Opinion: We seem to care — overwhelmingly so — about minorly controversial subjects online. But these subjects have now taken over in importance compared to real issues that need addressing.
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Breaking news: “The Little Mermaid” has been trending on Twitter in the past few weeks due to controversies over Halle Bailey, a woman of color cast as Ariel. 

It seems as though every time I open my phone someone complains about it or counters the pointless argument. However, as I was mindlessly scrolling through my feed the other day, an eye-catching headline about another topic appeared. I initially brushed it off, but I was bored and figured it would give me something to do for a few minutes. That’s when I quickly learned of the somber reality that is modern day slavery.

On Sept. 12, the International Labour Organization published a report regarding the global estimates of modern slavery. In this report, it was found that as of 2021, there are 50 million people globally living under modern slavery –– a 9.3 million jump since the previous report in 2016.

Grace Forrest, founding director of Walk Free, defines modern slavery in a podcast about the ILO report: “it is the systematic removal of a person’s freedom where one person is exploited by another or by a company for personal or financial gain.” This includes forced labor and marriage, commercial sexual exploitation, human trafficking, slavery-like practices and the worst forms of child labor.

Had I not clicked on the short tagline, I would have missed this issue completely. That’s a problem. We overlook modern day slavery so easily because it is convenient for us, and we don’t want to take responsibility. This is the conversation we need to have.

One of the most important things to address is that this is not some foreign, developing country issue. Modern day slavery continues to exist in the United States, often in the form of human trafficking and forced labor.

According to the Global Slavery Index, in 2016, there were an estimated 403,000 people living in a condition of modern slavery in the United States. However, federal privacy laws prevent agencies from creating one cumulative set of data.

Regardless of the government’s inefficiencies, some of the responsibility falls on its citizens in the form of political knowledge and participation.

On Nov. 8, a measure to remove slavery from the Oregon state constitution will be put to the vote. That’s right. It is still within Oregon’s — as well as four other states’ — constitution to allow slavery as a punishment for a crime.

The Vera Institute of Justice reports incarcerated people work for little to no wages: “Estimates suggest that a minimum of $2 billion and as much as $14 billion a year in wages is stolen from incarcerated people, to the enrichment of private companies, state-owned entities and correctional agencies.”

Companies are stealing people’s wages just because they are incarcerated. But what does having a conviction have to do with the removal of people’s natural human rights? When did we decide that, if you committed a crime, it is okay to treat you as “other”: not worthy of dignity, respect or the freedom to think and choose for yourself?

Modern day slavery is a man made problem fueled by persisting slavery and the structural inequality of many economic sectors. It’s time to talk about it, despite our own discomfort. It’s time to change it, despite our unwillingness to do so.