The 13th.

Questions on the film

Some preliminary remarks:
You are going to watch an award-winning, gut-wrenching documentary about mass incarceration and the history
of racial inequality in the United States.
Take your time to understand everything. Stop the video anytime and do some background research if something
is not clear to you. The questionsare not necessarilymeant to be answeredwhile you are watching the
documentary. Feel free to watch passages again, jump back and forth and take in all the details. I really want you
to understand what is said —to that end, you might resort to German subtitles if some passages are absolutely
incomprehensible to you.
If possible, watch the documentary on Netflix with English subtitles. You can also find it on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krfcq5pF8u8

I) What freedom does the 13thAmendment grant? What is the perceived loophole with
this amendment?
2) How did popular culture help to shape the stereotype of "black criminality/' during
the 20thcentury?
3) What was the 'War on Crime' really about? How, according to the film, has African-
American leadership in the US been minimized?
4) How did drug use and drug arrests / incarcerations play a role in the increase of
prison rates in the 1970s? How did the government use crack as a way to target
minority and poor communities?
5) What was a super predator and how did it relate to African American communities?
6) How did the Democrats change their policies to reflect the "tough on crime" stance?
7) What were "3 strike" laws and "mandatory minimums"? How did they influence
police enforcement and the criminal courts?
8) Explain why the 1994 federal crime bill paved the way for mass incarceration in the
US.
9) How did ALEC become influential in the US prison system and in criminal justice as a
whole?
10) Explain in what way private corporations can benefit from full prisons and long
sentences.
Il) How does the issue of wealth play into how the US criminal justice system works?
12) Give at least one example of how criminality follows an individual even after they are
released from prison.
13) What makes #BlackLivesMatter, according to the film, a unique movement in the US
today?

Further reading:

A touching account of an inmate on death row who has witnessed modern slavery in US prisons:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/23/prisoner-speak-out-american-slave-
labor-strike
A news report on how Covid-19 affects prison labor:
https:Uwww.wired.com/stow/.covid-19-prison-labor/
An interview with 13thdirector Ava Duvernay:
https:/Iwww.theatlantic.com/entertainmentlarchive12016/10/ava-duvernay-13th-netflix/5030751
 ABOUT THE 13TH

FILM DETAILS FILM THEMES (writtenb" tnfiuencefiimclub.com)

DIRECTOR: Ava DuVernay AFRICAN AMERICANS PORTRAYED AS CRIMINALS

Dating back to D.w. Griffith's 1915 BIRTH or A NATION.
RELEASED: Oct 7, 2016
African Americanshave continuallv been portrayed as
LENGTH: 1 hour 40 minutes criminals in many forms of American media. Through this
FEATURED: Michelle Alexander, Angela Davis. Bryan lens, the public at large has come ta unconsctoustv believe
Stcvenson. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Jelani that black people are more likely to become rapists. drug
Cobb, Van Jones. Malkia Cyril, James addicts, murderers or thieves purelv because of the color of
kilzorc their skin. The more one sees images and hears stories of
African Arnencans committing crimes. whether it is true or
not, the more likely onc is to believe that African Americans
are indeed crimina's.

MASS INCARCERATION AS REPLACEMENT FOR SLAVERY

As Amendment Xlll states, -Neither slavery nor tnvoluntarv
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 Vet,
countless corporations have pnsoners who have been put to
without pay as part of ther sentencing S.nce the
FILM SUMMARY: abolishment of slavery. politicians have implemented
pohciesthat feed off of thr mediaGenerated fear cf black
Chronicling the history cf racial inequality in the United crtminals, disproportionately putting African Americans
States, the 13th enamines how our country has produced behind bars where they can be used as free labor
the highest tatr of incarceration in the world, with the
majority of thosr imprasonedbejnr, African Arneracan CORPORATE INrEK€srs SHAPE PRISON
of OuVernag's extraordinary and flim The American legislative Exchange Council. better known as
refers to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution The ALEC, a coalit.on of corporate interests like Waimart and
progressjon from that second qualifv:nr clause to the Verizon, introduces federal polities which arguablv result in
horrors of mass incarceration and the prison industry in putting African Americans and immizrants behind bars in the
the iJS laid out b/ OuVeranv With bracjne interest of profiteering from the success of pnvate prison•.,
lucidity. Duvernov argues that a prat»onindustrjaj complf•s surveillance, and prason labor. One in four US
which statistically imprisons blac/ men d.g•jroportionatetv have ties to ALEC, some of whom hue •ntroduced bills and
and allows for tilt-it dtcciphnarvservitude. ha'. taken policies without even bothering to remove ALEC •sbrandvn€'
advantage of Amer.ca•s black oopul.atjon and brines jnto from them before disperqng them to colleagues
question 'f this artq as form of
modern dav rm OS Al RICAN AMERiCANS
By port€ay.npblar\ people criminals, depnv"ii the.'
film was madc an ane,w€uto my own quesuon•, communities of fynanoai resources that put them on a
about how and why have becomr mog plasnnR field to their White compatr.ots, developing
nation •n world, how ond we Creatd polioes that are more to see people of color placed
',omv of our innately cr.rninat, and how and whv behind bars, and crt•atine pt system'. that are meant
pood peopjc go bappcn genet anon punish and break people than help them rehabilitate
"-notation,' at ho prcmir•' at anti teente•l Amenca hag or
"4th Yorb unconsoousiy, dehumamzed its biocb population