The message is simplistic, a bit cliche, but unquestionably true
““ slavery still exists.
While this week’s antislavery protests surrounding the
issue of human trafficking are important, it is equally important
to recognize enslavement that comes with a metaphorical, rather
than physical, ball and chain.
All too often, students look to history books, the Constitution
or international declarations for evidence that slavery no longer
exists.
We point out the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863,
Women’s Suffrage in 1919, Brown v. the Topeka Board of
Education in 1954, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the U.N.
Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, among others.
But we often forget the types of slavery that legislation,
Constitutions and governments may not be able to stop with pieces
of paper.
Poverty, disease, addictions to drugs or alcohol, racism and
prejudice, language barriers and limited education, among others,
are all instruments of enslavement.
And like physical slavery and human trafficking, these shackles
can too be broken. But it’s going to take a collective effort
by the entire community to tackle slavery in all walks of life.