World Day Against Trafficking in Persons

Today is the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. Designated by the United Nations in 2013, July 30 is observed globally every year to raise awareness about human trafficking, and to promote and protect of the rights of victims.

An Introduction

When you hear the term “human trafficking,” what does that actually mean? The term is defined as:

“The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons by improper means (such as force, abduction, fraud, or coercion) for an improper purpose.”

Human trafficking is a broad injustice that can take many forms. Some of these include domestic servitude, sex trafficking, forced labor, bonded labor, child labor and forced marriage. You learn more about each of these specific forms of slavery at EndSlaveryNow.org.

When discussing the scope of human trafficking, the numbers can be quite overwhelming. It’s estimated that between 21 million and 45 million people are enslaved in the world today. With staggering numbers and victims present in countries across the world (including the United States), it’s difficult to pinpoint how we can stop this cycle. What can we do to make an impact?

A Modern Abolitionist Struggle

 In 2012, President Obama stated:

“The outrage, of human trafficking . . . must be called by its true name – modern slavery.”

These words reflected an ongoing development in the US anti-trafficking movement—the shift toward viewing this movement an inclusive struggle against enslavement and oppression in all forms.

For much of its history, the anti-trafficking movement had been widely perceived as rescuing upper-class women from “white slavery”—specifically, sexual enslavement by foreign smugglers. However, many anti-trafficking activists will tell you that this is not the typical story. Brooke Hathaway-DeSantis, founder of End Slavery Now, points out that modern-day victims of sexual enslaved are rarely kidnapped or even smuggled from one place to another. Instead, they are most often lied to and deceived by traffickers who lure them with false promises of glamorous employment or supportive romantic relationships. For this reason, most victims and survivors of this form of trafficking are members of disadvantaged populations, such as poor immigrants and refugees, rather than middle class or wealthy people.

And while anti-trafficking activists are committed to fighting all forms of sexual exploitation, they will also tell you that forced labor is by far the most common form of modern-day enslavement worldwide. This doesn’t even include forced labor in prisons, which many consider to be another form of modern-day enslavement. For these reasons, most anti-trafficking activists today view the fight against modern-day enslavement to be as much about social justice as one against exploitation. It’s an abolitionist cause directly related to the struggle to end pre-Civil War chattel enslavement.

Who Are Anti-trafficking Activists?

Much like the pre-Civil War abolitionists, those fighting modern-day enslavement are a diverse group. They are comprised of law enforcement personnel, social workers, members of the clergy, academics, trafficking survivors, and politicians from both parties. They are ordinary people of all genders, gender identities, ethnicities, abilities, and sexual orientations. They agree on one important thing: nobody should be enslaved.

Singing an Anthem is Not Enough

There has been a mixed response to the NFL’s recent announcement to have Lift Every Voice and Sing performed before every week 1 kickoff. It’s my opinion that performing this anthem at sporting events is a nice symbolic gesture, but it does not actively dismantle any of the structural racism that permeates nearly every sector of our society. The recent uprisings across the country are a direct response to continued systemic inequity, abuse and violence enabled by racist ideologies and policies. Deep-rooted changes are required for genuine progress.

In learning from authentic accounts, as opposed to tales of nostalgia, it’s critical for us to unpack the social need and desire for anthems. The Star-Spangled Banner has only been the national anthem for 89 years, while Lift Every Voice and Sing has been an anthem embraced by people of color for at least 111 years. Very few Americans are aware of this reality.

The Star Spangled Banner

In 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote a poem that would become the lyrics to The Star-Spangled Banner. Key’s poem reflected his account of the War of 1812. While the first verse of The Star-Spangled Banner is most widely known, the last three verses are generally omitted from the American consciousness. This is largely due to fact that the other verses could be interpreted as supporting slavery and white supremacy.

In 1916, a year before the U.S. entered World War I, President Woodrow Wilson signed an executive order designating The Star-Spangled Banner as the national anthem. It was sung publicly for the first time at the 1918 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs. It’s important to note that this moment happened in the midst of World War I, when there was a need to boost the morale of America’s mainstream with a unifying anthem.

The US Congress did not confirm the executive order to adopt The Star-Spangled Banner until 1931 during the Great Depression. Timing is everything. Once again, the argument could be made that this gesture was intended to boost the nation’s morale in a turbulent moment.

Knowing this history, we must ask ourselves this question today—how can Black Americans embrace an anthem tied to an exclusionary perspective of freedom?