Modern Day Slavery

Though the Transatlantic slave trade ended nearly two centuries ago, the Middle Passage was not the beginning, nor end, of mankind's history with slavery. For some reason, the practice of enslaving and dehumanizing others seems to be encoded into our DNA.

In Colbert I. King's latest op-ed piece for the Washington Post (see top link), the issue of diplomatic immunity is explored. Apparently, diplomats and foreign service workers from abroad have been bringing along household help when they are placed in a Stateside position, and then denying them promised wages, adequate health and medical care, and stripping them of their working papers and passports - creating an underclass without access to basic human rights, and normally lacking the ability to find a way out.

King discusses the problem at length, and calls on Condoleeza Rice to help press the department that controls such matters into clearly defining what is covered by diplomatic immunity. King's piece ends by promising more pieces in the future, exposing this rising epidemic.

Sadly, slavery comes in many forms like the sexual enslavement of child brides and the modern day indentured servitude driven by debt.

When will we learn to free each other, and ourselves?