So, picture this: January 31, 1865, Congress finally does something right—imagine that. They pass the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery once and for all. Cue the fanfare, right? Well, hold onto your hats, because while this was a monumental moment, it didn’t exactly fix everything. But hey, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Let’s clear up one thing right away: the Emancipation Proclamation? That big, famous Lincoln speech everyone thinks ended slavery? Yeah, no. It was like the country’s awkward promposal to freedom: cute, but not binding. It freed enslaved people in Confederate territory, which sounds noble until you realize Lincoln had about as much jurisdiction there as your neighbor’s cat. The Thirteenth Amendment, on the other hand, finally put it in writing: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude… shall exist within the United States.” Boom. Mic drop.
But, of course, because we can’t have nice things, they tacked on an asterisk: “…except as punishment for a crime.” And there it was—a loophole big enough to drive a prison-industrial complex through. But let’s not digress—yet.
Fast forward to now. We’re supposed to be celebrating progress, right? We’ve come so far! But wait—what’s this? The Department of Justice is hitting the pause button on civil rights litigation. Yes, that’s right, they’ve asked the Civil Rights Division to, I don’t know, chill out for a bit. It’s like telling the fire department to take five while your house is still smoldering. (reuters.com)
And if that doesn’t make you want to scream into a pillow, here’s the kicker: they’ve handed the keys to this whole operation to Harmeet Dhillon. If you’re not familiar, she’s about as sympathetic to civil rights as a cat is to a laser pointer. This is the person now overseeing investigations into police misconduct and housing discrimination. I don’t know about you, but that sounds a little like putting a fox in charge of the henhouse—except in this case, the fox might sue the hens for trespassing.
Here’s the thing, folks: the Thirteenth Amendment was supposed to be the great equalizer. Slavery was abolished! We fixed it! Or at least, that’s what they’d like us to think. But here we are, watching the very agencies meant to protect those hard-won rights slowly dismantling them, piece by piece, like a Jenga tower of justice. One wrong move, and the whole thing topples.
So, yeah, January 31, 1865, was a big day. It was the day Congress finally got off its collective ass and did something meaningful. But let’s not kid ourselves—freedom doesn’t maintain itself. The Thirteenth Amendment wasn’t a finish line; it was more like the starting gun in a marathon that, apparently, we’re still running. And some folks? They’re trying to trip us up at every turn.
The legacy of the Thirteenth Amendment isn’t just about what happened back then—it’s about what we’re willing to fight for now. And judging by the state of things, we’ve got some serious work to do. Because if history’s taught us anything, it’s that progress doesn’t just happen. You’ve got to fight for it. And sometimes, you’ve got to yell about it—loudly.
