--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nine Southern states adopted vagrancy…" description: "\"“Nine Southern states adopted vagrancy laws - which essentially made it a criminal offense not to work and were applied selectively to blacks - and eig..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49b/michelle-alexander-750_du-bois_nine-southern-states-adopted-vagrancy-la_1583294.png" --- # Nine Southern states adopted vagrancy laws - which… ![“Nine Southern states adopted vagrancy laws - which essentially made it a criminal offense not to work and were applied selectively to blacks - and eight of those states enacted convict laws allowing for the hiring-out of county prisoners to plantation owners and private companies. Prisoners were…” quote by Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49b/michelle-alexander-750_du-bois_nine-southern-states-adopted-vagrancy-la_1583294.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49b/michelle-alexander-750_du-bois_nine-southern-states-adopted-vagrancy-la_1583294.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49b/michelle-alexander-750_du-bois_nine-southern-states-adopted-vagrancy-la_1583294.png) > ““Nine Southern states adopted vagrancy laws - which essentially made it a criminal offense not to work and were applied selectively to blacks - and eight of those states enacted convict laws allowing for the hiring-out of county prisoners to plantation owners and private companies. Prisoners were forced to work for little or no pay. One vagrancy act specifically provided that 'all free negroes and mulattoes over the age of eighteen' must have written proof of a job at the beginning of the year. Those found with no lawful employment were deemed vagrants and convicted. Clearly, the purpose of the black codes in general and the vagrancy laws in particular was to establish another system of forced labor. In W.E.B. Du Bois's words: 'The Codes spoke for themselves. . . . No open-minded student can read them without being convinced they meant nothing more nor less than slavery in daily toil.”” [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The Black Codes used vagrancy laws to criminalize unemployment among Black people, forcing them into unpaid labor, effectively continuing slavery under a legal guise. **In simple terms:** Black laws forced Black people into forced labor. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge modern forms of forced labor. Themes racism labor exploitation legal oppression history civil rights Mood angry determined hopeful Type historical activist educational When to use this quote - historical analysis - civil rights education - policy reform - activism - community organizing Key Concepts systemic racism economic coercion legal manipulation Questions to Reflect On - How do contemporary policies echo past forced labor systems? - What legal safeguards can prevent such exploitation today? A Different Perspective These laws were justified as public order but masked economic exploitation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blacks States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blacks-states-5984746/) [Convict Laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/convict-laws-5984745/) [Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/du-bois/) [Vagrancy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vagrancy-902549/) [Vagrancy Act](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vagrancy-act-5984744/) [Vagrancy Laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vagrancy-laws-1725608/) ## Related quotes > [Nine southern states adopted vagrancy laws, which essentially made it a criminal offense not to work and were applied selectively to blacks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/nine-southern-states-adopted-vagrancy-laws-which-essentially-made-it/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“Vagrancy laws and other laws defining activities such as "mischief" and "insulting gestures" as crimes were enforced vigorously against blacks. The aggressive enforcement of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/vagrancy-laws-and-other-laws-defining-activities-such-as-mischief-and/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“Vagrancy is deliverance, and a life on the open road is the essence of freedom. To have the courage to smash the chains with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunnar-kopperud/vagrancy-is-deliverance-and-a-life-on-the-open-road-is-the-essence-of/) [Gunnar Kopperud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-kopperud/) > [If, after obtaining Buddhahood, anyone in my land gets tossed in jail on a vagrancy rap, may I not attain highest perfect enlightenment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-snyder/if-after-obtaining-buddhahood-anyone-in-my-land-gets-tossed-in-jail/) [Gary Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-snyder/) > [ “\[T\]he slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery. —W.E.B Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/t-he-slave-went-free-stood-a-brief-moment-in-the-sun-then-moved-back/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“This is fable,” Du Bois thundered in the April 1934 Crisis. “I once believed it passionately. It may become true in 250 or 1,000…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/this-is-fable-du-bois-thundered-in-the-april-1934-crisis-i-once/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“African American racial consciousness responds to the horrors of the Middle Passage and New World slavery as well as to the unfulfilled promise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-dain/african-american-racial-consciousness-responds-to-the-horrors-of-the/) [Bruce Dain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-dain/) > [“If there was one thing that South Carolina feared more than bad Negro government,” wrote Du Bois, “it was good Negro government.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/if-there-was-one-thing-that-south-carolina-feared-more-than-bad-negro/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [“During the racial confrontations of the 1960s, An American Dilemma encountered rising criticism from activists and scholars who disputed Myrdal's optimism about white liberalism,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-t-patterson/during-the-racial-confrontations-of-the-1960s-an-american-dilemma/) [James T. Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-t-patterson/) > [“The white delusion of racial superiority insulates itself against refutation. Correspondingly, on the positive epistemic side, the route to black knowledge is the self-conscious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-w-mills/the-white-delusion-of-racial-superiority-insulates-itself-against/) [Charles W. Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-w-mills/) > [Governmental intervention and personal responsibility are not mutually exclusive issues, but they do frame a 'do it ourselves' vs. 'what are you doing for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ridley/governmental-intervention-and-personal-responsibility-are-not/) [John Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ridley/) > [I read a lot of W.E.B. Du Bois, who wrote 'The Souls of Black Folk.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-holland/i-read-a-lot-of-w-e-b-du-bois-who-wrote-the-souls-of-black-folk/) [Andre Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-holland/) > [“The Irish were regarded as shiftless and drunken; moreover, they were papists, and their fealty to Rome, it was said, meant they could never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr-2/the-irish-were-regarded-as-shiftless-and-drunken-moreover-they-were/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr-2/) > [“each of the two great archrivals, Booker T. Washington and WE.B. Du Bois, invited”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-hochschild/each-of-the-two-great-archrivals-booker-t-washington-and-we-b-du-bois/) [Adam Hochschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-hochschild/) > [I wanted to do a show about a family that is absolutely black. Because as Du Bois has shown, we do have to live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenya-barris/i-wanted-to-do-a-show-about-a-family-that-is-absolutely-black-because/) [Kenya Barris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenya-barris/) ## More by Michelle Alexander > [If you ask for good schools, you aren't likely to get them. If you ask for jobs or economic investment, you won't get that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/if-you-ask-for-good-schools-you-aren-t-likely-to-get-them-if-you-ask/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [The uncomfortable reality we must face is that California, like the nation as a whole, has treated generations of African Americans and Latinos as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-uncomfortable-reality-we-must-face-is-that-california-like-the/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“Seeing race is not the problem. Refusing to care for the people we see is the problem. The fact that the meaning of race…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/seeing-race-is-not-the-problem-refusing-to-care-for-the-people-we-see/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [Since the nations founding, African Americans repeatedly have been controlled through institutions such as slavery and Jim Crow, which appear to die but then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/since-the-nations-founding-african-americans-repeatedly-have-been/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“Felon disenfranchisement laws have been more effective in eliminating black voters in the age of mass incarceration than they were under Jim Crow…These figures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/felon-disenfranchisement-laws-have-been-more-effective-in-eliminating/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“That was King’s dream—a society that is capable of seeing each of us, as we are, with love. That is a goal worth fighting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/that-was-king-s-dream-a-society-that-is-capable-of-seeing-each-of-us/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [Activists take the risks, while advocates are professional tinkerers with the system. What's necessary is for those who are advocates to support those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/activists-take-the-risks-while-advocates-are-professional-tinkerers/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“Civil rights protests were frequently depicted as criminal rather than political in nature, and federal courts were accused of excessive “lenience” toward lawlessness, thereby…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/civil-rights-protests-were-frequently-depicted-as-criminal-rather/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [We cannot 'fix' the police without a revolution of values and radical change to the basic structure of our society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/we-cannot-fix-the-police-without-a-revolution-of-values-and-radical/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [If we continue to tell ourselves the popular myths about racial progress or, worse yet, if we say to ourselves that the problem of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/if-we-continue-to-tell-ourselves-the-popular-myths-about-racial/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [The mass incarceration of poor people of color, particularly black men, has emerged as a new caste system, one specifically designed to address the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-mass-incarceration-of-poor-people-of-color-particularly-black-men/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [ “\[T\]he slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery. —W.E.B Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/t-he-slave-went-free-stood-a-brief-moment-in-the-sun-then-moved-back/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [If you take into account prisoners, a large majority of African American men in some urban areas, like Chicago, have been labeled felons for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/if-you-take-into-account-prisoners-a-large-majority-of-african/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“A new civil rights movement cannot be organized around the relics of the earlier system of control if it is to address meaningfully the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/a-new-civil-rights-movement-cannot-be-organized-around-the-relics-of/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [The rules and reasons the political system employs to enforce status relations of any kind, including racial hierarchy, evolve and change as they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/the-rules-and-reasons-the-political-system-employs-to-enforce-status/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) [Explore all 381 Michelle Alexander quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) ## More Du Bois quotes > [I wanted to do a show about a family that is absolutely black. Because as Du Bois has shown, we do have to live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenya-barris/i-wanted-to-do-a-show-about-a-family-that-is-absolutely-black-because/) [Kenya Barris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenya-barris/) > [ “\[T\]he slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery. —W.E.B Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/t-he-slave-went-free-stood-a-brief-moment-in-the-sun-then-moved-back/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“each of the two great archrivals, Booker T. Washington and WE.B. Du Bois, invited”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-hochschild/each-of-the-two-great-archrivals-booker-t-washington-and-we-b-du-bois/) [Adam Hochschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-hochschild/) > [“The Irish were regarded as shiftless and drunken; moreover, they were papists, and their fealty to Rome, it was said, meant they could never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr-2/the-irish-were-regarded-as-shiftless-and-drunken-moreover-they-were/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr-2/) > [I read a lot of W.E.B. Du Bois, who wrote 'The Souls of Black Folk.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-holland/i-read-a-lot-of-w-e-b-du-bois-who-wrote-the-souls-of-black-folk/) [Andre Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-holland/) > [Governmental intervention and personal responsibility are not mutually exclusive issues, but they do frame a 'do it ourselves' vs. 'what are you doing for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ridley/governmental-intervention-and-personal-responsibility-are-not/) [John Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ridley/) > [“The white delusion of racial superiority insulates itself against refutation. Correspondingly, on the positive epistemic side, the route to black knowledge is the self-conscious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-w-mills/the-white-delusion-of-racial-superiority-insulates-itself-against/) [Charles W. Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-w-mills/) > [“During the racial confrontations of the 1960s, An American Dilemma encountered rising criticism from activists and scholars who disputed Myrdal's optimism about white liberalism,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-t-patterson/during-the-racial-confrontations-of-the-1960s-an-american-dilemma/) [James T. Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-t-patterson/) > [“If there was one thing that South Carolina feared more than bad Negro government,” wrote Du Bois, “it was good Negro government.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/if-there-was-one-thing-that-south-carolina-feared-more-than-bad-negro/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [“African American racial consciousness responds to the horrors of the Middle Passage and New World slavery as well as to the unfulfilled promise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-dain/african-american-racial-consciousness-responds-to-the-horrors-of-the/) [Bruce Dain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-dain/) > [“This is fable,” Du Bois thundered in the April 1934 Crisis. “I once believed it passionately. It may become true in 250 or 1,000…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/this-is-fable-du-bois-thundered-in-the-april-1934-crisis-i-once/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“As for me, I certainly have not suffered like Du Bois, his black predecessors and contemporaries, or most of my immigrant predecessors or contemporaries.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-g-campos/as-for-me-i-certainly-have-not-suffered-like-du-bois-his-black/) [Daniel G. Campos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-g-campos/) > [Du Bois marked a great stage in the history of Negro struggles when he said that Negroes could no longer accept the subordination which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-l-r-james/du-bois-marked-a-great-stage-in-the-history-of-negro-struggles-when/) [C. L. R. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-l-r-james/) > [“For what people of color quickly come to see—in a sense the primary epistemic principle of the racialized social epistemology of which they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-w-mills/for-what-people-of-color-quickly-come-to-see-in-a-sense-the-primary/) [Charles W. Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-w-mills/) > [“Black Americans were hardly losing any moral or cultural battles. They were being violently and nonviolently defeated in political and economic battles, as Du…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/black-americans-were-hardly-losing-any-moral-or-cultural-battles-they/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) [Browse all 29 Du Bois quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/du-bois/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Nine Southern states adopted vagrancy laws - which essentially made it a criminal offense not to work and were applied selectively to blacks - and eight of those states enacted convict laws allowing for the hiring-out of county prisoners to plantation owners and private companies. Prisoners were forced to work for little or no pay. One vagrancy act specifically provided that 'all free negroes and mulattoes over the age of eighteen' must have written proof of a job at the beginning of the year. Those found with no lawful employment were deemed vagrants and convicted. Clearly, the purpose of the black codes in general and the vagrancy laws in particular was to establish another system of forced labor. In W.E.B. Du Bois's words: 'The Codes spoke for themselves. . . . 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