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13th And The Crisis Of Mass Incarceration In America Ava Duvernay

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Unveiling Injustice: Analyzing "13th" and the Crisis of Mass Incarceration in America Ava DuVernay's documentary "13th" serves as a poignant exposé on the crisis of mass incarceration in the United States, particularly its disproportionate impact on African American communities. Through a critical lens, the film scrutinizes the historical context, systemic racism, and policies like the 13th Amendment, shedding light on the deep-rooted inequalities within the criminal justice system. This essay delves into the persuasive strategies employed in the documentary, the necessity of data-driven evaluation, and the scholarly discourse surrounding the issues it addresses. "13th" strategically employs emotional persuasion to evoke empathy and outrage …show more content…

Additionally, investing in community-based alternatives to incarceration, such as restorative justice programs and diversionary initiatives, can help address the underlying social and economic factors driving crime and incarceration. By advocating for evidence-based policies and engaging in grassroots activism, individuals can contribute to meaningful change and work towards building a more just and equitable society. Encouraging viewers to consider potential solutions to address racial disparities within the criminal justice system, "13th" underscores the importance of collective action and systemic reform. By promoting evidence-based policies and community-based interventions, audiences can actively participate in efforts to dismantle systemic racism and create a more equitable and just society. In conclusion, "13th" serves as a powerful catalyst for discourse on the crisis of mass incarceration in America. By combining emotional persuasion with rigorous analysis of historical context and scholarly research, the documentary prompts viewers to confront the realities of systemic racism within the criminal justice

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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.  

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Over the last thirty years, the prison population in the United States has increased more than seven-fold to over two million people, including vastly disproportionate numbers of minorities and people with little education. For some racial and educational groups, incarceration has become a depressingly regular experience, and prison culture and influence pervade their communities. Almost 60 percent of black male high school drop-outs in their early thirties have spent time in prison. In Punishment and Inequality in America, sociologist Bruce Western explores the recent era of mass incarceration and the serious social and economic consequences it has wrought.

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"13th", a documentary directed by the filmmaker Ava DuVernay highlighted mass incarceration and its racial roots in society. One thing that every time period covered by the documentary had in common was the media and pop cultures shaping the portrayal of African Americans. Over time, the media and those in power have used television and more recently social media to paint African Americans as dangerous savages. Trayvon Martin murder, covered by the documentary, was a highly publicized event that highlighted some tactics the media uses to dehumanize African Americans. On many news outlets that covered the story, pictures were shown of Trayvon with his underwear out and holding up his middle fingers.

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Nixon is infamous for his proposal of the “War on Drugs”— a crisis that made drug abuse seem more like a political issue and less of a health problem. This “war” essentially targeted minorities for drug possession, and combined the already standing issue of economic inequality and hypersegregation to allow people of color to be incarcerated at rates much higher than white people. This documentary targets political figures, ultimately holding them accountable for the unjust prison system. While some may think that this is political bias, all this document is doing is bringing up what people are afraid to address: some of the roots of systemic racism lie not so far in our past. By targeting political figures and comparing them to how mass incarceration developed as they were in office, 13th demonstrates a clear, concise understanding of systemic racism that allows the viewer to grasp the truth behind how the people who ran this country really

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This summer I had the opportunity to watch the documentary 13th, on netflix, and read the book Just Mercy by Bryan Stephenson. Both were enlightened and when finished with both you walk away sense of awareness for some of the hardships that black people have faced both past and present. The film 13th was a documentary about the racial inequality in this country. It touches on the crack epidemic, and how it led to the rise of unjust arrest and the rise of incarceration in America. Quoting from the film, the prison population rose from 474,368 in 1980 to 2,042,479 in 2001.

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Annotated Bibliography Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness / Michelle Alexander ; [with a New Foreword by Cornel West]. The New Press, 2012. EBSCOhost, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=2ec9cbe0-3ef5-3a44-8467-0f6b1bebfb80. This is a groundbreaking book by Michelle Alexander that explores the racial inequalities within the American criminal justice system.

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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.

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Annotated Bibliography Alexander, M. (2010). The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. New York: The New Press. Alexander opens up on the history of the criminal justice system, disciplinary crime policy and race in the U.S. detailing the ways in which crime policy and mass incarceration have worked together to continue the reduction and defeat of black Americans.

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It highlights the system's persistent racial biases and systemic inadequacies, suggesting that racial superiority was maintained by discriminatory laws and practices even after slavery was legally abolished. Mass incarceration is shown in the movie as a modern form of racialized social control that promotes poverty, disenfranchisement, and institutional racism. Through interviews, it analyzes the catastrophic impact on individuals and communities, challenging viewers to critically evaluate the relationship between race, politics, and criminal justice, and arguing for serious reform and a reevaluation of cultural

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Ava DuVernay’s documentary film “13th” shows a strong connection between a sky-rocking increase in incarceration (from 357,292 in 1970 to 2,306,200 in 2014) and slavery, which is why the author of this film insists the viewers take a good look at the 13th Amendment that abolished slavery: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” (United States Statutes at Large, volume 13, page 567). The Power-Dependence theory was developed by Richard Emerson (1962), who stated that the basic power is dependency. The movie talks about government having power over people, people of color primarily, which is a robust example of the power-dependence theory “"X has

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In her book, The New Jim Crow Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander who was a civil rights lawyer and legal scholar, reveals many of America’s harsh truths regarding race within the criminal justice system. Though the Jim Crow laws have long been abolished, a new form has surfaced, a contemporary system of racial control through mass incarceration. In this book, mass incarceration not only refers to the criminal justice system, but also a bigger picture, which controls criminals both in and out of prison through laws, rules, policies and customs. The New Jim Crow that Alexander speaks of has redesigned the racial caste system, by putting millions of mainly blacks, as well as Hispanics and some whites, behind bars

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1728 Words | 7 Pages

The United States has a larger percent of its population incarcerated than any other country. America is responsible for a quarter of the world’s inmates, and its incarceration rate is growing exponentially. The expense generated by these overcrowded prisons cost the country a substantial amount of money every year. While people are incarcerated for several reasons, the country’s prisons are focused on punishment rather than reform, and the result is a misguided system that fails to rehabilitate criminals or discourage crime. This literature review will discuss the ineffectiveness of the United States’ criminal justice system and how mass incarceration of non-violent offenders, racial profiling, and a high rate of recidivism has become a problem.

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This was my third time watching the 13th Documentary, I have watched it for my Justice Theory class, Protest Justice Law and Media class, and now Immigration Education and the Family. However, with that being said, this is still an excellent documentary and each time I watch it I learn something new and different aspects pop out to me based on what particular class I have watched it for. When it comes to this class, I focused on the nuances and who was being targeted. To begin, the documentary is in reference to the Thirteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and how it had the ability to end slavery for African Americans, however, this end of slavery led to a mass incarceration of individuals, predominantly people who are African American.

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Over the centuries, the demand for rehabilitative justice has outreached its capacity; in fact, in a recent report from The Bureau of Prisons (BoP) stated, that approximately 16,000 people were on the wait list for basic literacy education, and training. In a society of being “tough-on-crime” it is the responsibility for state, and federal governments to develop legislation that will help further push along the restorative processes. These processes are outdated, have overly harsh mandatory minimums with increased sentencing guidelines, and over-the-top punishments for non-violent offenders. With this type of overhaul, it is possible that we could transform those responsible for the crime; along with, encouraging communities to play a role

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Local and national media increasingly cover crime as if it is majority being committed by minority male figures. This blatant way of stereotyping shifts the public opinion to view minorities as “dangerous”. The public recognizes that preventative programs such as youth programs and counseling services should be offered in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods as a way to combat crime at its root. The public acknowledges that the current prison population is high, and is due to the “lack of accountability” for our current systems failures. Instead of developing effective social programs that offer education and employment we allow rational actors to commit crimes and serve prison sentences.

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