Nolasco 1

Jocelyne Nolasco
English 115 Honors
Professor Lawson
Argument Proposal
15 November 2016
Word Count: 700
Argument Proposal: The Thirteenth Amendment
1. Research Question: What role has the Thirteenth Amendment played in continuing
systemic racism and institutionalization against African Americans and Latinos beginning
from the reconstruction era to modern day? How has systematic oppression evolved over
the centuries in America?
2. Claim One: The Thirteenth Amendment was created for abolishing of slavery in the
United States. This amendment grants freedom to all Americans; however, there are a few
exceptions to the rules of slavery. One can still be a slave if one has committed a crime
and is now a prisoner. The Constitution states neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude, except as a punishment for crime wherefore the party shall have been duly
convicted, shall exist in the United States. The writers of this amendment created a
huge loop hole which many states took to their advantage almost immediately after the
ratification of the amendment. African Americans were being arrested and thrown to jail
for extremely petty crimes and even for actions as simple as interacting with a white
person. Now that they were criminals, states had the constitutional right to possibly use
African Americans as slave again and most states did. During the reconstruction era,
incarcerations of blacks was blatantly an issue of race and this pattern continued through
the civil rights movement; however, the question is has this pattern continued in modern

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day America and the answer is yes. Yes, because of government policies that have been
approved like the mandatory minimums. Yes, because media has played a role in racially
profiling African Americans and Latinos as criminals since the reconstruction era. Yes,
because America holds 25% of the worlds prisoners while only holding 5% of the
worlds population and the majority of that 25% are Blacks and Latinos. Yes, because
huge companies are using these prisoners as workers and paying them cents a day which
is considered free labor, in other words, considered slavery. 57% of inmates in Rikers
Island Prison in New York were arrested for non-violent crimes.
3. Claim Two: The system has worked against the favor of African Americans and Latinos
since the birth of this nation. Not only are Blacks and Latinos being incarcerated at a
larger rate than white men but these prisoners are finding themselves being unable to
escape prison, physically and mentally. This is called institutionalization. Rafael
Figueroa, a Latino inmate at Rikers Island Prison states in an interview, Ive been
beaten and almost killed in this jail Ive been more in prison than in the streets when
I went to the streets, I felt like I was in jail, in here I feel safe for myself. Figueroa is
an example of how prison can dehumanize a person and change their state of mind to
think that they are more safe in a prison cell with other violent inmates than having
complete freedom in the world.
4. Some things that can become problematic about these claims is that they might come off
as very emotional, especially coming from someone like myself who truly believes that
systematic oppression is still very prevalent. Because of this, there might be some topics
that lack some evidence and may also need more explanation.
5. I want to make my audience aware of the systematic racism and oppression that African
Americans and Latinos go through even today. I want to compare the blatant racism of
the Reconstruction Era and Civil Rights Movement to the oppression in modern day

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America in the form of prisons. Slavery is still very much alive in 2016 America as much
as it was alive before the Emancipation Proclamation, through the help of the thirteenth
amendments loop hole and along with other policies created against the favor of
minorities especially Blacks and Hispanics.
6. Some might interpret the thirteenth amendment in a different than I and others do, which

may spark some doubt in those readers. The way that I will respond to their interpretation
is with factual evidence. Because of the 13th amendments loop hole, during
reconstruction era, states were almost purposefully arresting African Americans so that
they can be used for free labor again, which was technically constitutionally appropriate.
This amendment has not been changed since.