it was slavery

i mean for real…

Exactly.

When I was learning about The United States Civil War during my K-12 years I always found it odd that there were “arguments” that the battle was really about money/currency.

Because lets be honest, HOW were they making that money? Through CHATTEL ENSLAVEMENT.

Seriously I hate how white people keep skirting the issue like this. “It was about state rights” Started over the right to own slaves.

To all of my fellow white people living in the South - it is our duty to keep the record straight on this. The racists who pull this revisionism won’t listen to people of color who try to correct it. Hell, they usually won’t even listen to a white man like me who speaks the truth they don’t like. But speak it anyway, and don’t let the lie go unchallenged.

“The Civil War was about money!” Yes. Specifically, the money from an economy built on the backs of enslaved people.

“The Civil War was about states’ rights!” Yes – whether or not Southern States had the right to enslave an entire ethnicity.

“This flag is about heritage, not hate!” Yes – a heritage of enslaving an entire people group and attempting to secede rather than stop enslaving people.

That’s the job for me and my fellow Southern white people. Of course, y’all up North don’t get to just sit back and relax. You’ve got your own lies to fight against – specifically, lies about racism not historically or currently being a problem up there. It was, and it is, and we’ve all got to fight against these lies however they manifest themselves around us.

Anyway, according to the fucking vice president of the confederacy (content warning: this is a transcript of a speech given by the vice president of the CSA, so…you know, figure it out) the war, and the whole reason for the existence of the confederacy in the first place, was totally about slavery.

There’s little drug rehabilitation going on at these labor camps. Some of the companies that utilize the slave labor are so dependent on it that they’d go under without it. Some of the industries these men are forced to work in are notoriously dangerous. When they’re injured, the companies file workers compensation claims – and keep the money for themselves, even though the workers are typically not employees but clients.

Warning: no matter how bad you think this story is going to be, it’s worse

dangerously close to a realization

My older brother went to a rehab that basically was just a work camp they had them out in the central California summer heat doing landscaping work for no pay six days a week, under threat of being sent to prison, they are literal slave camps and for profit rehab will NEVER work and will always be disgustingly exploitive of some of societies most vulnerable people

for reference, central california summers can easily get over 100°f/38°c

now imagine dealing with that and withdrawal while doing hard labor for no pay

Deep Water Prompt #2226

Our city ran on the power of an imprisoned god. We were not allowed to pray to him, but some of the desperate still tried.

We are free of the gods, our leaders say. Free of their caprice, free of their cruelty, free of their rule. One we have captured, and its power makes our city a paradise. The others dare not approach us now.

The city is beautiful. Every garden thrives, every building stands tall. Our weather is perfect, our parks are exquisite . Everything crafted or manufactured in it is perfect, beautiful and imbued with a breath of power. Our artists produce masterworks, our musicians could make a statue weep or laugh. Our streets are clean, and our city is always perfumed with the scent of flowers.

But it’s not a paradise.

It is for the leaders. For the rich. For the artists. For anyone who is special, who has a gift. But not everyone does. And it’s a city. Every city has its poor quarter, its lowest classes, its failures.

It’s better for us here than it would be elsewhere, that’s probably true. There’s very little sickness in the city, even here. Our water is always clean and safe. Food is plentiful, even if we don’t dine on the rare fruits the rich do. Even our slums aren’t too dirty. There’s very little crime. I can sleep in my cramped little room knowing that rats won’t come out of its walls, that neither oppressive heat or dangerous cold will ever touch me here, that I won’t go hungry.

But for those of us who are… imperfect… it’s still hard. The divine power that imbued the city had made us a beautiful people, strong and healthy, but it didn’t work on everyone. And as our population grew, more and more children were born who weren’t what their parents wanted. They were born deaf, or blind, or with twisted backs or missing limbs. And the ones who seemed sound sometimes weren’t, on the inside. They were wracked with nameless terrors, or had minds like butterflies that flitted from one idea to the next, never pausing, or could not bear the weight of human eyes on them, or wept endlessly even on beautiful days.

Some families hid their disappointing children away, or trained them to hide their differences. Some families found a gift in the child that redeemed their strangeness, some talent for poetry or music or craft that made them acceptable. Some even still loved them.

Keep reading

Word.

The Texan Revolution formed from the anger of these white settlers in Texas, which was still part of Mexico at this time. They had moved from slave-owning southern part of the US and they became upset because the president of Mexico, Vicente Guerrero, abolished slavery. Mexico actually attempted to restrict American immigration into Mexico-owned Texas! The leaders of the Mexican centralist forces that defeated the Texan revolutionary forces at the Alamo were against slavery. If you ever hear a Texan say “Remember the Alamo!” just remember that the Texan settlers that died there had a vested interest in maintaining control of Texas territory so they could continue to use slave labor. 

forget the alamo.

Fuck the alamo

Not only does the alamo suck as a historical monument, but fuck the people who fought there

Remember The Alamo, NOT as a brave battle, but as an important step in maintaining  slavery.  That may also help understand why the 14th Amendment, did NOT end slavery, it only transferred ownership from private hands to Government ownership.

For the first half of my life I lived in San Antonio. We were taught (from Kindergarten) that the people who fought in the Alamo were the heroes. Mexico the bad guy. It was a WOAH moment when I learned that wasn’t the case.

Also it’s super boring going to the Alamo every school year for field trips.

^^^

I took a year long class in middle school called Texas History and we were taught this shit was for freedom. That is was inspiring. I know Texas likes to rewrite textbooks like slaves being migrant workers but i feel betrayed by my teacher, my school, and my educational system. I’m not surprised, it is one of many wrongfully rewritten narratives but it took a decade for me to right this wrong. I was today years old when I found this out.

All my friends tell me I should move on I’m lying in the ocean singing your song That’s how you sang it

Loving you forever can’t be wrong Even though you’re not here, won’t move on That’s how we played it

And there’s no remedy for memory, your face is like a melody

 It won’t leave my head

Your soul is haunting me and telling me that everything is fine But I wish I was dead

Every time I close my eyes, it’s like a dark paradise No one compares to you I’m scared that you won’t be waiting on the other side Every time I close my eyes, it’s like a dark paradise No one compares to you I’m scared that you won’t be waiting on the other side

All my friends ask me why I stay strong Tell ‘em when you find true love, it lives on That’s why I stay here And there’s no remedy for memory, your face is like a melody

It won’t leave my head

Your soul is haunting me and telling me that everything is fine But I wish I was dead

Every time I close my eyes, it’s like a dark paradise No one compares to youI’m scared that you won’t be waiting on the other side Every time I close my eyes, it’s like a dark paradise No one compares to you But there’s no you, except in my dreams tonight

I don’t want to wake up from this tonight I don’t want to wake up from this tonight There’s no relief, I see you in my sleep And everybody’s rushing me, but I can feel you touching me There’s no release, I feel you in my dreams Telling me I’m fine Every time I close my eyes, it’s like a dark paradise  No one compares to you I’m scared that you won’t be waiting on the other side  Every time I close my eyes, it’s like a dark paradise.  No one compares to you But there’s no you, except in my dreams tonight

I don’t want to wake up from this tonight

 I don’t want to wake up from this tonight