In a simultaneous attack on low-income Americans as well as the basic Constitutional civil rights of any person convicted of committing a crime, 2016 GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee endorsed the idea that poor criminals convicted of stealing should be sold into slavery. He made the endorsement during a radio interview with far right conservative radio host Jan Mickelson today.

Mickelson began the exchange commenting the “criminal justice system has been taken over by progressives.”

How did he propose fixing that system?

Referring to the Book of Exodus in the Bible, he commented, “It says, if a person steals, they have to pay it back two-fold, four-fold. If they don’t have anything, we’re supposed to take them down and sell them.”

He went on to calls jails a “pagan invention” as he bemoaned incarceration in lieu of stripping convicts of their basic human rights. “We indenture them and they have to spend their time not sitting on their stump in a jail cell, they’re supposed to be working off the debt.” Seeking confirmation from his guest, Mickelson asked “Wouldn’t that be a better choice?”

“Well, it really would be,” Huckabee replied immediately. “Sometimes the best way to deal with a nonviolent criminal behavior is what you just suggested.”

The biblical reference Mickelson and Huckabee (a former pastor) referred to (Exodus 22:3) states, “Anyone who steals must certainly make restitution, but if they have nothing, they must be sold to pay for their theft.” It’s one of the many Biblical verses condoning slavery that modern-day Christians typically consider outdated and barbaric.

Fortunately for those people Mickelson and Huckabee would enslave, both the Constitution and U.S. law stand between them and their goal. While the 13th Amendment outlawed slavery, the concept of imprisoning (or enslaving) those unable to pay restitution (commonly called debtors’ prisons) is also illegal.

This isn’t the first time Mickelson ventured to enslave entire populations of people; in August he made similar arguments for enslaving undocumented immigrants. He argued those immigrant should become “property of the State” to “extort or exploit or indenture [their] labor.”

When pressed by a caller about how the proposal sounded a lot like slavery, Mickelson responded in a matter-of-fact voice saying, “What’s wrong with slavery?”

Huckabee’s endorsement represents the first time since the nation struck down slavery that a legitimate presidential contender openly called for the reinstatement of slavery practices, and that should concern everyone.

Listen to the segment courtesy of ThinkProgress:

Peacock Panache readers:

Tim Peacock is the Managing Editor and founder of Peacock Panache and has worked as a civil rights advocate for over twenty years. During that time he’s worn several hats including leading on campus LGBTQ advocacy in the University of Missouri campus system, interning with the Colorado Civil Rights Division, and volunteering at advocacy organizations. You can learn more about him at his personal website.

Like this: Like Loading...

Related

We hope you enjoyed reading this article! If you would like to support our ongoing work, please consider buying us a cup of coffee. It's not much, but we don't do this for the money. We do, however, need caffeine to keep going some days!If you do donate, send us a message through our Contact Us page or via social media so we can thank you!