13th: A History of Oppression

It seems that many people do not want to acknowledge the hardships and discrimination that black people face in America. The only time that we as a country have deemed it acceptable to consistently discuss and appraise the accomplishments of black people is in February, the shortest month. The issue of racism in this country and colorism in the black community are issues that are actively ignored and minimized by those who do not experience it, and internalized and repressed by people of color,

This weekend, I viewed “13th” on Netflix, a documentary detailing the systematic incarceration and social criminalization of blacks, especially black males. This documentary characterizes these issues chronologically, beginning with the passage of the 13th amendment. “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.” While this amendment should have signified a hard departure from all racism altogether, it simply paved the way for a new form of racism and encouraged the development of creative, surreptitious methods of keeping the black community under control.

The common argument is that it isn’t racism that so many black men are in jail, a criminal is a criminal. However, if you view the very relatively short history of events since the passage of the 13th amendment, many details point towards foul play at the hands of our own government. The figurative War on Drugs declared by Nixon in 1971 turned literal war on drugs by Ronald Reagan in the 1980’s is proven to have been just a ploy to incarcerate a larger number of black and hispanics in the inner cities of America.

Another thing that I have heard many times in my short life is that black people hurt black people more than whites or non-blacks do, coined as black-on-black crime. I can say with confidence, from my own experience, that in some cases, black people are definitely hostile to each other. This all leads back to the criminalistic, second class citizen image that blacks have been painted in since we were forcibly brought to this country. The past century has been host to minstrel shows with whites in blackface, and segregation, among other things that subliminally conjoins blackness with depravity. Not even the black community is exempt from anti-black sentiment.

It can be easy to believe that there is no discrimination when it comes to law enforcement, especially for those who are not of color. However, it is important to realize that that is the way that we ALL are supposed to see it. “13th” is a great educational film for those who may not have all of the information needed to see the major flaws in America’s prison system. It is important to understand the oppressive origins of events involving black people  such as the shootings of Trayvon Martin and Mike Brown, in order to make any real progress with the functionality of America’s justice and social systems.