If you haven't watched the 13th on Netflix yet I highly highly recommend!
What's It About?:
The 13th is a Netflix documentary exploring the criminalization of African Americans through slavery, black codes, Jim Crowe, and mass incarceration. It features various scholars and politicians along with disturbing images and videos which give an insight into the experiences of African Americans. I found that the individual stories and interviews were extremely impactful. It's one thing to have a conversation about systemic racism in broad strokes but listening to the individual tragic stories is so immensely disheartening yet important.
“There has never been a period in our history where the law and order branch of the state has not operated against the freedoms, the liberties, the options, the choices that have been available to the black community, generally speaking. And to ignore that racial heritage, to ignore that historical context, means that you can’t have an informed debate about the current state of blacks and police relationship today, ‘cause this didn’t just appear out of nothing. This is the product of a centuries-long historical process. And to not reckon with that is to shut off solutions.”
— Kevin Gannon, 13th
My thoughts:
Both the criminalization of African Americans and the rise of mass incarceration are directly attributed to the 13th amendment, which outlawed slavery except as a punishment for crime. The southern economy was completely dependent on cheap labor, so it’s unsurprising that this loophole was abused. Following the Civil War several measures were taken to ensure the subjugation of African Americans starting with Black Codes, then Jim Crowe, and now the current system of police brutality and mass incarceration. The American prison system is unimaginably messed up, as is the entire legal system, and it disproportionately targets minorities perpetuating the myth that they are inherently criminal.
America accounts for only 4% of the worlds population but 25% percent of the world’s prisoners. 38% of these prisoners are African American and 45.9% are convicted for drug related offenses. The prison population has increased 400% in the last 30 years. 1 in 3 African Americans will go to jail in their lifetime and children as young as 13 have been given life sentences. 25% of prisoners are sexually victimized, although this is only counting the reported incidents. 96.9% of criminal charges are resolved by guilty pleas rather than trial. 40% of people in jail just because they are poor and can’t make bail. African Americans are 10.1 times more likely to be convicted of drug related charges. These statistics weren’t just surprising they were infuriating. We must ask ourselves how this system got so messed up.
Why would we rather put an innocent person in jail than let a guilty person run free?
On its face being tough on crime is an exceptional policy. Of course any respectable and wealthy nation would do everything to keep the citizens safe. However, when will we start understanding that declaring a war on drugs is declaring a war on people- specifically on communities of color. Nixon’s administration didn’t even try to hide this with one aid 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.” I advise against using quotes but I really think that says everything. In addition when asked to explain his campaign strategy one of George Bush’s managers said, “you’re getting so abstract now. You’re talking about cutting taxes and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and the by-product of them is blacks get hurt worse than whites.” The fact is it worked, fear mongering in politics works. By associating the black man with the word criminal they were able to dehumanize him, again.
It's important to recognize that race is at the center of American politics and as minorities make strides towards equality they are met with immense backlash. It’s immensely frustrating because reviewing the history of African Americans will quickly reveal that little true progress has been made. With the end of slavery we see the rise of the KKK and black codes, later replaced by Jim Crowe. Some progress in the 1960s is followed by a rise in conservatism and mass incarceration. Progress also requires massive sacrifice and public outrage as evident by the case of Emmett Till and more recently George Floyd. But, racism is so heavily embedded in the heart of our institutions, it's so fundamentally engrained in every aspect of society progress is virtually impossible. Until we can recon with our shortcomings and collectively agree to make change, the future seems rather hopeless.
Documentary Criticism:
I think that the 13th did a really great job highlighting these issues and theres nothing I found particularly unconvincing as it does align with my previously held beliefs. I will say that race is such a complex issue with a variety of variables and I think the message gets a bit lost at times. I found the information about ALEC fascinating and a bit terrifying; however, it wasn’t exactly relevant. I understand the role of ALEC, but I think more focus should have been given to explaining the rise in incarceration of Hispanic Americans. They make up a larger percentage of the prison population than African Americans but weren’t mentioned at all. As well as other issues such as municipality courts, prisoner reintegration, prison conditions, ext.
The 13th really did an amazing job with the graphics and I liked the cutting between the testimonials. I think the visual aspect was really extraordinary. It was fast paced, interesting, and easy to follow. I especially liked the selection of video clips and photos, although they were fully upsetting. The color scheme, the graphics, the visuals, just beautiful really well done overall.
After watching this documentary I still have many questions about the justice system and prison reform. Specifically the role of Latin Americans and why they are so heavily incarcerated as well. Also, what can we do? And where should we start? It seems as if there are so many complex problems with unclear solutions.
I would highly recommend this film to every single person. I really liked it because it gives you a nuanced insight into the lives of black people living in American thought history. I think that you could make an in-depth 7 hour documentary on subjects like mass incarceration and theres just so much that I’m left wondering. I also think that they left out a lot of critical information about economic oppression I think it would have helped to explain why African American communities are so poor. Through sharecropping, tenant farming, red lining, and institutionalized racism, America has hindered African Americans from any economic progress. Thus, the communities are more venerable to crime and drugs which perpetuates the “black people are criminals” stereotype and has been used to justify over policing and racial profiling. Not to mention the psychological damage as a result of generational trauma. Overall, I think this documentary did a wonderful job uncovering why we criminalize black men and the cost of a criminal justice system that is utilized to up hold racist stereotypes.
Comments