Sadly, there is still slavery in the USA. Fortunately, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are leading the Democratic Party in our continuing struggle to end slavery and regain hard-fought rights to health care that are threatened by other so-called leaders in other political parties. The Democratic Party is also working to protect the environment, while the Republican Party continues to deny climate change and its dire consequences. This affects not just the USA, but also the rest of the world. So, the national election on November 5 will be a key battle for all of us. It is part of what I have called the fifth war for slavery in the history of the USA1.

There have been four previous wars for slavery conducted by the USA: the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War and the Civil War1. When children like me were taught history in the USA, we were told that the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves in the rebellious states of the Confederacy and the 13th Amendment to the Constitution freed them everywhere in the USA. That was a very effective lie. It told part of the truth, but left out the part that is most important. The 13th Amendment reads:

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

The phrase “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted” meant that African-Americans could be arrested and convicted of failing to pay rent when they were sharecroppers, looking at or touching a white woman, observing a white man commit a crime and then testifying in court, trying to vote, for being a judge who had sentenced a white man for a crime (during the 12 years of Reconstruction after the Civil War), or for just being black. Today, African-Americans can be arrested for protesting peacefully, running from the police, driving while being black or just being “uppity” or “resisting arrest”. This has expanded into a prison-industrial complex in which prisoners work under inhumane conditions, subject to punishment without cause (except “being uppity” or resistant). They earn no money and can be transferred to other jails after the receiving jail pays the jailers from where the inmate came. Meanwhile, the corporate stockholders and executives get rich – just like the Plantation owners in the Confederacy.

White men (slaveholders as well as non-slave holders) were made collectively responsible for the control and regulation of slavery. It was the civil duty of all white men to enforce slave laws. To help them with their ‘duty’, the second amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed. It said “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”. Of course, the word ‘people’ meant white men. They needed to have rifles and pistols so they could shoot any escaped slave or any Native American on sight. Fortunately, there are many strong and righteous leaders in the USA who want to ban assault weapons. We are being led by Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, the Democratic Party’s nominees for President and Vice-President. In contrast, the Republicans are led by old men who want to ban books that teach the complete history of the USA.

At the same time, girls and women were badly mistreated. In most of the world and the American colonies, married women had no control over the family’s property, could not execute an enforceable contract or initiate legal action without her husband’s permission. The husband owned and controlled all the property that his wife brought to the marriage with her. Any dowry was merged with the husband’s property and did not go to her upon his death. Moreover, women could be convicted of witchcraft and burned alive. In the Massachusetts colony, a law was passed in 1662 which stated that women would be subjected to the same treatment as witches if they lured men into marriage via the use of high-heeled shoes. Women’s sexuality and reproductive abilities were targets of white men who prosecuted and executed ‘witches’. Women were considered to be a separate species. Supposedly, they were more carnal and perverted by nature.

In 1661, the Virginia State Assembly declared that the word ‘slave’ was ‘synonymous with African/Black’. Then, in 1664, they passed a law incorporating the principle of partus sequitur ventrem. That is, children of enslaved mothers would be born into slavery, regardless of their father's race or status. This was in contradiction to English common law for English subjects, which based a child's status on that of the father. In the Maryland colony, any English woman who married a slave had to live as a slave of her husband’s master.

In 1807, the British Parliament outlawed the slave trade and in 1838, chattel slavery in its colonies. However, in the USA, slavery was expanding. It continues throughout the world today.

As described by Kevin Bales, slavery and environmental destruction go hand in hand2. They spring from the same roots: greed and the consumer culture. We extract commodities from the Earth and Sea, then dispose of them when finished – into the increasingly polluted environment. Consumer spending drives a vicious cycle of slavery and destruction. “Shrimp, fish, gold, diamonds, steel, beef, sugar and the other fruits of slavery flow into the stores of North America, Europe, Japan, and increasingly into China”. “The foundations of our new economy rest on the forceful extraction of minerals in places where laws do not work and criminals control everything”. “If slavery were an American state it would have the population of California, the economic output of the District of Columbia, but it would be the third largest producer of carbon dioxide, after China and the United States” 2.

Fortunately, we won a critical victory against slavery and for the health of girls and women in the USA on November 3, 2020, when Joe Biden was elected President. He worked with his Vice-President and the rest of the Democratic Party to pass important legislation that has helped all Americans and the rest of the world. At the same time, he exhibited true leadership when he decided not to become the nominee for the Democratic Party and endorsed Kamala Harris. Together with Tim Walz and hundreds of thousands of volunteers, Kamala is working tirelessly to spread her message of hope and human rights, while her opponent in working as hard as an old man can to help only himself and to avoid going to jail for crimes that he was convicted of by a jury of his peers.

On September 10, Kamala had a debate with her Republican opponent. It went very well for her, as she demonstrated her youthful energy and striking intelligence. She did an excellent job of describing the enormous differences between her and her opponent, as well as the entire Republican Party. She and the Democratic Party are against slavery and for the rights of girls and women. Most importantly to me and many others around the world is her support for Gaia, or Mother Earth. The Republican Party is the only political party in the world that denies the climate crisis. They put corporate profit over the lives of the people – especially the youngest and most vulnerable. They treat the environment and women as commodities to be consumed and then thrown away one they are done with them.

I want to lift my voice in support of abolitionists and feminists around the world as we work to protect our children and grandchildren. Global Climate Change is real and its consequences will be deadly for billions and possibly even all of humanity. It has now become a climate crisis, claiming millions of victims. It is very important that we win this election and join Pope Frances, President Lula (Luis Inácio Lula da Silva) and the Brazilian people to protect the environment, as well as the youngest and most vulnerable people in the world3.

Notes

1 Smith, R.E. The five American wars for slavery. The slave owners won the first three. Meer, 25 September, 2020.
2 Bales, K. Blood and Earth. Modern Slavery, Ecocide and the Secret to Saving the World, Spiegel & Grau, New York, 2016.
3 Smith, R.E. Vatican front against climate change. Meer, 24 Dec., 2023.