13th

      Ava DuVernay's new documentary, ”13th,” was recently released on Netflix. Few Documentaries have been able to achieve as dense yet fluent an articulation of the historical roots of Americas current racial issues. The “prison industrial complex” which she exposes is likened to a modern form of slavery. The film as a whole examines the exception in the 13th amendment which “abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.” Starting with the first generations of freed African Americans unjustly incarcerated as a source of labor and subjugation DuVernay follows the issue through to today's almost ignored normality of mass incarceration. Modern America has the largest prison population in history and currently houses 22% of the worlds prisoners. DuVernay examine the effects this has on the disproportionally targeted African American community. 

     The origins of issues like police brutality, the specter of black male violence, and the exploitation of for-profit prisons are traced from slavery, to the Jim Crow era, straight through the limited successes of the Civil Rights movement and onto today. By making clear how Afrifcan American labor was exploited via the prison system in order to rebuild the economy of the South   DuVernay reveals the sinister economic motivations from both policy makers and law enforcement which has exploited this loophole in the 13th amendment. As one reviewer reflects: “Today, prison labor and the rates of black male incarceration contribute to the economy in myriad ways, suspect at best, morally berserk at worst. The figures are painful: One in 17 white males will do prison time of some sort, compared with 1 in 3 male African-Americans.” The statistics aren't a result of mere racial bias on the side of cops but rather they reflect a system that has been created to target African Americans. ALEC, short for the reactionary nonprofit American Legislative Exchange Council, is identified as a historic and modern defender of this broken and corrupt system. When the hands of Law enforcement and Judges are tied, especially in cases of national attention, it is often due to the lobbying done by ALEC. On example cited in the film is the Killing of Trayvon Martin for which ALEC was responsible for helping acquit Zimmerman. 

     From Reagan’s “War on Drugs” to Bill Clintons “Hard on Crime” bill no president or party is spared its role in creating the problem we see today. This hard examination of Washington shows that todays hyper-incarceration is not result of one, but rather a myriad, of national policies which unfairly lead to the confiscation of African American lives and labor. The film reflections on the campaign rhetoric of Donald Trump offer a bleak look at the future of this inequality with little hope for improvement. 

     Everyone should watch this film, not because it tells a new story about Black history, but because it makes clear the connections between all of the different narratives we’ve been discussing. By viewing todays problems through a historical lens the film “13th” makes clear how far we still need to go before not only equality but freedom in it’s most literal sense is achieved for African Americans.