A History of Systemic Racism in the United States as Described in the Film 13th

13th is a documentary that explores the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America granting freedom to all Americans except for criminals which states that, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” (U.S. Const. amend XIII). Ana DuVernay analyzes the loophole in the ratification of the 13th amendment and its correlation to black social disparities, media injustices, and the success of corporate America profiting from privatized prisons through mass incarcerations over the last 150 years. All of which continue to be an issue today.

13TH analyzes the ratification of the 13th Amendment and its ripple effects which have disproportionately affected our black communities. The movie begins with a robust statistic announced in the voice of Barack Obama at the NAACP Conference in Philadelphia July 14, 2015, “The United States is home to 5% of the world’s population, but 25% of the world’s prisoners”. The movie does not mention another statistic spoken at the NAACP conference that evening but to paint a better depiction for you; one in every 214 white men is behind bars, statistics for African Americans is one in every 35. The United States of America has the highest amount of incarcerations in the world.

13TH, begins by explaining the historical and economical benefits of slavery. After the Civil War, the North freed thousands of African Americans everyday from the South. This was an issue because the South benefited economically through slavery and forced labor. The 13th amendment abolishes slavery, or involuntary servitude, but it also has a clause that states, “except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” Consequently, if you are incarcerated the freedoms that were granted to you by the 13th amendment no longer apply. Suddenly, blacks were being arrested for minor crimes en mass. Prisons would remain full so that could provide labor to rebuild the economy in the South in the 1970’s. This time was known as the Mass Incarceration Era.

A dehumanizing picture began to be illustrated of black men in the United States through the media and movies. Media not only convinced its targeted viewers, but also had the black community convinced they were these criminals they were portrayed to be. After enough convincing that blacks were monsters and a threat to society Jim Crow Laws were passed in the South. Jim Crow was responsible for the racial segregation in America seperating the blacks from the whites and oppressing blacks by denying them housing, medical care, segregating transportation, schools, and public facilities. Everywhere black families went they were reminded that they were not allowed and they did not have a voice because they were not allowed to vote.

Jim Crow triggered the Civil Rights movement in 1954. The Civil Rights movement was a fight against social injustices such as equal opportunity and to end racial segregation. Civil rights activists were deemed dangerous threats to society, and viewed as criminals which was quite the contrary. Protestors and leaders were arrested such as Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks and Malcom X for speaking out. The passage of the Civil Rights Act wasn’t until 1964 that put an end to racial segregation and discrimination.

During President Richard Nixon’s Era he appealed to the public by coining the term “war on drugs” and promised to combat it with a Southern strategy of “law and order” which was another tactic to suppress black communities by enforcing mandatory, lengthy prison sentences and giving harsh punishments for minor crimes with resulted in a prison boom. Later, the Nixon administration revealed that the “war on drugs” was about putting blacks and civil rights activists in jail.

Crack/Cocaine became an epidemic. Crack hit the black communities and cocaine was more common in the suburban area. Blacks who were caught with crack were sentenced to longer, harsher, mandatory sentencing than a white man being caught with cocaine because cocaine was considered a more sophisticated drug. Ronald Regan stepped in declaring these times as a modern war on drugs, which was seen for what it was once again as another way to oppress black communities.

Times started changing and so did the language in America. Phrases like “the black communities” turned into “inner cities” to better appeal to the citizens. This is called “Dog whistle politics” which is sending political messages in code without provoking the opposition and that is exactly what George H. W. Bush did win the election creating fear around the black man.

Bill Clinton took presidency over in the 90’s signing a 30 billion-dollar Federal Crime Bill that caused a surge in the prison population. This Crime Bill made the problem of poverty in black communities worse by locking up black men and leaving families behind.

The American Legislative Exchange Council started to become exposed, also known as ALEC, which were private-public partnerships between state legislators and leaders from the corporate and business world who drafted pre-written new laws and sold them to legislation. ALEC is behind mandatory sentence laws, California’s 3 Strikes You’re Out, and Florida’s Stand Your Ground statute. Private prisons profited through ALEC by keeping their prisons full. All of this just reiterated that the economic model needed prisoners and what better way to do it by suppressing the black communities since slavery was no longer allowed.