13th Amendmentamendment Essay

Hundreds of people were thrown into prison for low-level offenses. Afterwards the Nixon administrations admitted that the “war on drugs” was all about throwing black people and other minorities in jail and make people associate them with crime and drugs “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. (...) We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or

Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime. This loophole enabled the creation of a system in which Black Americans were disproportionately targeted and criminalized, leading to the mass incarceration of Black people in the U.S. The film traces the history of how slavery was replaced by mass incarceration as a means of subjugation and highlights the ways in which this system has been perpetuated through government policies and practices. "13th" explores the complex web of factors that led to the current state of mass incarceration in America. The film highlights how the War on Drugs, launched by President Nixon in the 1970s, played a crucial role in this process.

Watching Michelle Alexander’s book discussion was such an eye opening experience for me to a matter that I was blind to till now. Watching her discussion brought feelings of anger, shock, shame, but most of all hope. I was completely unaware to the mass incarceration of minorities. I was aware of the increase of mass incarnation but not to the extent that Michelle explained in her discussion. I believe that Michelle’s description of the birth of a caste like system in the US to be extremely accurate.

The prison-industrial complex is a corrupt political system that consists of overpowered politicians whose sole ambition is exploiting poor, uneducated, and under-privileged Americans to make money. Although, it wasn’t initially the purpose when Rockefeller started the war on drugs, but he started something bigger than he could’ve imagined at that time. The prison system has been proven to be ineffective, and costly waste of resources. However, it probably won’t be abolished due to the cash flow that it brings to some of the largest corporations in the

According to Ava DuVernay who explored the history of racial inequality throughout the engaging documentary, “13th”, our country continues on to having challenges when it comes to the matter of race, assumption of crime, and discrimination between white men and black men. A large number of african americans have been denied

Ana DuVernay’s documentary, “13th” explores and brings light to how the 13th amendment makes it unconstitutional to be held a slave with the exception of being labeled as a criminal. The documentary explains that due to the language used in the 13th amendment, the rights that black people fought to have during the Civil War can be stripped away from them once labeled a criminal. The film states that 1 in every 17 white males are incarcerated during their lifetime, while 1 in every 3 black males are incarcerated during their lifetime. Statistics like these act as evidence for the racial injustice and inequity that is still found in our police and prison system today. Once labeled a criminal, your rights to vote, get a job, take out loans, etc.

In 1995 Bill Clinton escalated the seriousness of drug crimes by establishing the “three strikes, you’re out” policy, The “three strikes, you’re out” policy declared that any person with three violent crime charges would be put on trial for a life sentence, moreover it stated that any drug felony is equivalent to a violent crime. So, with possessing marijuana, crack, or cocaine being reclassified as a felony, these minor drug offenses could turn into a lifetime sentence. From 1983 to 1989 the American prison system increased from 14,301 inmates to nearly 40,000, a 180% increase. For race, by 1989 the arrest rates for whites was 365 for every 100,000 while for blacks the rate was 1,460 per 100,000, thus the incarceration rate for blacks was four times higher

The United States claims to value equality, but many often discriminate people who seem different. From the time of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s reflection in “Letter From Birmingham Jail” to present day, many people in society conjectures that everyone has the same rights and privileges, however, there is still inequality. All people in America are not given the same advantages others have when unjust and prejudicial treatment remains. It is evident that injustice can spread throughout society.

Ronald Reagan declared war on drugs in 1982, he strategically released media propaganda that gained the public support to fight this new war on drugs. He used a lot of battle words and war cries in his speeches, which led to some over aggressively policies towards a certain group of people, by this I mean if you declare a war, you must have an enemy and America always says black communities are responsible for America crimes. The enemy in this case is every black community in the United States, which also raise a question as why haven’t black communities paid attention to this ongoing war in their own backyard? Raegan campaign came up with two strategy plans in defeating this war, the first was demand reduction, which supports drug treatment programs to decrease the number of illegal drugs consumed on the streets and boost public education to decrease the poverty in America.

This helped lead to the mass incarceration problem that still exists today; the prison population in 1980 was 500,000 people, and by 2000 that number jumped to 2,000,000 people, a 300% increase. Since this law was enacted, the number of Black people that were sentenced to federal prison increased from 50 per 100,000 people to 250 per 100,000 people. During this same time frame, the number of whites sentenced to federal prison virtually remained constant. This stemmed directly from the sentencing disparity, since crack was cheaper and more accessible to poor Americans, a disproportionate number of whom were Black. Additionally, a majority of the small-time drug dealers who were selling crack were black and poor, as it provided them with a steady source of income without requiring many skills or resources.

Angela Davis Once said “Well for one, The 13th Amendment to the constitution of the U.S. which abolished slavery, did not abolish slavery for those convicted of a crime.” Although the amendment was desperately needed it made more problems for the U.S.The thirteenth amendment was about abolishing slavery. Many people had different opinions about this amendment. The amendment affected our nation dramatically. The 13th amendment to the United States Constitution says that, "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.

This law prohibits….. Despite the legal attempts to help African-Americans in the 1960s, Michelle Alexander has pointed out that the mass incarceration of black men has created a new Jim Crow (2020). The book opens with a paradox for the author, “Today my elation over Obama’s election is tempered by far more sobering awareness. As an African American woman, with three young children who will never know a world in which a black man could not be president of the United States, I was beyond thrilled on election night. Yet when I walked out of the election night party, full of hope and enthusiasm, I was

The United States has a larger percent of its population incarcerated than any other country. America is responsible for a quarter of the world’s inmates, and its incarceration rate is growing exponentially. The expense generated by these overcrowded prisons cost the country a substantial amount of money every year. While people are incarcerated for several reasons, the country’s prisons are focused on punishment rather than reform, and the result is a misguided system that fails to rehabilitate criminals or discourage crime. This literature review will discuss the ineffectiveness of the United States’ criminal justice system and how mass incarceration of non-violent offenders, racial profiling, and a high rate of recidivism has become a problem.

In The Meaning of Freedom, activist Angela Davis critiques the plausibility of democracy and collective freedom in the United States. By examining parallels between slavery and the carceral state, Davis contends that the two systems mutually characterize black people as disposable and compels them to incapacitation. Focusing on the two oppressive systems’ reliance on the maintenance of ignorance, Davis discusses how this ignorance is connected to America’s dominant sentiments of capitalism and self-interest, which, altogether, perpetuate cycles of abuse that disproportionately harm communities of color and lower-class peoples. As a result, this propels the creation of social hierarchies which, because it inherently cultivates inequalities, causes America’s classification as a “democracy” to be impossible.

America has always boasted about its rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. However, there have been numerous debacles where court cases prove the People are much more oppressed than originally thought upon. Growing up in Small Town, Wyoming, concepts of being treated equal ring throughout the land. Withal, this was not the case a century ago. While the citizens of the past segregated and hated based on physical appearances, a new hate grows in the society of today.