- Aug 28, 2015
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On Oct. 7, Netflix released a compelling documentary entitled “13th,” which traces the political history of the incarceration and criminalization of African Americans since the 13th Amendment abolished slavery more than 150 years ago.
Directed by Ava Duverny, who also directed “Selma,” a 2014 Oscar winner, “13th” features commentary on the current state of American prisons by scholars, political leaders and activists including U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, Harvard history professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Black Panther activist Angela Davis. It also outlines the criminal justice initiatives enacted by various Presidents—such as former President Bill Clinton’s “Three strikes” policy—which contributed to the explosion of the U.S prison system and the disproportionate incarceration of African Americans.
Because of the massive economic stake the South had in slavery, Southerners created economic and political institutions that would continue the profitable system of free labor after the Civil War. The 13th Amendment, from which the documentary takes its title, freed slaves but made an exception for prisoners, thus creating the first American “prison boom.” African-Americans were arrested for minor offenses like loitering and used as free labor under “constitutional slavery.”
Read more
http://thegreyhound.org/site/2016/11/19/13th-the-truth-about-black-incarceration/
On Oct. 7, Netflix released a compelling documentary entitled “13th,” which traces the political history of the incarceration and criminalization of African Americans since the 13th Amendment abolished slavery more than 150 years ago.
Directed by Ava Duverny, who also directed “Selma,” a 2014 Oscar winner, “13th” features commentary on the current state of American prisons by scholars, political leaders and activists including U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, Harvard history professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Black Panther activist Angela Davis. It also outlines the criminal justice initiatives enacted by various Presidents—such as former President Bill Clinton’s “Three strikes” policy—which contributed to the explosion of the U.S prison system and the disproportionate incarceration of African Americans.
Because of the massive economic stake the South had in slavery, Southerners created economic and political institutions that would continue the profitable system of free labor after the Civil War. The 13th Amendment, from which the documentary takes its title, freed slaves but made an exception for prisoners, thus creating the first American “prison boom.” African-Americans were arrested for minor offenses like loitering and used as free labor under “constitutional slavery.”
Read more
http://thegreyhound.org/site/2016/11/19/13th-the-truth-about-black-incarceration/
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