight for Equality

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This short video discusses the stories of people who protested and campaigned for racial equality during the Civil Rights Movement. This video will help students better understand why black Americans fought for their civil liberties.

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Civil Rights Movement: The Fight for Equality

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Supportive Text #1: How John Lewis spent his life bridging America’s racial and political divides

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Supportive Text #1: How John Lewis spent his life bridging America’s racial and political divides

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In this article, it discusses the life of John Lewis and how he ended up devoting his life work to bridge America's racial and political divides when it comes to racial inequalities. This gives the students a deeper understanding of who John Lewis was, what he did, and how he continued his work.

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Upon learning of the death of Nelson Mandela in 2013, John Lewis offered a moving tribute to South Africa's first Black president. His written homage offered compelling insight into the minds of both of the storied civil rights leaders.

"The first time I had a chance to meet him was in South Africa after his release from prison. He gave me this unbelievable hug. I will never forget it," Lewis recalled in a statement released by his congressional office. "He said, 'John Lewis, I know all about you. You inspired us.' I said, 'No, Mr. Mandela, you inspired us.' I felt unworthy really to be standing at his side. I knew I was in the presence of greatness."

Few contemporary Americans were better qualified than John Lewis to speak on greatness or reflect on the virtues of leadership and bravery. Before pancreatic cancer claimed him last week at the age of 80, Lewis was the living embodiment of those qualities. Tributes in his honor now abound, while flags fly at half-staff. Lewis is being widely remembered as a towering figure in America's civil rights movement and the conscience of the United States Congress. However, there's more to his considerable legacy. Lewis was also a bridge-a human bridge-that history will judge reverently.
("We have to believe that we're one people, one family." Lewis reflects on his historic life in this 2018 interview with our editor-in-chief.)
The life of Lewis spans America's violently segregated past, as well as the racially combustible moment we currently occupy. Born the son of Alabama sharecroppers, he was hand-selected by the Congress of Racial Equality to become one of the original 13 Freedom Riders. The riders were an integrated group of young people who rode interstate buses with the intention of directly confronting segregation in public transportation. The practice of segregated seating on buses had been outlawed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1956, but the ban was rarely enforced in the South.

As a result of his activism on bus lines and through his work with the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Lewis became the target of frequent physical attacks. He paid a horrendous price in blood and numerous incarcerations for his non-violent advocacy seeking the integration of water fountains, diners, and other staples of daily living. Some of his committed colleagues paid with their lives. Somehow, Lewis survived. He eventually became a justice sentinel recognized by many, including the likes of Mandela.

As his life's end approached, Lewis remained active and vocal in the pursuit of racial justice. Although his body weakened, he continued to closely examine the nation's landscape and forcefully speak out against injustice. He recognized that his life's work must continue, and he seemed to take comfort in the growing coalitions of young Americans committed to challenging systemic racial unfairness. He could clearly see that the bridge his life represented was being navigated by the next generation.

The horror of watching the death of George Floyd on a Minneapolis street this past May transported Lewis back to childhood and the adolescent years before his life became synonymous with a dogged pursuit of social justice. The 1955 lynching of Emmett Till in the Mississippi Delta was also on Lewis's mind.

"I was 15 years old-just a year older than him. Despite real progress, I can't help but think of young Emmett today as I watch video after video after video of unarmed Black Americans being killed and falsely accused. My heart breaks," said Lewis days after Floyd's death.

But then-just as he had done all of his life-John Lewis provided leadership. Speaking to those actively engaged in the continuing quest for justice, as well as to future leaders in formation, Lewis said:

"My fellow Americans, this is a special moment in our history. Just as people of all faiths and no faiths, and all backgrounds, creeds, and colors banded together decades ago to fight for equality and justice in a peaceful, orderly, non-violent fashion, we must do so again. Rioting, looting, and burning is not the way. Organize. Demonstrate. Sit-in. Stand-up. Vote. Be constructive, not destructive. History has proved time and again that non-violent, peaceful protest is the way to achieve the justice and equality that we all deserve."

Given the social and racial unrest currently roiling America, the wisdom and patriotism of Lewis has never rung truer. It's easy or convenient to forget that Lewis-trained in the ways of non-violent confrontation so effectively used by Mahatma Gandhi and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. -wasn't always a disciple of carefully nuanced language. However, he always understood the importance of youth-even intemperate youthful energy-in the civil rights arena. Perhaps that's why he championed the activism of Black Lives Matter, and appeared to view the group as a viable successor to the justice movement.

In early June, well into the final stage of his battle with cancer, Lewis donned a mask and paid a visit to the newly named Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., near the White House. He toured the plaza with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and praised the mayor's embrace of BLM's call for sustained protest. As he viewed the words Black Lives Matter emblazoned on the street in large yellow letters, he was moved. He described the insignia as a "powerful work of art." He was confirming yet again his long-held convictions of the power of the young to foment change. (Hear from those calling for racial justice in Washington.)

When he spoke at the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963-where King delivered his famous "I Have A Dream Speech"-Lewis, then only 23, had initially planned to address the crowd using language that the march organizers considered inflammatory.

The original ending of Lewis's speech read: "The time will come when we will not confine our marching to Washington. We will march through the South, through the heart of Dixie, the way Sherman did. We shall pursue our own scorched earth policy and burn Jim Crow to the ground-nonviolently." (Here's how Jim Crow laws created "slavery by another name.")

Lewis's elders in the movement, and the key organizers of the march-including A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin, and King-insisted that the SNCC leader temper his rhetoric a bit. There were bridges to be built and fragile cross-racial alliances to strengthen in America, where legalized racism remained entrenched. Lewis resisted mightily at first, but he ultimately relented. The crowd of 250,000 people heard the young activist end his speech with these words: "But we will march with the spirit of love and with the spirit of dignity that we have shown here today."

A major turning point in the civil rights movement involving Lewis occurred on March 7, 1965. The day is commonly referred to as Bloody Sunday. Lewis and nearly 600 people gathered at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, and attempted to march across the bridge, named for a Confederate general and reputed grand dragon of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan. The protestors were demanding the elimination of literacy tests and other practices used to deny Blacks the right to vote.

The peaceful demonstration descended into bloody chaos when troopers on horseback wielding bullwhips, rubber tubing wrapped in barbed wire, and deploying tear gas charged at the marchers. No deaths resulted that day, but numerous marchers suffered broken bones. Footage televised on national news showed Lewis being cracked in the skull and knocked to the ground by an Alabama state trooper, who struck him a second time as he attempted to rise.

The national outrage was instant and galvanized political support. Less than ten days later, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law, a measure that banned the use of literacy tests and poll taxes that were widely used to prevent blacks from voting in many state and local elections in the South.

Weeks before Lewis died, an online petition was created to rename the Alabama bridge where Bloody Sunday occurred. The renaming effort has drawn considerable social media support, along with the strong endorsement of Lewis's longtime friend and House of Representative colleague James Clyburn of South Carolina.

However, Lewis may have taken issue with the bridge being offered as a tribute to his legacy. In an AL.com newspaper commentary he co-authored with U.S. Representative Terri Sewell in 2015, Lewis spoke against the possible renaming of the Edmund Pettus bridge:

"Renaming the bridge will never erase its history. Instead of hiding our history behind a new name we must embrace it-the good and the bad. The historical context of the Edmund Pettus Bridge makes the events of 1965 even more profound. The irony is that a bridge named after a man who inflamed racial hatred is now known worldwide as a symbol of equality and justice. It is biblical-what was meant for evil, God used for good."

Now, in the wake of Lewis's death, many Democratic legislators have renewed their effort to gain passage of the Voting Rights Advancement Act, passed by the House in 2019. The legislation, which stalled in the Senate, would restore key protections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that the Supreme Court struck down in 2013. Among other things, the legislation seeks to eliminate partisan systems of gerrymandering, limit efforts to purge voting rolls, and ensure the voting rights of felons no longer incarcerated.

A growing chorus of people now suggest renaming the 2019 voting rights bill after Lewis, who voted for and strongly endorsed the legislation. It would be a fitting tribute. Lewis understood the sanctity of the ballot and spent his life in pursuit of justice and a more perfect union.

"The vote is precious," Lewis said in June as the U.S. House considered the voting rights legislation, which eventually passed the chamber along strict partisan lines. "It is almost sacred. It is the most powerful non-violent tool we have in a democracy."

One day soon, John Lewis may have a bridge posthumously named in his honor. It would be well deserved. In the meantime, we benefit by continuing to learn from the life's work of a civil right giant who himself became a bridge connecting the past to the future. Lewis not only inspired Mandela. He inspired generations of leaders, and undoubtedly will inspire more still to come.

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How John Lewis spent his life bridging America's racial and political divides

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Upon learning of the death of Nelson Mandela in 2013, John Lewis offered a moving tribute to South Africa's first Black president. His written homage offered compelling insight into the minds of both of the storied civil rights leaders. "The first time I had a chance to meet him was in South Africa after his release from prison.

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This article will help the students to better understand how racial inequalities that were present in the Civil Rights Era are still around today.

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Systematic Inequality and Economic Opportunity

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Systematic Inequality and Economic Opportunity This report is part of a series on structural racism in the United States. Authors' note: CAP uses "Black" and "African American" interchangeably throughout many of our products. We chose to capitalize "Black" in order to reflect that we are discussing a group of people and to be consistent with the capitalization of "African American."

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Nelson Mandela Long Walk to Freedom By Chris Van Wyk

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Nelson Mandela Long Walk to Freedom By Chris Van Wyk

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In South Africa, Apartheid policies were put in place to segregate the white population from the black population. In this book, it outlines Mandela's life and discusses how he became known for his fight to end apartheid and campaign for freedom and to end racial inequality in South Africa

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Nelson Mandela Long Walk to Freedom By Chris Van Wyk

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Toussaint L'Ouverture The Fight for Haiti's Freedom by Walter Dean Myers

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Toussaint L'Ouverture The Fight for Haiti's Freedom by Walter Dean Myers

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Toussaint L'Ouverture is well known for his right against racial inequalities and for freedom for the Haitian people. In this novel, it tells the story of how he bravely formed a mighty army to fight for freedom.

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Toussaint L'Ouverture The Fight for Haiti's Freedom by Walter Dean Myers

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Peaceful Protest The Life of Nelson Mandela

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Peaceful Protest The Life of Nelson Mandela

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In this nonfiction picture book, the author discusses the life of Nelson Mandela and the hardships that him and his family faced during South Africa's policy of Apartheid. As a black man living in Apartheid South Africa, Mandela first-handedly experienced the racial inequalities that went hand in hand with the South African government's policies.

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Peaceful Protest The Life of Nelson Mandela

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In this powerful novel, student will read about Christophe, a Rwandan Refugee who is navigating a new life and trying to overcome the challenges of his new school, new language, and his new life. The Rwandan Genocide was a genocide that was deeply rooted in racial and political inequalities. The Hutus and the Tutsis who were slaughtered because of years of racial inequalities among the two groups.

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The Soccer Fence, A Story of Friendship, Hope, and Apartheid in South Africa by Jesse Joshua Watson

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The Soccer Fence, A Story of Friendship, Hope, and Apartheid in South Africa by Jesse Joshua Watson

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This book goes into detail on how sports, specifically soccer can help inspire younger generations to achieve their dreams no matter the challenges that they may face. As Apartheid begins to crumble, a new era arises in South Africa, giving hope to more racial equality to people of color living in Johannesburg Township.

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The Soccer Fence, A Story of Friendship, Hope, and Apartheid in South Africa

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Video #1: How did South African Apartheid happen, and how did it finally end? - Thula Simpson

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Video #1: How did South African Apartheid happen, and how did it finally end? - Thula Simpson

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This video will provide students with a simple background and explanation of what Apartheid was in South Africa, how it caused racial inequality, and how it finally ended.

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How did South African Apartheid happen, and how did it finally end? - Thula Simpson

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Video #2: What caused the Rwandan Genocide? - Susanne Buckley-Zistel

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Video #2: What caused the Rwandan Genocide? - Susanne Buckley-Zistel

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In this short 6 minute TedEd Video, it explains the racial inequality that arose in Rwanda and how it led to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.

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What caused the Rwandan Genocide? - Susanne Buckley-Zistel

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Supportive Text #1: Racial inequality and demographic change in South Africa

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Supportive Text #1: Racial inequality and demographic change in South Africa

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In this article, it discusses racial inequalities in South Africa and the changes that have occurred throughout history. It gives explanations on South Africa's apartheid policy and the ways that policy led to racial inequality in South Africa. This article would be great in supporting children's background knowledge of the situation at hand during this time and throughout history.

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Over the past 20 years, researchers have been looking at the economic lifecycle of individuals around the world using National Transfer Accounts (NTA) data. The focus of this research has been on understanding how societies produce, consume, share, and save resources across generations, how these patterns differ across countries, and how they impact the economy as the population ages. However, an important question that has only recently begun receiving attention is how these patterns differ across groups in the same country.

Lifetime patterns of producing, consuming, sharing, and saving resources differ markedly by race in South Africa

Africans make larger transfers to household members and to other households, relative their income, than other population groups do

The state plays an important role in financing consumption for the very young and the elderly, particularly among the African and Coloured population groups

As they age, Whites depend primarily on lifetime savings to finance their consumption, while Africans rely increasingly on transfers from the state

Demographic change is expected to boost economic growth in South Africa, but this impact may be eroded by racial inequalities

Racial inequalities in South Africa

In the case of South Africa, there are stark and persistent racial inequalities which are important to consider when analysing differences in the patterns of resource flows between the state and individuals, and between individuals and households. Variations by race in access to jobs, the degree of reliance on social grants, and the share of income deriving from asset ownership, among other factors, influence the economic lifecycle of individuals. These differences inform our understanding of the potential effects of population ageing and demographic change on the trajectory of economic development.

Under apartheid, the population was categorized into four groups, referred to today in South Africa as African, Coloured, Asian, and White. While these categories ¹ no longer have any official status, they continue to be used in demographic statistics, particularly for monitoring progress on racial equality. Research using NTA data shows that there continues to be marked differences between these population groups in terms of the economic lifecycles and socioeconomic status of individuals in South Africa.

For example, average lifetime work-related earnings for Whites are much higher than for other groups and most significantly higher than the average for Africans - earnings peak at R300,000 a year on average for white people, while for Africans the peak is R70,000.

Africans earn less than any other group. Older African adults also share more with individuals in other households and make substantially larger transfers to members of their own households than any other group, in relative terms.

These findings are consistent with previous research that shows that poorer South African households tend to form around elderly recipients of the state old-age pension, and how they also tend to form inter-household links in the context of a circular labour migration pattern from rural to urban and back to rural areas. The result is that overall resources in South Africa flow strongly from older to younger generations, which is true for all race groups.

The distribution of resource transfers by group

Transfers from the state - which include social grants as well as spending on education, health, and other services - are very important in covering the consumption gap (the difference between money spent and money earned from work). This is particularly true for Africans, for whom total transfers from the state exceed total transfers from other individuals and households.

Africans receive the largest share of state transfers and they also receive more than they contribute to the state over their lifetimes. This is entirely consistent with their relative socioeconomic disadvantage, as is expected in any country where fiscal tools are used in a progressive way to lower poverty and reduce inequality. Overall, Africans receive around 80% of all transfers from the state and contribute around 50% of all transfers received by the state.

For African children, transfers from the state finance around 60% of their consumption gap, compared to around 40% for Coloured children, and virtually 0% for white children. This is not to say that white children receive nothing from the state; rather, what they receive from the state is balanced out by their contributions to the state, largely in the form of taxes on consumption.

The role of age

The way that individuals finance their consumption changes dramatically as they age, particularly after they retire. First, there is a shift from being net givers of transfers to others to being net receivers of transfers, as direct support from younger individuals grows. At the same time, older South Africans become more reliant on government support, or transfers received indirectly via the state from younger generations.

This is especially true for Africans, who become almost entirely reliant on transfers from the state by the time they are in their eighties, and for Coloureds, for whom state transfers account for around 60% of the consumption gap. Elderly Whites, though, continue to give more to the state than they receive, as they continue to receive high incomes even after retirement from pensions, savings, and other assets accumulated over their lifetimes.

The impact of demographic change on economic development

As is the case in countries around the world, the South African population is becoming older on average as fertility rates fall. This ageing of the population can have important consequences for economic growth and development through extra economic growth caused by the working-age population becoming a larger part of the total population

Part of this 'demographic dividend' is linked to growth in the national savings stock, particularly as the largest age groups near retirement. This increase in savings can raise productivity and boost economic growth further if the elderly have saved for their retirement rather than relying on younger age groups for support

Improvements in access to quality jobs are urgently needed to address racial inequalities. This would be an effective way of reducing racial disparities in lifetime earnings and consumption

A more developed social security system would help reduce inequality and relieve the pressure on poorer families to provide for older generations

For South Africa to benefit from an ageing population, a supportive economic and institutional context must be created to encourage saving for retirement to help fund consumption in old age

Overall, the data suggests that this part of the demographic dividend is occurring in South Africa, and that the nation will see extra growth as the population ages. However, once we account for racial inequalities, it is clear that Whites are more likely to have saved and that Africans, due to their historically disadvantaged position within the economy, are more likely to be reliant on transfers financed by younger workers. Since future population ageing is going to be almost entirely driven by ageing among the African population, racial inequalities reduce the economy-wider prospects for demographic dividends.

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Racial inequality and demographic change in South Africa

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Over the past 20 years, researchers have been looking at the economic lifecycle of individuals around the world using National Transfer Accounts (NTA) data. The focus of this research has been on understanding how societies produce, consume, share, and save resources across generations, how these patterns differ across countries, and how they impact the economy as the population ages.

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Supportive Text #2: Divided by Ethnicity

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Supportive Text #2: Divided by Ethnicity

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The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website goes into detail on the background of the inequalities among the different ethnic groups in Rwanda. This will help support student knowledge on the inequalities that led to the Rwandan Genocide.

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In 1994, Rwanda's population of 7 million was composed of three ethnic groups: Hutu (approximately 85 percent), Tutsi (14 percent) and Twa (1 percent). From April-July 1994, between 500,000 and one million Tutsi and moderate Hutus were slaughtered when a Hutu extremist-led government launched a plan to murder the country's entire Tutsi minority and any others who opposed the government's policies.

There is a longstanding history of tension between the Tutsi and Hutu ethnic groups in Rwanda, even though they speak the same language, follow similar traditions and live side by side. During the colonial period in Rwanda, the ruling Belgians favored the minority Tutsis, and gave them a range of advantages over the majority Hutus. They further divided the groups by requiring all Rwandans to carry identity cards that classified people by their ethnicity.

A Hutu revolution in 1959, supported by the Belgians, forced as many as 300,000 Tutsis to flee Rwanda, decreasing their numbers inside the country even further. In 1962, when Belgium granted Rwanda independence, the country was governed by political parties associated with the Hutu majority. Under Hutu rule, the Tutsis faced discrimination and violence, and thousands more fled to neighboring Burundi. It is estimated that by the mid-1960s, half of the Tutsi population was living outside Rwanda.

Within Rwanda, Hutu extremists among the country's political elite blamed the Tutsi population for the country's increasing social, economic, and political pressures. Civil war between Hutus and Tutsis broke out on October 2, 1990, when the Rwandan Patriotic Front, the Tutsi rebel group, invaded Rwanda from the north. Hutu extremists accused all Tutsis of supporting the rebels operating outside the country.

Meanwhile, extremist Hutu leaders were secretly drawing up lists of Tutsi and moderate Hutu leaders to assassinate, and arming and training youth militias, who were responsible for some small-scale massacres. These killings were documented by local and international human rights organizations as well as by a special envoy of the UN Commission on Human Rights. The Rwandan government said the killings were spontaneous and uncontrollable, and no one was brought to justice. The international community classified the violence as part of an internal conflict.

This civil war officially ended with the signing of the Arusha Accords, a power-sharing agreement, in August 1993. While Hutu leaders signed the agreement, its terms angered Hutu extremists, setting the stage for future violence. During this time, the extremists disseminated messages through the media telling their fellow Hutus that the Tutsis were planning a killing campaign against them. Radio RTLM, a private Hutu-owned radio station, relentlessly condemned Tutsis and their supporters, characterizing them as subhuman and calling them cockroaches. In this climate, beginning in 1993, Hutu political leaders began to import large numbers of machetes and distributed the weapons to the militias that supported them, the Interahamwe ("Those Who Attack Together") and the Impuzamugambi ("Those Who Have the Same Goal").
This page was last updated in September 2021.

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Divided by Ethnicity - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

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In 1994, Rwanda's population of 7 million was composed of three ethnic groups: Hutu (approximately 85 percent), Tutsi (14 percent) and Twa (1 percent). Between April and July 1994, at least 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus were slaughtered when a Hutu ext

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Protest Movements: Black Lives Matter by Duchess Harris

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Protest Movements: Black Lives Matter by Duchess Harris

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In this book, the author discusses what the Black Lives Matter Protests are and why people today are involved in them. The Black Lives Matter Movement have paved the way for change in the United States and stands up against racial inequalities still found in society today. This book will help students understand that racial inequality is something that people to this day fight against within their own country.

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Protest Movements: Black Lives Matter by Duchess Harris

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In this book by Wang, the author discusses a number of Asian Americans who stood up for what they believed in and fought back against inequality, racism, civil rights and many more! The students will be able to explore that it is not only black people who face racial inequality.

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A Refugee's Journey from El Salvador by Linda Barghoorn

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A Refugee's Journey from El Salvador by Linda Barghoorn

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This is one book from a series of titles that discuss the story of a refugee leaving their homeland for a better life and better opportunities. Although where they may be leaving from may have been tough to live in, it describes the hardships that refugees face in a new place and how they navigate the hate and discrimination that comes from different groups of people within society.

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A Refugee's Journey from El Salvador by Linda Barghoorn

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Islamophobia Deal With It in the name of peace by Safia Saleh

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Islamophobia Deal With It in the name of peace by Safia Saleh

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This book outlines the discrimination and hatred that Muslims face within society. It discusses the record of islamophobia, which is the hatred, fear, and prejudice against the Muslim community. This book is a great tool for students to help them understand the inequalities Muslims face in society, how to deal with this conflict and even has quizzes to test the student's abilities to respond to situations where they see racial inequalities.

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Islamophobia Deal With It in the name of peace by Safia Saleh

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Race and the Media in Modern America by Duchess Harris

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Race and the Media in Modern America by Duchess Harris

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In this book, it discusses the inequalities that people of color face in American society. It sheds light on the ways that media portrays people of color and the steps that society has taken to get rid o racial ideologies on our foods, in out schools, and in the media. This book clearly addressed the steps that were taken to address racial injustice in America although it has yet to be solved.

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Race and the Media in Modern America by Duchess Harris

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Video #1: Race, Racism, Prejudice and Discrimination - What are they?

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Video #1: Race, Racism, Prejudice and Discrimination - What are they?

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In this video, it helps the viewer better understand what race, racism, prejudice, and discrimination are and how to identity it in your own society. This video is very educational and will help the students better understand the content.

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Race, Racism, Prejudice and Discrimination - What are they?

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Video #2: What it's like to be a Muslim in America | Dalia Mogahed

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Video #2: What it's like to be a Muslim in America | Dalia Mogahed

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In this Ted Talk by Dalia Mogahed, she discusses the perception of Muslims in the media and the social divide of Muslims and Americans in the United States. She discusses what its like being a Muslim living in America and how it has had an impact on her life. Having a person tell their story like this will allow the student to be more empathetic and gain a deeper understanding on this sensitive topic.

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What it's like to be a Muslim in America | Dalia Mogahed

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Supportive Article #1: From Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter

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Supportive Article #1: From Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter

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This article by Scientific America allows the students to further explore the Black Lives Matter Movement and what fueled their protests today.

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Protest expert Aldon Morris explains how social justice movements succeed

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U.S. News Examines Racial Equality in America

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U.S. News Examines Racial Equality in America

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This news article will help students understand racial equality in America, what groups are succeeding and what groups are being left behind in the fight for equality. This will help the students understand that racial inequalities still occur today.

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America's reputation as the "land of opportunity" intrinsically boasts the promise of a better life for those who call it home. Yet events that cloud the country's history and its more immediate past - from slavery, Jim Crow and redlining to the murder of George Floyd and the disproportionate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic - illustrate how the path to realizing that promise isn't the same for everyone.

It's no secret that structural racism in the U.S. has created advantages for some and disadvantages for others, fueling disparities in foundational areas of society. Though efforts to address inequity - particularly in the area of health care - are gaining traction, many of these gaps go unseen. And in a worst-case scenario, they are willfully overlooked.

For each metric within each category, our analysts calculated a national average or median for all people, and compared it with measurements for respective racial and ethnic groups by state. The data illuminates who is collectively excelling and who may be getting left behind.

Among the dynamics uncovered:

The share of Black or African American people living in poverty between 2017 and 2021 was below the national rate for all people in just three states: Hawaii, South Dakota and Alaska.

Between 2018 and 2022, about 160 per 100,000 people experienced homelessness. Nationally, average rates were highest for Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander individuals. Rates for these demographics exceed 1,000 per 100,000 in many states.

Between 2017 and 2021, about 13% of adults self-reported recently experiencing 14 or more days when their mental health was "not good." Adults of two or more races, followed closely by AIAN adults, reported the highest average prevalence of frequent mental distress in the U.S., while Asian adults reported the lowest.

Between 2016 and 2020, about 50 people per 100,000 died from unintentional injuries such as drug overdoses, vehicle accidents and falls. Among both white and Black individuals, rates of accidental death were highest in West Virginia. New York, meanwhile, was a notably positive outlier for such deaths among both Black and AIAN people.

Between 2017 and 2021, an estimated 5.3% of people ages 16 to 24 were without at least a high school diploma and no longer attending school. AIAN people saw the highest average dropout rate, followed by Hispanics. Asian individuals posted a dropout rate well below the national average in all states in which they were able to be assessed.

For each metric, U.S. News analysts also compared rates for individual racial and ethnic groups within states to respective state averages for all people. When there was reliable data for at least four racial and ethnic groups, the average disparity across their experiences was measured.

While states with smaller and less diverse populations didn't always meet this threshold, the results depict useful regional trends. For instance, disparities in health care coverage and premature death are readily apparent in the South, while unequal experiences with unemployment and poverty are noticeably higher in the Midwest. Along the West Coast and in states in the Northeast like New York and Massachusetts, the issue of homelessness is hardly felt equally.

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U.S. News Examines Racial Equality in America

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Dive into the data to see which groups are collectively excelling and which may be getting left behind.

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Supportive Text #2: What is Modern Day Slavery?

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Supportive Text #2: What is Modern Day Slavery?

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In this article, it discussed what modern-day slavery looks like and how slavery still affects people today around the world.

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Modern Day Slavery is real slavery: where people are held against their will, under violence or threat of violence, and unable to walk away. They are either never paid or paid irregularly, either in the form of food or money, the sum of which is far below any minimum wage standards; typically they are paid only enough to survive another day. They are trapped in brothels, factories, mines, farm fields, and many more industries. Women and girls account for 71 per cent of all victims of modern slavery. That means one in every 130 women and girls is living in modern slavery. (1)

Modern day slavery exists in many forms and is perpetuated in every country around the world, even yours. Let's take a look at common forms of modern day slavery and how they differ from each other.

At this present moment, there are more people suffering under slavery than at any other time in history. The Global Slavery Index (GSI) estimates that more than 50 million people are currently trapped in modern day slavery. (2)

It is truly shocking to grapple with the reality that people across the globe are still in slavery. Yet, why does it seem like nobody is talking about it?

The operations of modern day slavery are usually hidden, secretive, and often ignored in the arena of public concern. Corruption coupled with lack of resources, education, and recognition of peoples' rights all perpetuate a system and cycle of slavery.

There are many terms people use when talking about modern day slavery, like debt bondage, forced child labor, attached labor and many more. If it's all slavery, then why are there so many different words for it? As international law has developed over decades and more people are becoming aware of the fact that slavery still exists, different international and national bodies have created terminology as their understanding develops. But make no mistake, each term below refers to real slavery.

Forms of Modern Day Slavery: Forced Labor and Child Slavery.

Defining Human Trafficking

Human Trafficking is a term often used to refer to the modern day slave trade. However, the Palermo Protocol (3), an international legal document, broadens the definition of human trafficking to include all forms of exploitation of humans for sex and labor.

In effect, the broadened definition of human trafficking includes all forms of modern day slavery:
"The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation."
The Protocol further defines exploitation as:
"At a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs."
Contrary to popular belief, the United States does not limit the definition of human trafficking to the crossing of borders. Rather, simply put, any act in which a trafficker uses force, fraud, or coercion to exploit and profit from the labor or commercial sex of a child or nonconsenting adult, is human trafficking. Then, the U.S. breaks human trafficking (4) down further into two different forms, forced labor and sex trafficking, which each have different requirements to form a violation of human trafficking.

Often there is an assumption that human trafficking involves only the sexual slavery of women and girls, but that is incorrect. Human trafficking can happen anywhere, from agricultural fields to restaurants to private homes to child marriage to forcing people to be mules for the drug trade.

Human trafficking exists in virtually every country, and trans-nationally across multiple countries. According to UNICEF USA, " H uman trafficking is the 2nd largest criminal industry in the world, reaping an estimated $32 billion in the trade of human beings," (5) putting it just behind the drug trade. Children, minority communities, and migrants are especially at risk to extreme forms of exploitation, including slavery and trafficking.

Forced labor is any type of work that is performed involuntarily and under the threat of any penalty, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO). (6) The Global Slavery Index estimates that there are 24.9 million people trapped in forced labor around the world (2) and generates huge profits which go directly into the hands of exploiters.

Laborers are often illegally forced into work at the onset. Those who have been exploited through forced labor often enter into work seemingly voluntarily, though a closer look into their circumstances reveals that their agreement to work, or consent, was uninformed; they are predominantly illiterate and innumerate. Laborers will often start work with eight hour days, which quickly turn into fifteen plus hour days. When forced laborers decide they want to leave, they are told they cannot or are threatened with physical violence or other means of intimidation.

One common form of forced labor is known as debt bondage or debt bondage slavery. It works like this: the slave owner starts with offering a loan in the form of literal money, food, medicine needed to survive, or tools to work. The "debt" aspect of debt bondage refers to an illegally high interest rate that laborers either "inherit" from their family members or involuntarily take on when they accept a loan from the slave holder. By establishing an illegally and impossibly high interest rate, slave holders effectively ensure that a person trapped in the cycle of debt bondage can never pay off their "debts," no matter how many hours they work.

Also, people in debt bondage slavery are not allowed to work for anyone else. Since they don't get paid by the slaveholder and they are not allowed to earn money any other way, there is literally no way to pay off the debt. People in debt bondage slavery often do not know this is against the law, and the obligation they feel to repay this bogus debt is one of the things that keeps them trapped. Slavery expert and Voices4Freedom International Advisory Board Member, Kevin Bales CMG explains, all of these factors form a "chain around the brain" that keeps them enslaved. (7)

Child slavery is also known as forced child labor, which is defined as work done by children which, as phrased by the ILO, deprives them of "their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to their physical and mental development," (8) the latter most of which is often the consequence of an interference or deprivation of schooling. The ILO estimates that one third of the 152 million children forced into child labor (9) are kept from attending school. (10) Many children forced to work do so in extremely hazardous and toxic conditions.

Some examples of child slavery include: brick kiln workers, subjected to work in a small space full of dust exceeding 120 degrees fahrenheit; child soldiers, forced to fight and die in guerilla warfare; child marriage, where families exchange their daughter for a dowry due to pressures from poverty, cultural, and religious norms; carpet making, where small, nimble fingers are at a premium. It is also common for child laborers to be trafficked for sex and other forms of labor, and always for profit.

Is all child labor actually slavery? No. If a child is working, either for their family member or for someone else, but still gets to go to school, is treated fairly and paid a fair wage, it is not child slavery. Many people feel strongly that children should not work at all, no matter how well they are treated. This is a separate debate that is not about slavery.

All of these various forms of modern day slavery exist to achieve the same goal: personal or capital gain through exploitation of another human being.

An increase in environmental protection regulations doesn't translate to a more protected earth. Rather, environmentally destructive practices continue illegally with slave labor. Slavery and environmental damage are inextricably related and their erradication is tied together. To end environmental destruction, we have to end slavery.

Modern Slavery in Africa, India and the United States

Nations throughout Africa, the Middle East and Asia represent the highest rates of slavery. However, modern day slavery is also present in developed countries including the United States.

Most people around the world engage with slavery every day without realizing it. How is that? Slavery exists in the chain of production of nearly all laptops and mobile phones, and a lot of apparel, fish, coffee, chocolate, and jewelry. Most products made in compliance with ethical labor (and environmental) standards are far more expensive to consumers. Unfortunately, consumers are often tempted to choose the cheapest product, regardless of who is exploited as a result.

Modern Slavery in India

According to the Global Slavery Index, there were an estimated 7,989,000 people enslaved in India in 2018. Forced labor, child exploitation, trafficking and slavery are all criminalized by the Indian government. However, certain forms of slavery such as child marriage are permitted, so long as it doesn't involve kidnapping. Similarly, there are no formal laws against children fighting in armed conflicts.

I ndia is the world's largest granite producer, having produced 35,342 million tons in 2013. (7) In 2017 India made $738,731,000 in profits from exporting Granite, Basalt and Sandstone. (11) However, the markup is incredible. While granite countertops run from $2,000 to $8,000, the price Indian exporters charge for red granite for example is just $5 per $15, or about $100 for a full granite kitchen.

T o expose granite quarries, entire forests, along with their soil, are done away with. And once the quarry has been worked out and all the granite has been extracted, what remains is an abandoned wasteland, useless as forest or farmland. (7) Because granite has to be removed from quarries in large thin slabs, one can't use dynamite or bulldozers to speed up the process; rather, people have to go in with drills and chisels, hammers and crowbars to gently work the granite out of the ground. And the most cost effective labor force, slavery, is put to work. (7) Bonded labor slavery is the name of the game here.

Forced sexual exploitation is another emerging trend across India's open and unmanned international borders. In 2016, 126 young females were trafficked into the northeastern state of Assam. They were lured in by traffickers offering them the promise of a good job, but were then forced into sexual slavery. In another example, Nepali women, who are highly valued in India where they are seen as very beautiful, are lured or traded across the border into sexual slavery. If they are ever able to attain their freedom, they usually cannot return home to Nepal because they have brought shame to their families - their families will be kicked out of their homes and villages as a result, so the enslaved women are trapped.

Modern Slavery in the United States

The same tactics of force, fraud, and coercion that are used to exploit people around the world are also used in the United States. Of every 1,000 people in the United States, 1.3 are living in modern slavery. Modern slavery is seen in jobs like domestic work; agriculture and farm work; traveling sales crews; restaurant or food services; and health and beauty services. Up to 30 percent of farmworker families are living below the federal poverty line, experiencing situations of modern slavery where they are held against their will, through the use or threat of violence, and forced to work for little or no money. (12) Thus, the fruits, vegetables, and meats we consume are often the product of slave labor happening in the United States.

Agricultural slavery is concentrated around the U.S. borders, where predominantly people of color are forced to work through methods of coercion and threats of physical or sexual violence and deportation. These laborers are given no pay, or only enough pay to allow them to keep themselves from starving, so they can keep working.

Women and children, in addition to men, can be trapped into forced labor. Though all genders can experience sexual violence in their workplace, women in forced labor are more likely to be victims of sexual exploitation. In effect, sexual exploitation enters into all forms of slavery.

Consumers in the United States buy into slavery every day. The United States imports over $144 billion dollars worth of products created by forced labor or at-risk populations, more than any other country in the world. (13)

Modern Slavery in Africa

Slavery is so widespread in Africa that almost every product produced through slavery can be traced at one part or another back to the continent. According to GSI, 7.6 of every 1,000 people in the entire continent of Africa were living in modern day slavery in 2018. The same study reveals that some of the most common forms of slavery in Africa are forced marriage (with 4.8 victims per 1,000 people) and forced labor (with 2.8 victims per 1,000 people). It is estimated that there are 400,000 people experiencing sexual exploitation.

The reach of modern day slavery is widespread and pervasive. Slavery exists in every country in one way or another. With the realities of mass global trade and commerce, as long as slavery still exists in any country, it is inevitable that products made by forced labor enter into the global mainstream economy.

What Causes Modern Day Slavery?

We at Voices4Freedom know that to achieve our goal of eradicating modern slavery in our lifetime, we must keep in mind what causes it. It begins with degrading the value of human life. A lethal combination of overpopulation, poverty and corruption devalues and dehumanizes entire populations of people - making their lives "cheap" and "disposable." This opens up the possibility of exploitation with no regard to human rights.

Corruption and apathy play big roles in why a government may remain complicit in the fight against slavery. Powerful entities that profit from modern day slavery often pressure and bribe governments and law enforcement so that they can continue exploiting without repurcusions. Many governments perpetuate the issue by dismissing the reality of slavery in their country. A new study conducted by the University of Nottingham's Rights Lab revealed that 94 countries have no criminal law against slavery. (14)

The hidden nature of modern day slavery presents many obstacles. What may look like a legitimate job or enterprise could in fact be debt bondage slavery, forced labor or one of the many different types of modern day slavery. Without the right knowledge and toolset, modern day slavery can exist right under our noses - even in our own communities. Some governments argue that their inaction stems from an inability, usually due to a lack of resources, to identify where or how this problem is occuring. Likewise, people who are enslaved may not be able to even recognize that they are being exploited. They may believe the terms of their employment are legitimate and don't recognize the methods of force, fraud or coercion that were used to enslave them.

Racism, xenophobia, climate change, and civil unrest all perpetuate pre-existing vulnerabilities and create new ones which increase the potential for exploitation. In the case of climate refugees and other refugees, slave holders are tricking these victims into slavery in exchange for their relocation.

The structural and cultural racism which have existed throughout history are still at play in modern day slavery in the obvious, and insidious, ways. More obviously, minority groups and vulnerable people have continued to be targeted as victims of modern day slavery. However, even the popular anti-modern day slavery efforts usually have an element of structural and cultural racism, in the form of white savior complex. When organizations "helicopter in" for "rescue missions," such efforts rarely address the factors which make people vulnerable to modern day slavery in the first place. Sustainable freedom requires a rights education, vocational skills training, a psychological healing, and empowerment to believe in their right to be free.

Where Do We Start?

The extensive reach of modern day slavery may make it seem like an insurmountable problem. But, in the part of the world where slavery is most pervasive, education and empowerment is a real, consistent, and sustainable solution. Let us introduce you to Schools4Freedom.

Schools4Freedom helps entire villages free themselves from slavery by educating and empowering them to break free and stay free. Entire communities come to understand the legal system and how to navigate it. They learn about the life changing government programs they never knew they were entitled to. Equipped with a knowledge of their rights and inherent self-worth, they also learn how to overcome the obstacles that racism, xenophobia, and corruption inevitably bring, and ultimately confront their slave owners and free themselves. Forever.

In three years, 100-200 people in a village come to sustainable freedom; every child is caught up to grade level and has transitioned into the local government school; every child and parent has gained enough confidence to demand equal treatment, even when caste prejudice is rampant; and every person in the village is FREE, knows their rights, and is supporting themselves financially, so they won't fall prey to the slaveholder again. Schools4Freedom Villages join a federation of freed villages so they can support each other when challenges arise and help others to freedom.

These schools are the catalyst that brings entire villages to sustainable freedom!

Our solution starts with two teachers gathering kids under a tree to learn. While this seems innocuous to the slaveholder, it's actually a Trojan horse for life-changing ideas. A single School4Freedom provides everything needed to bring an entire village to sustainable freedom in three years flat.

Each village Voices4Freedom works in receives a school building, which is temporary by design. Within three years of our arrival, all of the village children are caught up to grade level and ready to transition to a government-run school. The school is staffed with two teachers who are culturally aware of the local challenges faced by their students. The team is always made up of one female and one male teacher in order to model gender equality and compassionate and fair leadership. Each student then gets their very own school supplies. Simple pencils and paper that the children own themselves have never been more excitedly received. Hot lunches keep students nourished and focused during the school day. In the early days, this is the only full meal the kids receive. When some of the parents are reluctant to risk the wrath of the slaveholder by sending their children to school, the promise of a nutritious meal awaiting their starving children gives them confidence. A solar light is installed in every Schools4Freedom village to supply light for studying at night. It also helps to prevent rape and snakebites.

Local community frontline advocates work with the villagers to advocate for their rights to the government. These advocates are always from the region, speak the local dialects, and know how to help the villages shift the levers of power in favor of justice. They help each villager access 19 government assistance programs that they are entitled to, but never knew existed. They're also often the first humans to treat the villagers with respect. Each villager is regarded as fully capable of freeing themselves and building a meaningful life in sustainable freedom. To empower villagers so that they begin to believe this themselves, our frontline advocates also provide vocational and rights training. Through this training, every adult learns how to and successfully secures reliable paid work or starts their own small business in an industry with high local demand. Each person learns their rights and how to advocate for themselves so they never fall prey to abuse again - by traffickers, slaveholders, or their own government. That's between 110 and 190 people per village who've come to sustainable freedom over three years with their children being educated. Our processes rely on villagers working together and supporting one another, which builds group and individual resiliency.

So far, Voices4Freedom has supported over 3,993 people to sustainable freedom, educated 1,983 children and established 43 transitional schools in India.

With your help we can accomplish our mission to end slavery in our lifetime. We invite you to learn more about our freedom initiatives and join us today in the fight for freedom!

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Modern Day Slavery is real slavery: where people are held against their will, under violence or threat of violence, and unable to walk away. They are either never paid or paid irregularly, either in the form of food or money, the sum of which is far below any minimum wage standards; typically they are paid only enough to survive another day.