Agrawal 1

Tanmay Agrawal

Professor Pete Figler

ENGL 109H

05 March 2021

13th
The documentary feature, 13th, argues that although the classical institution of slavery

in the United States officially ended in 1865, it is still reminiscent in the form of the prison

system as well as other forms of embedded racism in various institutions of the country. The

documentary begins making this argument by referring to the language used in the 13th

Amendment in the US Constitution, which ended slavery in the United States: “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, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

(US Constitution, Amendment XIII). The narrator uses this document to argue, with the intent to

evoke the audience’s pathos, that if an exception to the institution of slavery has been

established in the founding document itself, then the exception would most definitely be

employed as a means for exploitation by people with ill-intent.

In the movie, after setting the stage by critiquing the language used in the US

Constitution, the author moves ahead by discussing the crime statistics in the United States.

The author cites facts that the United States, which houses 5% of the world’s population, has

25% of the world’s prison population to evoke an emotional response from the audience by

arguing that the country that prides itself as “The land of the free” has the most number of
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people behind bars. The author further discusses multiple post Civil War economic institutions

in the US, from mass arrest of African-Americans to segregation to Jim Crow to establish his

claim. The author further talks about “Birth of a Nation”, a movie that was deemed as one of

the best films of the era which reduced black people to demeaned, animal-like monsters, while

glorifying the KKK, a dangerous white-nationalist militia, as a heroic group. The author used

excerpts from this film to show how black people were villainized and white militias were

glorified in order to justify for the wrongdoings of the Civil War.

Now, the author moves on to the Post-Civil-Rights era. For many caucasians, the Civil

Rights Act signified the end of racism. The author argued otherwise. The author talked about

how War on Crime and subsequently, War on Drugs was used as a proxy for mass incarceration

of black men in the US. He used multiple sources, such as footage of police brutality from the

era to audio recording from Reagan’s aide confirming that these laws were used as a means to

destroy communities of color to justify his claim. Usage of these sources evoked the ethos,

pathos, as well as the logos of the audience, in the form of multiple footages of police brutality,

audio recordings of people from the administration, and statistics of African-American people

put behind prison from the era.

From here, the narrator moves on to the modern era, where he talks about how racism

has been systemized for corporate gains. A great deal of attention is put on political lobbying

groups such as ALEC and its impact on American Society. A conversation is held on private

prisons and their contracts with multiple corporations to use prisoners as free labor. This clearly
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serves as a look back to the 13th Amendment of the US Constitution, and shows how it has

been exploited to essentially continue slavery through the system of mass incarceration. This

last part is certain to have a profound impact on the audience, as it affirms that what many

consider the wrongs of the past are still widespread, albeit in a different form. A pessimistic

view is provided of the current critique of the prison system in the political climate, as the

author argues using historical precedent that this would just be a transition to a different form

of exploitation.

The author effectively persuades his audience of the reminiscence of slavery and

widespread exploitation of African-Americans in the present. This argument is strengthened by

providing a historical timeline which clearly establishes the current prison system as an

evolution of the institution of slavery that existed 150 years ago. However, an argument can be

made that at certain points the transition to a different era was abrupt, which impacted the

continuity of the entire documentary feature. Nevertheless, the credibility of the narrators as

well as the usage of multiple historical sources and cinematography helped establish and

strengthen the author’s claim.

Works Cited

1. The Constitution: Amendments 11-27. National Archives, United States National

Archives and Records Administration, last reviewed on January 12, 2021.

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/amendments-11-27