Examining Modern Slavery and the 13th Amendment Documentary Film

This essay analyzes Ava DuVernay's documentary, "13th," which explores the enduring legacy of slavery in the United States, particularly through the lens of mass incarceration. The film examines the 13th Amendment's loophole allowing slavery as punishment for crime and how this has led to the disproportionate imprisonment of African Americans. The essay delves into the historical context, from post-Civil War legislation to the rise of the prison-industrial complex, highlighting the systemic racial discrimination that perpetuates modern-day slavery through the penal labor system. It discusses how the film reveals the harsh realities of prison conditions, drawing parallels between the cotton fields of the past and the labor practices within contemporary correctional facilities, emphasizing how the criminal justice system is a major contributor to the US economy. The essay also reflects on the film's impact on the student's perception of the American justice system and its role in perpetuating modern slavery.

Running head: THE 13TH AMENDMENT DOCUMENTARY MOVIE
The 13th amendment documentary movie
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1THE 13TH AMENDMENT DOCUMENTARY MOVIE
13th is a documentary film directed by Ava DuVernay that was released as a Netflix
film and also in selected theatres in United States (Butler 2018 2). The documentary film
deals with the touching theme of modern day slavery that is still prevalent in the society at
large (Butler 2018 2). The film digs deep into the prison labour industry in United States and
reveals some of the most eye opening systems practised behind those raised walls.
The system of slavery is regarded as one of the darkest times in human history where
the brutality and cruelty upon coloured people was overwhelming (Wilkins 14-28). However,
with the 13th amendment passed by the Congress in the year 1865, the slavery system was
abolished from the nation except for those who were penalised for committing crime
(Ourdocuments.gov. 2018). Thus, slavery remains despite of a history that stained the past of
America forever and in this film the tormenting and revealing facts that are behind the bar
cells of prison in America are showcased in a raw way. Right from the opening sequence of
the film, where the audio clip of former President Barack Obama states that America have
5% of world’s population and 25% of world’s prisoners, the film is informative and revealing
in its form (Ourdocuments.gov. 2018). The film dives deep into the history of slavery and
post-Civil War legislation that nulled slavery, however, remained in the society as a
punishment to those who were penalised with criminal activity and force labour.
Now, it has been observed that even though slavery eradicated from the society the
modern day’s slavery began as more and more minorities were pressed with criminal charges.
The film shows, how since 1960’s a new wave of minority suppression arose and giving rise
to racial discrimination and slavery in the new form. The penal labour system is what can be
termed as modern era’s slavery system. According to the reports by Huffington post it is
observed that the low wages and extremely degrading facilities have been an age-old practice
in the prison cells of America (Delaney 2018 6). In this way, the practice of slavery is still
existing in the current society where criminals are given the worst punishment of all time

2THE 13TH AMENDMENT DOCUMENTARY MOVIE
which is the system of slavery. It has been observed that the film shows some of the hard
facts of the modern day prison system in USA that can be compared to as what we observed
in the past as slavery. The cotton plantation fields where the slaves were whipped and made
to work forcefully can be compared to modern day’s prisons where the prisoners are forced to
work as labourers in extremely poor conditions (Hoffman 2018 2).
The film further has the capability to make a bold thesis regarding the booming
number of prisoners in the cells. Since the establishment of 13th amendment the rise of
prisoners in the prison cells have sky rocketed to the top. This was as a result of the criminal
justice system that came along with the clause stating that slavery was now a punishment for
criminals only and in came the continuation of legalized involuntary servitude of African
Americans (Equal Justice Initiative 2018 1). The practice of slavery in short just shifted from
the cotton fields to prison cells.
Since the initial years of the 13th amendment the states across US passed discretionary
laws where large masses of black people were arrested and imprisoned and leased them to
private individuals and corporations henceforth, the system of slavery prevailed (Equal
Justice Initiative 2018 2). The film digs reveals this fact and puts forward the harsh facts of
the prison labour industry and how it is linked to the past system of slavery system.
Before this I believed that in our contemporary world slavery was non-existential
however after watching this film my prior perception was changed drastically. This film truly
moved my perception towards the nation’s justice system and throws a light in the prison
labour system that has been booming and is a major contributor to US economy. The film has
the capacity to bring forward the concealed harsh truth of America that lies in the society as a
modern day slavery system.

3THE 13TH AMENDMENT DOCUMENTARY MOVIE
References
Butler, B. (2018). Ava DuVernay’s Netflix film ’13th’ reveals how mass incarceration is an
extension of slavery. Online The Washington Post. Available at:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/10/06/ava-
duvernays-netflix-film-13th-reveals-how-mass-incarceration-is-an-extension-of-slavery/?
noredirect=on&utm_term=.30baf954bb39 [Accessed 20 Nov. 2018].
Delaney, A. (2018). The 'Modern Day Slavery' Of Prison Labor Really Does Have A Link To
Slavery. [online] HuffPost India. Available at: https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/prison-
strike-modern-day-slavery_us_5b857777e4b0511db3d21da8 [Accessed 18 Nov. 2018].
Equal Justice Initiative. (2018). Prison Labor and the Thirteenth Amendment. [online]
Available at: https://eji.org/history-racial-injustice-prison-labor [Accessed 20 Nov. 2018].
Hoffman, J. (2018). 13th review: Ava DuVernay doc shows prisons are the new plantations.
[online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/29/the-13th-
review-ava-duvernay-new-york-film-festival-prisons-plantations-race-law-us [Accessed 19
Nov. 2018].
Ourdocuments.gov. (2018). Our Documents - 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:
Abolition of Slavery (1865). [online] Available at: https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?
flash=false&doc=40 [Accessed 20 Nov. 2018].
Wilkins., “Residual effects of slavery: What clinicians need to know." Contemporary Family
Therapy 35.1 (2013): 14-28.