The 13th
A Netflix Documentary
“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.” - The 13th Amendment
An amendment to the Constitution of the United States, created in 1865, was needed to validate rights already existing per the Declaration of Independence in 1774. This declaration stated that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” It does not take a genius to understand that the forefathers of this country only meant for certain unalienable rights to be granted to a certain demographic of people -- namely people who look like them. This reality proves that America’s very DNA has been meticulously woven together with the thread of white supremacy and racism.
The 13th is a documentary that highlights the 13th Amendment in a way that shows how even in the abolishment of slavery, white supremacy was never addressed. By attacking the fruit and ignoring the root, this created avenues for slavery and oppression even after it was deemed illegal. How? Through what is commonly referred to as the 13th Amendment loophole. If you read the amendment (above) carefully, you can see that slavery is abolished, “except as a punishment for crime… ”. Queue up the Jim Crow laws, post slavery, and one can see the immoral and unjust laws enacted on people of color. These laws made it easy for law enforcement to arrest and imprison people of color for breaking laws that white people didn’t have to obey and forcing them into free labor. Today, the mass incarceration system is vastly disproportionately filled with people of color (specifically black males) and is a multi-billion dollar industry.
The documentary is narrated by lawyers, professors, clergy, and activists who have given themselves to unveiling injustice. The 13th paints a truthful picture of history while knocking down stereotypes that we, as Christians, must confront if we are to pursue racial reconciliation.