ipl-logo

Social Injustice In The 13th

837 Words4 Pages

Angelina Rodriguez
Gianunzio
Eng 50
4 April 2017

The 13th
One out of four African American males will serve prison time at least once in their life.In 2003 African-American men were reportedly twelve times more likely to receive prison time in drug related offenses than white men even though surveys have shown white and black people in the U.S sell and use drugs at the same rate. A film that explores this concept is Ava Duvernay’s “The 13th” which argues that not only is there a social injustice in our prison system but also loopholes in our very own Constitution of The Unites States..While some might support the police brutality against minority communities and the private prisons ran by republicans, Ava Duvernay sheds light on how modern …show more content…

Four million people who were former property and formerly the integral of the economic production system in the south were now free under the thirteenth amendment that stated- slavery, except as punishment for a crime, shall not exist in the United States. Immediately following the abolition of slavery, the loophole in the constitution stating slavery was legal if convicted of a crime was immediately exploited in hopes to rebuild the economy. African Americans were then arrested in mass for extremely minor crimes like loitering, making it the nation's first prison boom. The ideology that blacks are criminals that is used in today's thought process was stemmed by the high criminal rate from this mass incarceration. Now having large populations of African Americans in Los Angeles, Oakland, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit etc, very few people don't realize that they did not go there as immigrants from the south but rather refugees from …show more content…

The War on Drugs was announced under President Nixon's term where he declared America's number one enemy to be drug abuse. Although Nixon claims the enemy was drug abuse, in a talk with a reporter from Harpers Magazine(1994) a Nixon Administration official admitted The War on Drugs was to throw blacks into jail “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I'm saying? We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did." (John Ehrlichman) President Nixon was the first to coin the term War on Drugs but the one to enforce the rhetorical war and make it into a literal war was President Ronald Reagan in his presidential term from

Show More
Related

The Film 13th Explains Mass Incarceration

559 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

How Did The Ronald Reagan Administration Fund The Contra War In Nicaragua

519 Words | 3 Pages

Although there was much denial about the involvement of illegally smuggling drugs into the United States, in 1986 the administration acknowledged that the profits made from smuggling drugs was used to support the Contra rebels of Nicaragua. The Reagan administration filled the hearts of the American people that they were going to fight “the war on drugs”, no matter what. So ultimately when this news gets released in the 1980’s, it released a shockwave throughout the whole United States.

Read More

Mass Incarceration In The Film 13th By Ava Duvernay

277 Words | 2 Pages

"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.

Read More

Summary Of 13th

776 Words | 4 Pages

The film 13th is a documentary that explains how the prison systems are another form of slavery and is built to effect colored individuals and colored communities. The film identifies and explained a loop hole in the 13th amendment, which banned slavery. The loop in the amendment is that slavery and involuntary servitude is illegal unless a person is convicted of a crime. This clause in the amendment led to the first prison boom in America and mass incarceration. This film opened my eyes to underlying aspects of things that I have had previous knowledge about.

Read More

Summary Of 13th By Av Duvernay

1085 Words | 5 Pages

Ava Duvernay's documentary "13th" does a great job of capturing the problems with the criminal justice system in North America. It draws attention to problems with excessive minority representation and racial injustices in the system. This paper will examine the central issue and main message explored in the documentary "13th". It will also explore my initial reaction to the film and whether any specific case or facts challenged my pre-existing views on the prison system. Additionally, a comparative analysis will be conducted between the intersection of race, crime, and criminal justice in Canada and what is presented in "13th".

Read More

13th, By Ava Duvernay

1310 Words | 6 Pages

One of Nixon’s aide named John Ehrlichman admitted to the real reason why the War on Drugs was introduced, he stated “You want to know what this was really about. The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m

Read More

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

1054 Words | 5 Pages

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

Read More

Effects Of Ronald Reagan War On Drugs

391 Words | 2 Pages

Former President Reagan used the FBI and DEA to assist local law enforcement to fight the "War on Drugs". However this help fueled

Read More

Racial Caste System In The New Jim Crow By Michelle Alexander

748 Words | 3 Pages

To build support for this war Reagan made sure to publicize this all over the media. It was a grand success. Images of “crack dealers” and “crack babies” were seen all over the news. These images of the purposed inner city life of people of color led to the war that is now known as the War on Drugs. In just a mere thirty years the incarceration population increased from 300,000 to 2 million.

Read More

13th, By Ava Duvernay And Spencer Averick

896 Words | 4 Pages

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

Read More

13th, By Ana Duvernay

1077 Words | 5 Pages

Ana DuVernay’s documentary, “13th” explores and brings light to how the 13th amendment makes it unconstitutional to be held a slave with the exception of being labeled as a criminal. The documentary explains that due to the language used in the 13th amendment, the rights that black people fought to have during the Civil War can be stripped away from them once labeled a criminal. The film states that 1 in every 17 white males are incarcerated during their lifetime, while 1 in every 3 black males are incarcerated during their lifetime. Statistics like these act as evidence for the racial injustice and inequity that is still found in our police and prison system today. Once labeled a criminal, your rights to vote, get a job, take out loans, etc.

Read More

13th Amendmentamendment Essay

1209 Words | 5 Pages

The Nixon administration declared that drugs were the country's "public enemy. " These illegal drugs were implemented in poor communities where minorities reside, so mass incarceration began. Throughout the 70s and 80s, the government spent millions to crack down on drug dealers and those doing drugs. This led to many Americans being imprisoned for simply possessing a drug, specifically marijuana, heroin, and cocaine. The majority of those Americans were minority men, which caused many of their families to be torn apart.

Read More

Ronald Reagan War On Drugs Essay

1015 Words | 5 Pages

“We’re making no excuses for drugs- hard, soft, or otherwise. Drugs are bad, and we’re going after them. As I’ve said before, we’ve taken down the surrender flag and run up the battle flag. And we’re going to win the war on drugs”, he said in an address to the nation (Reagan, 1982). Tapping into the anxiety of concerned parents around the country, Reagan solidified the fear that drugs were the number one problem, and that something needed to be done about it.

Read More

African American Incarceration

868 Words | 4 Pages

In the US, incarceration rates disproportionately affect men of color. 1 in 3 black men will go to prison sometime in their life. For every 15 African American men, 1 is imprisoned, while only 1 in every 106 white men is incarcerated. With the 13th amendment to the Constitution, slavery was abolished, but with one condition.

Read More

Argumentative Essay On The War On Drugs

865 Words | 4 Pages

Some may not be too familiar with the war on drugs and the effects it has had on the society we live in. The war on drugs was started by the Nixon administration in the early seventies. Nixon deemed drug abuse “public enemy number one”. This was the commencement of the war on drugs, this war has lasted to this day and has been a failure. On average 26 million people use opioids.

Read More

More about Social Injustice In The 13th

Related Topics

Open Document