The Problem of Mass Incarceration in America as Depicted in 13th Documentary

Introduction

Decades after the ratification of the 13th Amendment, slavery still exists in the United States in various ways. Currently, mass incarceration is the greatest form of slavery in America, as depicted in Ava DuVernay’s documentary titled “13th” (DuVernay, 2016). The criminal justice system in the United States has been targeting African Americans to keep them in conditions similar to slavery. Because of this, their lives are deteriorating every day due to the unfair trials established to incriminate them (Alexander, 2012).

The Origins of Mass Incarceration

First of all, the documentary “13th” outlines significant events that influenced the survival of African Americans over the years and illustrates the overall picture that everyone needs to acknowledge. This documentary also identifies the source of African Americans’ inheritance of oppression in the United States. African Americans are socially perceived as “super predators, rapists, and murderers,” and this issue did not arise recently. White folks issued those terminologies to control the newly freed African Americans as a reaction to the ratification of the 13th Amendment (DuVernay, 2016). The United States Constitution, the supreme law of the land, states that “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States” (U.S. Const. amend. XIII). White folks took full advantage of this Amendment’s loophole, which was the legalization of slavery as punishment for criminals. They adopted a new system: The extensive mass incarceration. Thus, the “mythology of black criminality” emerged. As a matter of fact, “The Birth of a Nation,” a drama film released in 1915, is the perfect example of white folks portraying African Americans as rapists and murderers (Griffith, 1915). Indeed, the main goal of this drama film was to convey a sense of fear and ongoing hatred towards African Americans. This is the era when the criminal justice system became biased and started incriminating African Americans to enslave them. Subsequently, this also led to segregation in the United States. Two outstanding components of segregation were Black Codes and Jim Crow laws. Essentially, both laws “relegated African Americans to a permanent second-class status and limited their freedom” (Alexander, 2012). African Americans were compelled to live in fear because they could easily be arrested and brought back to the state of slavery when they violated those discriminatory laws.

Presidential Influence and the War on Drugs

In addition, former presidents used similar strategies to confine African Americans and keep them in a second-class status. For instance, Richard Nixon used “the oxymoron known as ‘war on drugs’ to specifically target African Americans” and incriminated them for minor crimes (Baum, 2016). Instead of trying to resolve drug abuse with humanization, Nixon decided to respond to this uprising problem with criminalization. He did not want to recognize African Americans as dignified individuals who needed assistance. For this reason, “Prison was seen as a beast that was eating black people for breakfast and dinner” (DuVernay, 2016). The government kept overcrowding jails and ultimately, the prison population in the United States is now over two million, and “America has the highest incarceration rate. 25% of the world’s prisoners are in the United States” (Wagner & Bertram, 2020). This is due to the continual “rationalized control” of African Americans.

Inhumane Prison Conditions and Exploitation

Furthermore, prisoners were living in poor conditions in prisons and were treated inhumanely. The architectural designs of prisons were similar to animal cages and “some even lacked windows” (DuVernay, 2016). In other words, mass incarceration was a form of extreme dehumanization, and on top of that, prisoners have to provide free labor as punishment. “There are corporations investing in free labor” (Chang, 2012). African Americans being consistently apprehended is a tactic to keep them working literally for free for companies such as Victoria's Secret and J.C. Penney. They are being continuously exploited without the ability to protest, which is exactly like slavery.

Continued Political Support for Incarceration

Sadly, other presidents, such as Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and many more, had been consistent with the extension of mass incarceration. “The rhetorical war started by Richard Nixon and continued by Ronald Reagan escalated into a literal war, a nearly genocidal one,” because President Reagan and his authorities also targeted a specific group of people: African Americans (Alexander, 2012). It was as if the police officers wanted to eradicate African Americans or neutralize them, and the penalties they often received for minor crimes were unreasonable. Most African Americans had unfair trials and enormous sentences even without proof and witnesses to legally condemn them. An example of this was Kalief Browder’s case. Browder was a young African American arrested for a crime that he did not commit, and he was released nearly three years after he experienced dreadful dehumanization in prison (Gonnerman, 2014). This stresses the fact that “Everyone who is in prison is not a criminal” and there is several evidence to prove this statement.

The Role of ALEC and CCA

Lastly, the United States’ criminal justice system is largely affected by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). This non-profit organization writes laws that destroy the country, and politicians fund them. “Through ALEC, the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) became the leader in private prisons” (Pilkington, 2013). By having multiple inmates in incarceration, CCA generates “$1.7 billion in profit off punishment” (Chang, 2012). Eventually, ALEC and CCA both work together to shape policies that would increase criminalization in African American communities. In addition, CCA deliberately puts African Americans behind barbed wires without consideration of their civil rights being denied once they enter prison. Altogether, after the 13th Amendment was passed, white folks redesigned a new form of slavery known as mass incarceration that contributed to the degradation of the lives of millions of African Americans. The documentary “13th” had unraveled the systematic strategies used in the United States over the years, from hyper-segregation to criminal labels, in order to incriminate African Americans. Ava DuVernay articulates it well, “Silent in this case is consent” (DuVernay, 2016). Therefore, something needs to be done to stop the continuous mass incarceration.

References

Alexander, M. (2012). The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. The New Press.

Baum, D. (2016, April). Legalize It All: How to Win the War on Drugs. Harper’s Magazine. https://harpers.org/archive/2016/04/legalize-it-all/

Chang, C. (2012, August 13). The Prison Industry in the United States: Big Business or a New Form of Slavery? Global Research. https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-prison-industry-in-the-united-states-big-business-or-a-new-form-of-slavery/5324714

DuVernay, A. (Director). (2016). 13th [Film]. Netflix.

Gonnerman, J. (2014, October 6). Before the Law. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/06/before-the-law

Griffith, D. W. (Director). (1915). The Birth of a Nation [Film]. Epoch Producing Co.

Pilkington, E. (2013, June 27). ALEC Calls for Penalties on ‘Freerider’ Corporations That Leave the Group. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/27/alec-corporations-leaving-free-rider

Wagner, P., & Bertram, W. (2020). “What percent of the U.S. is incarcerated?” Prison Policy Initiative. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2020/01/16/percent-incarcerated/