When everything is lined up back to back, it paints a different picture. There’s something that’s illuminated when you put it all together as a whole.
Academy-award nominated opens with President Barack Obama stating this startling statistic. The United States has five percent of the [world’s] population, yet houses 25 percent of the world’s prisoners.
So much for the land of the free.
The documentary is an informative and sobering film about the 13th amendment’s punishment clause. It traces the fate of African Americans from slavery through segregation and the civil rights era, to the so-called law and order era that began under President Nixon.
THE PUNISHMENT CLAUSE
Section One of the 13th Amendment, added to the U.S. Constitution in 1865, says,
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.
… Except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted. Often referred to as the punishment clause this clause creates a loophole. Thus, if a person is a criminal, it is legal to impart slavery and involuntary servitude on said person.
A recurring graphic in the documentary highlights the number of prisoners in America. Starting in 1972 with 357,292 prisoners, the prison population rose to a staggering figure of 2,306,200 in 2014. The film attributes the spike in recent years to the privatization of the prison industry. Another startling fact presented is the likelihood of lifetime imprisonment. One in 17 white men will end up spending a lifetime in prison. However, in the black community, the likelihood is one in three.
TWO KINDS OF FOLKS
was produced by filmmaker Ava DuVernay, who also produced last years Academy Award-nominated Selma. In an interview with National Public Radio, DuVernay said,
This documentary was built for two different kinds of audiences–folks out there that know about this and folks out there that have never heard of it. For folks out there that know about it … when everything is lined up back to back, it paints a different picture. There’s something that’s illuminated when you put it all together as a whole. …
To the person that has heard nothing about this, that thinks that prison is a place where bad people go and that’s that, [I wanted] to give them just a primer to think more deeply about, become more educated about, just have a broader base of knowledge about the criminal justice system as it stands right now and as it has stood for many decades.
HOW WILL '13TH' IMPACT YOU?
Jim Wallis, best-selling author and leading Christian activist, says in his book America Original Sin, It’s time we right this unacceptable wrong of allowing a community of Americans to continue to suffer from the legacy of racism. This film is one step in becoming educated. How will it impact you?
13th is well-researched, well-edited, factually and academically sober, and morally straightforward. I strongly recommend it as a must-view for every adult in the U.S. View it on Netflix and allow it to speak to you today!
ABOUT GEORGIA SANDERS
Georgia Sanders is the editor for the online magazine, Culture Honey. Culture Honey has hosted multiple discussion groups on topics of social justice. A screening and panel-led discussion around the documentary, "13th," will be held in Pasadena, California, on Feb. 26. Tickets and more information on the screening can be found online.
JUSTICE THAT RESTORES
With more than 40 years of experience helping restore men and women behind bars, Prison Fellowship advocates for federal and state criminal justice reforms that transform those responsible for crime, validate victims, and encourage churches and communities to play a role in creating a safe, redemptive, and just society.