Critical thinking 13th

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Reaction Analysis of 13th Documentary
Ava Duvernay’s 13th documentary explains how the US judicial system has exploited the 13th Amendment to advance slavery acts on black people. The 13th Amendment was enacted into law in 1865 to stop slavery and grants all Americans their freedom (Mock). However, a small clause in the amendment that states that slavery will be allowed only as a punishment for crime has been exploited to disrupt the freedom of the black communities. The paper seeks to present a summary reaction of the reader to the 13th documentary by relating war on drugs and crime in the US to the film story.
According to 13th, Nixon proposed the war on drugs that indirectly targeted the black people. Black people are the most poverty-stricken and face the most significant structural inequality compared to the white people. It is therefore illogical to include that they are primary users of illegal drugs that are currently a 151 billion dollar industry (Mock). Black people have face incarceration for drug-related crimes spending a substantial part of their lifetimes in prison and losing their voting rights. Evidence shows that imprisonment of people as a strategy of war on illegal drugs has done little to reduce use; hence such people should undergo treatment.
The documentary also illustrates the exploitation of 13th Amendment to incarcerate African Americans for criminal offenses. Former slaves were sentenced to imprisonment or fined for minor crimes such as petty theft, vagabondage and even for failing to keep a steady job (Mock).

Those who were unable to pay fines were sold off to mining and timber companies where they were forced to work under poor conditions. Sociological evidence shows that imprisonment has proven ineffective in handling crime-related offenses. Empowering low-income communities and early childhood interventions programs are effective ways to reduce crime rates in the American society.
CONCLUSION
The 13th documentary shows the reality of the legalism of slavery even after the enactment of the 13th amendment. State and federal governments discriminate the freedom rights of the black people in disguise of policies such as the drug and crime wars. It is clear that the African American citizen is still a second-class civilian in the US, and Jim Crow’s laws are often applied to oppress them.
Work Cited
Mock, Brentin. “‘Selma’ Director Explores the Ties between Slavery and Mass Incarceration in ’13Th'”. Citylab, 2018, https://www.citylab.com/equity/2016/10/documenting-the-ties-between-salvery-and-mass-incarceration-ava-duvernay/503165/. Accessed 11 July 2018.