The 13th, By Ava Duvernay

Click. You’ve just won $10,000 dollars. However, you fail to read the fine text stating “can only be used on lawnmowers.” This experience is similar to the event that occurred on December 6th, 1865 except at a monumental scale. The 13th amendment was passed; slavery had been abolished or so one had thought. The documentary, 13th, by Ava Duvernay highlights the exception of the 13th Amendment, the one line that states that slavery is abolished except as a punishment for crime. Despite those words being there from the moment the amendment was passed, everyone paid a blind eye to it and thought it was an amazing milestone in American history. In fact, this was never a milestone, throughout the past 150 years, despite all of the new amendments

Interviewing several professors that have done research on the field of social justice demonstrates the fact that they are knowledgeable on the topic of the continuity of racism and the use of different races eliminates a racial bias. This is important because these professors all agree about the hidden consequences of the 13th Amendment towards the black community that are present current day, supporting the continuation of racism throughout the past 150 years. Furthermore, the use of raw media of past historical events develops credibility because they happened on a first-hand account. This is significant since there is a lot of raw media showcasing discrimination towards the black community over the past 150 years, mostly in the process of incarceration, contributing to the overall memo of the continuity of racism post-13th

One of the statistics that stands out is that 1 in 3 black men will go to prison in the United States as opposed to 1 in 17 white men. In addition, there was a statistic that states that 97% of black inmates did not take their cases to court because they would be punished more if they did. This is significant because it shows how police and the federal prison system are biased towards the black community, specifically highlighting the point of having a judicial system if it was not used fairly. Over the past 150 years, some historical events that demonstrate racism after the 13th amendment was passed have been the Jim Crow laws, segregation, and most importantly, the “Southern Strategy.” The Southern Strategy was a way for politicians in the 20th century to crack down on crime but create a byproduct that diminished the black community. Blacks would be arrested for the smallest crimes possible and still be imprisoned for longer than deserved, leading to the federal prison system that we have today. Analyzing the numerous amounts of acts of racism that have occurred over the past 150 years shows that the 13th Amendment was not actually effective and wasn’t a glorious end-all racism amendment. The use of these statistics and historical events contributes to the idea of the