13th Documentary Analysis

Historical Documentary Assignment:

Documentaries are designed to represent the factual aspect of often controversial social issues. I watched the documentary 13th released in 2016 for this assignment. As the name suggests, the documentary was based on the the aspects of 13th amendment and specifically how the loophole in the amendment was exploited throughout history in order to undermine and suppress certain communities in society. The documentary traces history from right after civil war in 1963 to the modern days, and demonstrates how the conflicts among the races have lingered and effected the society.

The 13th amendment abolishes slavery and involuntary servitude “except as punishment for a crime”. The clause that left the prisoners

African Americans were imprisoned for minor crimes; even not having a job could get them arrested. This eventually led to the convict lease system, and the exploitation of the faulty clause in the amendment has been going on since then. It was followed by the rise of the Klu Klux Klan, Jim crow laws, declaring war on drugs and crime, imposing mandatory minimum sentences, three strikes law, police brutality, all of which targeted the African American society, specifically the men and criminalized them. As a result, prison population has been rising since 1970s, and today United States has 5% of the world population, but 25% of the world’s prison population. This mass incarceration has wiped the African American community of a generation of leadership, forced children to grow up without their fathers and harmed the society irrecoverably. It also talks about, how big

Moreover, the speakers who were narrating through out the film were credible experts including professors, lawyers, activists, even victims of the mass incarceration. In addition to that, it showed opinions from people both supporting and opposing the claims. The video footage of the prosecution of Angela Davis and her interview in the 1970s, in addition to her presence in the film were primary sources used to tell the history. Also, the footages of the police brutality on Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner and other African Americans were primary sources too. Henry Louis Gate Jr., professor of history in Harvard University and Jelani Cobb, professor of African-American studies from University of Connecticut were two experts who spoke as secondary sources describing and analysing several historical