In 500-750 words (2-3 pages), describe and evaluate the argument Ava DuVernay is

making in the documentary 13th. How are politics connected to the arguments being
made in the documentary? What other institutions (e.g., education, economic, etc.) are
important to the criminal justice system as DuVernay presents in 13th? Were you
surprised by the information in the documentary; why or why not?

The argument that Ava DuVernay is making is that the 13th amendment meant that slavery in
the form of ownership ended but as time progressed, new forms of slavery have been
constructed. The current American criminal Justice system was built on years of deception,
exploitation and oppression of non-white people and therefore, people need to take a stand
and force change; the system needs to be reconstructed. It gives rise to a new form of slavery,
mass incarceration which again only benefits whites. I strongly agree with her argument
because it is the absolute truth. In this country the statistics show that blacks and Hispanics
are getting incarcerated more frequently than non-whites. Why is this so? In order to fully
understand how we got to this point, Ava did what no one else has ever done, she connected
the system of slavery to Jim Crow and to the current system to paint a clear picture which
answers this question.
According to Michelle Alexander (educator and author; The New Jim Crow) African-
Americans throughout American history, have been repeatedly controlled through systems of
racial and social control that appear to die but are just reborn into new forms as necessary to
meet the needs of the time. It all began with Slavery. The majority of these slaves were
people of colour and the United States economy was built around exploiting these people
considered to be sub-human. Therefore, the answer to, Why is this so? is that the powerful
whites didnt want these past slaves to assume a position in their class, so they formulated
systems that put these people at a disadvantage because it puts them at an advantage.
Mass incarceration is one of these systems and it greatly benefits politicians and cooperations
likewise. I believe that these powerful people merge together to make sure that their rule is
strengthened and that coloured people never rise. White politicians and white Americans
greatly benefit from this system. The politicians are lauded as great economists because they
created a great economy funded from free labour by black slaves/ prisoners. They also use the
image of black men as Super predators, beasts, and monsters, to their advantage, whether to
win elections (George Bush- William Horton) or to get more black bodies into prisons so
they can continue to have a large free-labour force. Ronald Reagans Campaign manager Lee
Atwater explains this very clearly (southern strategy). ALEC (American Legislative
Exchange Council) is a private mutualistic relationship between corrupt politicians and
cooperations. They write laws for the government which benefits their co-operations and as
an incentive for supporting these laws, politicians benefit from these cooperations funding
their campaigns. For, example; they wrote the stand your ground law which saw people like
Zimmerman killing a Travon Martin , a young black male and avoiding arrest and conviction
This law created an atmosphere which rapidly increased gun sales and mostly benefitted
Walmart who was the largest gun retailer. There is also Corrections Cooperation which owns
and operates private prisons. They make contracts with the government who make sure that
the cooperations investments are protected by keeping these prisons fill with black men even
if crimes were not being committed. Basically, this cooperation profits from the
criminalisation of people of colour; 1.7 billion dollars in profit. Also there is Aramark who is
the largest supplier of food to prisons. They benefit from the continued flow of bodies into
prisons because it keeps them in business. Also, companies which make GPS ankle braces,
phone companies and insurance companies, all greatly profit.
Is this true? Does the powerful really value money and wealth that much that they would
really deny an entire group of people basic human rights? Yes it is true. Firstly, the powerful
get their power from acquired wealth and money and secondly, as I mentioned before, they
inherently dont consider non-whites as human beings and hence, dont even believe coloured
people deserve to have rights. Therefore, they feel no remorse in using and oppressing blacks
to maintain power. I dont believe that all powerful whites are like this as the documentary
may seem to insinuate but I do believe that the problem is with those who create and embrace
this system. Non-whites make up the greatest percentage of poor people in America as a
result of the exploits of Jim-crow and slavery. So if this system was not designed to hurt
black people, why does it favour the rich? As Bryan Stevenson (attorney) mentions in the
documentary, we have a criminal justice system that treats you better if you are rich and
guilty than if you are poor and innocent. As the statistics from the documentary states,
America is home to 5% of the worlds population but 25% of its prisoners and 60% of these
prisoners are people of colour. One in three black men will be incarcerated compared to one
in seventeen white men. Today the land of the Free claims to be making strides towards
racial equality but it has been a very slow process. It has a lot to do with the label that the
powerful has created for blacks. Black men, as mentioned in the documentary, were labelled
as rapists, murders, drug lords and Super Predators. Society is set up in such a way that
even black people even me, believe that this is true. I believed this, even though Im black,
because of how frequently we as a people have been represented on the news as criminals.
Therefore, for a black person to realise that this isnt true they have to really look deep within
themselves, rise up and beat the system of oppression despite how difficult powerful people
make it. The system targets blacks of all ages no wonder why so many black children are
featured in the school to prison pipeline. It is not their fault that their ancestors were
relegated to a permanent second class status and they had to grow up in violent communities.
Because black people are retaliating, these kids grow up knowing nothing but a life of crime.
Therefore, is it wise to incarcerate them or to show them a better life? I think the latter is the
best choice but does the white faction/ government really care?
Before, watching this documentary, I used to say that African-Americans really complain too
much and they like to pull the race card for nothing. However, after watching this
documentary with tearful eyes, I now see that in order to understand the pain that these
people feel because of how they look you would have to grow up as an African-American. I
was indeed shocked by the information because I refused to believe that the Government over
the years have really set up a system so impartial that it continues to destroy and oppress a
whole race. When, I saw it all connected from slavery to mass incarceration, I was totally
shocked. Im now convinced that the 13th amendment was such a nice constitutional gift;
slavery still exists.