The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today
By:
Kevin Bales Ron Soodalter
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Description:
In this riveting book, authors and authorities on modern day slavery Kevin Bales and Ron Soodalter expose the disturbing phenomenon of human trafficking and slavery that exists now in the United States. In The Slave Next Door we find that slaves are all around us, hidden in plain sight: the dishwasher in the kitchen of the neighborhood restaurant, the kids on the corner selling cheap trinkets, the man sweeping the floor of the local department store. In these pages we also meet some unexpected slaveholders, such as a 27-year old middle-class Texas housewife who is currently serving a life sentence for offences including slavery. Weaving together a wealth of voices--from slaves, slaveholders, and traffickers as well as from experts, counselors, law enforcement officers, rescue and support groups, and others--this book is also a call to action, telling what we, as private citizens, can do to finally bring an end to this horrific crime.
Publisher: University of California Press
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
American Slaves - Most Americans believe that slavery is either dead or something that occurs in far off places to foreign people and thusly does not exist or concern us. Kevin Bales and Ron Soodalter dispels these myths in The Slave Next Door. Through a combination of cold hard facts and personal stories of exploitation, cohesion, and enslavement. Unlike other books that only focus on one aspect of slavery ( like the sex trade), Bales and Soodalter premise is that no form of slavery is justified and talks deeply about systems of agricultural labor, domestics, and sex slavery and argue that the traffickers will continue to find inventive ways to enslave and exploit others. We have a role in the slave system because we get items like hand-woven rugs from India, Pakistan, and Nepal , steel and metals used in cars is obtained from Brazil after the charcoal has been collected by slaves in Brazil and most distressingly we may be eating products produced from slave labor brought to us by America's largest corporations.
Bales and Soodalter further attack the notion that sex trafficking is only a problem for foreign born women in this country by illustrative cases like that of Dennis Paris who used heroin addiction to control several American born, naturalized citizens into a web of prostitution. The last portion of the book is dedicated to an assessment of United States policy towards victims of Modern Day Slavery by going through agency by agency in the federal government and discussing the steps they are taking to combat the problem. One thing that comes out of here is that NGO's that deal with human slavery are hideously under funded and are in desperate need of skilled labor and this is key when he discusses at the end, what we as Americans can do about modern slavery.
Customer Review: 1 out of 5
I was going to buy this book... - Then I read the first couple pages and I realized this is nothing more than liberal screed against capitalism. On the third page we're given our clue where the author determine that modern slavery is "Capitalism at its worst"
Huh? Where in any capitalist dogma does it mention that its ok to own people? I must have missed that part.
I can't imagine what other liberal chestnuts were waiting for me. I'll save my money like a good little capitalist.
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Chinese Acrobats and Fighting Dogs - A Note from the Authors, Ron Soodalter and Kevin Bales:
In his review Mr. Wright is correct that the case involving the Chinese acrobats ended without substantiating the allegation of slavery, a fact we would have included in the book if we had known it at the time the manuscript went to press. It is the nature of writing about current affairs that while the writing must stop at some point so that the printing can begin, events simply continue and will always overtake the text.
However, Mr. Wright's assertion that insufficient research was done on this case, or for that matter on the book in general, is incorrect. Likewise is his assumption that we would distort our information "to sell copy," which is a very serious accusation to make against two scholars who have built reputations on their careful attention to fact and detail. Just to be clear: everything in our book was researched and documented, every point has a clear and accessible citation in the extensive notes to each chapter. In this particular case, we used information from a number of sources beyond the media reports, including interviews with and statements from the Department of Justice, the FBI, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Bork. All of our sources are presented clearly and transparently and we stand by the information we had at the time that we prepared the manuscript. Since, in fact, the charges were ultimately dismissed, we have made the appropriate changes in the upcoming paperback edition (see Epilogue addition to the paperback edition below).
Of course, it would have been helpful to readers if in his review of our book Mr. Wright had identified himself as a lawyer involved in the case of the Chinese acrobats - put simply, he has a dog in this fight. The funny thing is that as the authors of The Slave Next Door we DON'T have a dog in this fight. We have no interest or desire to suggest that slavery exists where it doesn't. Our concern and our dedication is to truthful reporting and fighting to bring an end to slavery in America.
~ Ron Soodalter and Kevin Bales
The following has been added to the Epilogue of the forthcoming paperback edition of The Slave Next Door:
Latest on the Chinese Acrobats
The case involving a troupe of Chinese acrobats who had allegedly been trafficked into slavery in Las Vegas (ref. Chapter 5, pp. 118-210) has been dismissed. According to the New York Times, "Steven W. Myhre, the acting United States attorney for Nevada, said a magistrate judge had initially approved the complaint. 'Upon further investigation, however, the United States has determined that it has been unable to develop evidence sufficient to prove those charges beyond a reasonable doubt,' Mr. Myhre told the Las Vegas Review-Journal." Our apologies to Mr. You Zhi Li if, in fact, he is blameless; thankfully, this is why we have Epilogues![i]
[i] "Slavery Charges are Dismissed" (AP) New York Times, December 25, 2009
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MODERN SLAVERY VISIT [...]
Customer Review: 1 out of 5
At least one story in this book is false so I wonder at the rest. - The authors mention the Chinese Acrobats in Las Vegas on pages 116 through 120. Based on what I know, the acrobats were not slaves. The three men charged were exonerated when the US attorneys office dropped the charges because they learned that the accusers were a couple of members of the troupe who thought that accusing slavery would allow them to stay in America on T-Visas. You see, the short-term visas that allowed them to come over from China to tour the country and perform were about to expire and they were all to fly back within days of the accusations being lodged.
As a result of the horrible defamation and the legal fees incurred, this troupe will no longer be coming to America to perform in school districts through out the country. Sadly, young Chinese acrobats who would have wanted their opportunity to see America for a year no longer have that opportunity. I think it is irresponsible to believe news stories without independent investigation into the facts. The media jumped on this story, only adding to the defamation the three innocent defendants had to endure, and still have to endure now because of this book. With real horror stories about slavery out there, it is dismaying to see so many using the false accusation in this case as an example of slavery in order to sell copy.
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Buy This Book! - An amazing book. This book will open your eyes and hopefully help spread the awareness of this terrible ugly tragedy that is occurring all around us.
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