Modern-day emancipation
Dr. Kevin Bales talks about ending modern slavery
by Rebecca Klein
Features editor
Features | 9/8/09
Posted online at 11:13 PM EST on 9/7/09
/ Last updated at 3:51 AM EST on 9/7/09
Flash back to 1850. You are in Alabama, picking cotton for 15 hours a day and getting paid nothing. At any moment you could be separated from your family and sent to another plantation as part of the national slave trade.
Now, flash forward to 2009. You are still working 15-hour days and getting paid nothing; however, instead of working in a field, you are cleaning houses in a suburb of Washington, D.C. This time, instead of being enslaved under a national, legal form of commerce, you were lured into slavery under the false pretenses of money and education.
But isn't slavery illegal?
Pulitzer Prize nominee and president of Free the Slaves Dr. Kevin Bales came to speak at Brandeis about modern-day slavery as part of the Social Justice Leadership Series presented by The Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism on Wednesday, Sept. 2. Free the Slaves is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to "liberat[ing] slaves around the world, help[ing] them rebuild their lives and research[ing] real world solutions to eradicate slavery forever," according to its Web site.
Bales, relaxed and cordial, spoke confidently about what modern slavery is, where it comes from and why it exists in the present day. He also spoke about how slavery can come to an end and the important role investigative journalism could play in helping to expose it.
Bales told the audience in Goldfarb Library's Rapaporte Treasure Hall that today 27 million people are enslaved all over the world, approximately 14,500 of whom are brought into America each year through human trafficking, the modern-day slave trade. Today, most slaves are found in India and African countries and can work in fields, brothels, homes, mines and restaurants, according to the Free the Slaves Web site.
Bales discussed how slavery has has existed ever since humans have existed.
"There has never been a day in America without slavery. From the time Columbus landed right up to the present moment, there has been slavery every single day, ... sometimes to a greater extent, sometimes to a lesser extent, but never [has the country existed] without slavery," Bales said.
Now, flash forward to 2009. You are still working 15-hour days and getting paid nothing; however, instead of working in a field, you are cleaning houses in a suburb of Washington, D.C. This time, instead of being enslaved under a national, legal form of commerce, you were lured into slavery under the false pretenses of money and education.
But isn't slavery illegal?
Pulitzer Prize nominee and president of Free the Slaves Dr. Kevin Bales came to speak at Brandeis about modern-day slavery as part of the Social Justice Leadership Series presented by The Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism on Wednesday, Sept. 2. Free the Slaves is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to "liberat[ing] slaves around the world, help[ing] them rebuild their lives and research[ing] real world solutions to eradicate slavery forever," according to its Web site.
Bales, relaxed and cordial, spoke confidently about what modern slavery is, where it comes from and why it exists in the present day. He also spoke about how slavery can come to an end and the important role investigative journalism could play in helping to expose it.
Bales told the audience in Goldfarb Library's Rapaporte Treasure Hall that today 27 million people are enslaved all over the world, approximately 14,500 of whom are brought into America each year through human trafficking, the modern-day slave trade. Today, most slaves are found in India and African countries and can work in fields, brothels, homes, mines and restaurants, according to the Free the Slaves Web site.
Bales discussed how slavery has has existed ever since humans have existed.
"There has never been a day in America without slavery. From the time Columbus landed right up to the present moment, there has been slavery every single day, ... sometimes to a greater extent, sometimes to a lesser extent, but never [has the country existed] without slavery," Bales said.
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