In the documentary “13th” directed by Ava Duvernay, focuses mainly on a recurring issue in society since the mid-1800’s. The documentary takes both sides and depicts the concerns and problems that many inmates face day to day. “13th” asks the question if African-Americans were actually ever truly “free” in this country. African Americans are considered free under their born rights but what “free” meant to myself through this film is, will they ever be treated equally compared to the rest of society. The opening minutes of the film started with a statistic that read, “One out of four African-American males will serve prison time at one point or another in their lives”. Duvernay not only interviews various liberal scholars and activists that are for the cause, she also gives other opportunities …show more content…
A major issue in this film comes from the title, “13th” pertaining to the 13th amendment which abolished slavery, by doing this they took away a large source of income from the South. This has led to today finding a way to use people who are convicted felons as a source of Labor.
America holding only 5% of the world's population oddly has 25% the highest incarceration rate in the world today. Though the 13th amendment which abolished slavery in 1865 was a turn for history in the right direction until, a loophole has allowed it to continue as a punishment for various crimes, 86% of these crimes have been victimless non violent crimes. In reality slavery to an extent is still at large in society today, for example, at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, “There are more than 6,000 men currently imprisoned at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola—three-quarters of them are there for life, and nearly 80 percent are African American” (The Atlantic). Many of these men have been put to unpaid labor which is virtually modern day slavery because of minimal crimes. 4,800
The film 13th was documentary that explains mass incarceration, Jim Crow, and slavery as being the same forms. Through use of statistic, testimonies, and stories, the documentary portrays a message of what is and has been going on and has a call to action. The film starts off with explaining how there is a loophole a clause of the 13th amendment that makes it unconstitutional for anyone to be a slave except criminals, and ever since that loophole was discovered there was a mass of African Americans arrested. Although the film was able to show evidence for the parallels between slavery, Jim Crow laws, and mass incarceration, it did not provide solutions for this problem.
In the documentary 13th by director Ava DuVernay, a racial stigma is investigated regarding the skin colors of those being incarcerated in the U.S. prison systems. Some questions being introduced in 13th leave us intrigued and those relate to the presidents at the time handling every situation differently. Those questions and many more will be answered along with a critique of the handling by those in power regarding incarceration. Many symbols with meaning are introduced in 13th, such as the whites power over the media, their exaggeration of the release of Birth of a Nation and the presidency itself. The documentary goes in-depth into the incarceration of many blacks, and it does that with the questions it asks.
Do we still have slavery today in the world? If you have ever wondered, yes there is still slavery in the world. In fact there is more slavery than there has ever been. Colonial and contemporary slavery are both similar and different because slaves are owned and both slaves and workers are mistreated. For starters, colonial and contemporary slavery is the same because both slaves and factory workers work for a small amount of money.
The Film “13th ” “13th” Is a film on racial inequality and systemic racism in the justice system of the United States. The film makes the point that the 13th amendment in the Constitution, responsible for abolishing Slavery and slave labor has been used to create a system of racial oppression to control the population of minorities specifically the African American community, by using the 13th amendment. Which states that slave labor can be implemented as punishment for a crime. In the film 13th much of the conflict stems from how racism is not only systemic through institutions in the United States and the criminal justice system, but also how it went from individuals implementing their beliefs and power to laws and policies that allow for
On July 1st 2017, Dr. Anne Fowler, Professor, Louisiana Tech University, approved a title for proposed long report by Elise Johnson, student, Louisiana Tech University to study the American prison system and the direct correlation to slavery and find viable solutions to resolve the increase incarceration rates. The author begins performing research to gain a better understanding of the American prison system, focusing solely on the Texas prison system. Reason being the Texas prison system leads the way with punishment, of petty offenders (simple burglary, theft) and serious offenders (sexual assault, murder). Then materials were collected via the world wide web, and the local library, regarding the origin of slavery, and the penal system.
The New Jim Crow Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness Alexander (2012) examines the Jim Crow practices post slavery and the correlation to the mass incarceration of African-American. The creation of Jim Crows laws were used as a tool to promote segregation among the minorities and white Americans. Alexander (2012) takes a look at Jim Crow laws and policies that were put into place to block the social progression of African-Americans from post-slavery to the civil rights movement.
In his article, “The Mass Incarceration of African-American Males: A Return to Institutionalized Slavery, Oppression, and Disenfranchisement of Constitutional Rights,” Floyd D. Weatherspoon uses a different intake to express the discrimination occurring in the world. He explains, “African-American men in America continue to seek freedom and justice through an American justice system unsympathetic to the plight of African-American males. Similar to James Somerset, African-American males in the United States have faced a long and treacherous journey for justice and equality,” which proves the realization is present, but no individual on this world has stepped far enough to defend these blameless people. The journey is strenuous, African-Americans are executed for an act that had no effect on any individual around them.
Michelle Alexander, similarly, points out the same truth that African American men are targeted substantially by the criminal justice system due to the long history leading to racial bias and mass incarceration within her text “The New Jim Crow”. Both Martin Luther King Jr.’s and Michelle Alexander’s text exhibit the brutality and social injustice that the African American community experiences, which ultimately expedites the mass incarceration of African American men, reflecting the current flawed prison system in the U.S. The American prison system is flawed in numerous ways as both King and Alexander points out. A significant flaw that was identified is the injustice of specifically targeting African American men for crimes due to the racial stereotypes formed as a result of racial formation. Racial formation is the accumulation of racial identities and categories that are formed, reconstructed, and abrogated throughout history.
13th Documentary Analysis Ava DuVernay’s documentary mentions that the United States makes up five percent of the world’s population yet is home to twenty five percent of the world’s prisoners. One out of four prisoners in the world are locked up in the U.S. The United States now has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. The thirteenth amendment of the constitution makes it unconstitutional for someone to be held as a slave.
The 13th Amendment allowed the African Americans to be released from the institutionalized oppression of slavery, at the same time allowing them to achieve political and civil rights. It did not protect them from the violence that they will experience on a physical and physiological level, the newly freed African Americans that were victimized by different factors such as political regulations. Many African Americans attempted to exercise their newly acquired rights, but as a result, white southerners saw this as problematic and resorted to taking violent actions. Violence became one of the primary acts which caused the African American community’s rights to become void and it puts their black lives and black livelihood at stake.
In the article "American Slavery, Reinvented" by Whitney Benns is an analysis of states forcing their prisoners into full days of servitude to rehabilitate themselves, however, there has been some debate that this form of rehabilitation is cruel. Prison labor is a practice that many states are using on the incarcerated. Once the prisoners are medically cleared, they are forced to work in directed areas or face punishments such as solitary confinement and denying the inmates from family visits. There are multiple theories to justify why prison labor is being enforced that Benns focuses on in her article. Additionally, she believes the prisons found a way to bring back a depressing moment in American history.
13th is a documentary by Ava DuVernay and Spencer Averick on the intersection of race, the American justice system, and the incarceration rate in the United States. It was officially released in 2016, and is titled after the Thirteenth Amendment in the U.S., which led to the freedom of slaves and prohibited slavery. 13th touched on many aspects of the suppression of African Americans, the war on drugs, Jim Crow laws, and the race inequality in the American prison system. The documentary started off by stating that the United States has 5% of the world's population but 25% of the people in the world who are currently incarcerated. To many people today, the 13th amendment was a great deal because it freed slaves but what we fail to realize
In Michelle Alexander’s book, she argues that mass incarceration is a huge form of racialized social control. While most agree with her that many more black men are put in prison than white men, some also agree that discrimination can arise in public situations, not just in prison. Based on my own experience in public school and in my community, I have seen just how other people of color are discriminated in society too. Alexander concentrates her main points on the racism and discrimination of blacks more than any
13th is a documentary directed and produced by Ava Duvernay. The documentary dives deep into America’s prison system and America’s history of racial inequalities. The documentary contained many forms of rhetoric, including, kairos, logos, ethos, pathos, and visual rhetoric. Using these methods of rhetoric helps director Ava Duvernay get her point across to the audience.
The “13th” is a documentary about the American system of incarceration and the economic forces behind racism in America especially in people of color. One of the claims that the author mentioned is that today incarceration is an extension of slavery. It is also mentioned that most of the time in society we are defined by race. In the documentary, we can see how African Americans are sentenced for many years since they are too poor to pay their fines or sometimes most of these people plead guilty to get out of jail fast. However, African Americans are separated from their families and also treated inhumanly in prisons just because they are of a particular race.