Memoirs of Working on Highways in the Rural South

Chain Gangs, Convict Labor, and Parolees

In a system that began after the American Civil War, inmates were used to maintain state and county roads.

This system is no longer around today. Prisoners are no longer chained together with leg irons and shackles. Faceless guards, armed with shotguns and lever rifles, no longer walk the dusty embankment of a county ditch, eyeing the prisoners through the shade of their hats.

This is all work done by private contractors now, or state employees. The simple truth is, in my opinion, technology beat the prison system. Paving roads now, with asphalt, requires such a high level of technical proficiency, it cannot be done (wholly) by unskilled labor. Today there is simply too much machinery, and too much money for road maintenance to be left to a convict crew.

The irony of the chain gangs is the racial overtones.

Many people, during the Civil Rights era, viewed the chain gangs as a carryover from the Jim Crow era. Many more simply saw it as an extension of slavery.

Some of the first racially integrated institutions in the area were actually the county road gangs. Even before the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum, there was public outcry about treatment of prisoners... black and white. Everything, from their high-carb, nutrient poor diet, to overwhelming work hours, and careless medical treatment, was brutal. To make matters worse, prisoners were subject to certain cruel punishments.

Some of these punishments themselves did date back to days of slavery.

For example, some camps reportedly used floggings or beatings. Others would lock inmates in solitary confinement; usually a wooden box either standing up or laying down. Some of these boxes were little bigger than coffins.

Where does this lead me?

Even though the chain gangs are gone, county prisoners are still used for litter pickup. This form of convict labor is significantly softer than its predecessor. Urbanization has changed this a bit... you can imagine people being leery about inmates hanging around their mailboxes and flower beds.

I remember going into a fast food place one time, in a bad part of town... a middle-aged man seemed to be annoying the cashiers, name dropping, and simultaneously asking for a hand out. My boss and I walked up to the counter. I could tell right away the man was drunk, with glassy eyes and a foggy expression.

He looked back to the cashier as if we hadn't noticed him, "If y'all ain't gonna give me no money, I'll ask these crackers then!"

The cashier rolled her eyes.

He came up to me first asking for cash. I honestly didn't have a dollar, only 'plastic' and few nickels. He then noticed my orange vest.

"Oh, you work for the highway department? We was picking up trash for the county off Wire Road. We had a lot of fun out there, man..."

He tried to leverage that into me giving him $20. He finally went away to beg my boss, but it was the only genuine connection he had to us was that he was prisoner with a county litter crew.

Road work still seems to draw this same crowd. After they get out of jail, some paving contractors offer a sort of "forgiveness" program. That is, if they stay off drugs and past all the testing, they'll hire them on full-time (after six-months or so).

A lot of crews I talk to, no matter who they work for or what they specifically do, seem happy with their jobs. In a weird way, I think working on the public roads has given them a sense of accomplishment and giving back. If you ride around with anyone who works in construction, it's hard for us not to contain our excitement at seeing a finished project... no matter how bad actually working on the project sucked. Just as people view their writing as a contribution to society, we see it in the same light.

It certainly pays well, even if you have no experience or previous skills. Out West, the inmate fire crews get paid literally cents-on the-dollar for their effort, but they do make a little money. In an effort to avoid the depression and monotony of prison walls, the hope is that their experiences will translate into work... after they're released.

If we had a convict work program that built people up rather than broke them down, you might see an improvement in certain areas of maintenance work (ditching, clearing brush, etc.). I fear, though, that anything constructive is now forever marred by the horrific images of the "old chain gangs."