overdue review of the netflix documentary: 13th

that highlighted clause in the image is the focus of the documentary 13th.  i wish we could say we are canceling our netflix subscription to read or exercise more, but it’s really to stream on other platforms for a while.  because we are doing so, i’m trying to watch the content i’ve put off watching. one of those is the documentary 13th which looks at how this exception built into the 13th amendment of the u.s. constitution has driven the extreme mass incarceration of black men into prison. it turns out you can watch the whole film for free on youtube through the link below though if you don’t have a netflix subscription.

this has been on my list a long time. i’m glad i watched it. i knew much of what was in this but to see it all strung together in a coherent narrative was different and i think most americans, particularly white americans, would learn a great deal. i knew about how the 3 strikes laws, the extreme crack possession penalties, the 1990s clinton crime bill, and other legislation had tied judges’ hands and driven police focus on incarcerating black men. but i never knew about alec – the organization funded by prison business and other right wing businesses–wrote and propagated much of this legislation and put it in the hands of politicians including bill clinton.  

i was also thrilled to be reminded of how angela davis beat the man in court against all odds. they show a clip of trusted newscaster walter cronkite referring to her as  “black militant angela davis” – man you know if your first two names were “black militant” in walter cronkite’s mouth, that’s quite an array against you. both walter cronkite and angela davis were worshiped in my home–probably one of the reasons our phones were tapped by the (herbert hoover led) fbi in the 1970s as i was growing up. (if anybody knows the best book to read by or about angela davis, please let me know)

it’s also fascinating to see the likes of newt gingrich, key richard nixon staff and others admitting that a concerted cynical campaign to demonize black men and “hippies” was created by the right during the 60’s and 70’s, brought to a national religion by ronald reagan in the 80’s and then adopted by bill clinton in the 90’s as a means to come to and maintain power in a collective consciousness that now utterly believed the lie of the black criminal threat.

i’ve seen better documentaries in the sense that the narrative at times seems a bit forced, there are some parts that are called connected where the connection is not proven, and many speakers are not well-identified or credentialed, so it feels a bit like counter propaganda at times.  but man, if we ever needed counter propaganda it’s on the topic of the fictional creation of the black criminal as a justification for re-enslavement in prison.