More handpicked essays just for you.
Racism in the history of America
A brief history of racism in the United States
Racism in the history of America
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The documentary 13th, directed by Ava DuVernay, portrays how although slavery was abolished, through political movements it has transformed and reemerged as mass incarceration. The title refers to the 13th amendment which ended slavery, but as DuVernay shows, it left a loophole which has been thoroughly exploited throughout the years. The United States government has systematically found ways to oppress African Americans which has led to the statistic that today one in three black males go to jail while only one in seventeen white males see the inside of a prison cell. This loophole, also known as the exception clause, states that slavery is abolished “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” Ultimately, …show more content…
this changed slavery from being a legal business model to becoming an equally lawful system of punishment. One of the main points that this film discusses is President Nixon and his “war on drugs”.
Many policies put into action by the Nixon administration aimed to imprison African Americans and other minorities by catching them on minor charges and putting them to work. This was done with the primary motive of undermining the black community. Even Nixon’s domestic policy chief, John Ehrlichman, admitted that the war on drugs was created as a way to compromise the blacks and hippies. He stated “We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin. And then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities". This proves that the government was purposely implementing these laws in order to specifically bring down these minorities. When Bill Clinton took over the presidency, he continued this trend by putting a new plan into place which he called “three-strikes-you’re-out”. This legislation served to send increasingly large numbers of African Americans to prison, and keep them there. It made it so that if someone was convicted of a serious crime three times, they would most likely have to serve a life
sentence. The formation of ALEC, or the American Legislative Exchange Council, which consisted of both lawmakers and big companies, led to profit maximization of the prison systems at the expense of the minorities. For example, the CCA was able to make tremendous profits by privatizing the prison industry and then influencing congressmen to pass laws that make it easier for someone to find themselves in a prison cell. In addition, by creating GPS trackers, companies have also been able to make profits by charging people monthly for their services. This is a new form of slavery because it doesn’t give the people any choices. They can easily be thrown in jail for the smallest of crimes and then quickly find themselves at the mercy of the courts. Although people do not formally address this as slavery and the tactics have changed, the reasons behind it remain the same as when the settlers first brought over blacks from Africa and forced them into labor for their profit. In my opinion, this situation relates more to the power conflict theories presented by Karl Marx because it shows how a dominant culture or race has found new ways of maintaining power and differentiating themselves from the African Americans over time rather than accepting them into society. This film by DuVernay is able to powerfully demonstrate this idea to hopefully raise awareness and bring forth much needed change in our socioeconomic climate.
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is a book by Michelle Alexander, a civil rights litigator and legal scholar. The book discusses race-related issues specific to African-American males and mass incarceration in the United States. Michelle Alexander (2010) argues that despite the old Jim Crow is death, does not necessarily means the end of racial caste (p.21). In her book “The New Jim Crow”, Alexander describes a set of practices and social discourses that serve to maintain African American people controlled by institutions. In this book her analyses is centered in examining the mass incarceration phenomenon in recent years. Comparing Jim Crow with mass incarceration she points out that mass incarceration is a network of laws, policies, customs and institutions that works together –almost invisible– to ensure the subordinate status of a group defined by race, African American (p. 178 -190).
The movie 13th mainly discusses the problem of racism and mass incarceration after the civil war. Specifically, it is covered in the documentary that many poor black people were put in jail due to minor misbehaviors and were forced to work for the country under convict leasing. Moreover, black people were treated unfairly and sometimes were tortured unlawfully in the society. The “War on drugs” declared by conservative Republicans were biased against black community and resulted in a significant increase in incarceration in the late 20th. In addition, a lot of companies such as Walmart cooperated with States in terms of private prison constructions and gained a huge amount of profits as a result.
For more than two hundred years, a certain group of people lived in misery; conditions so inhumane that the only simile that can compare to such, would be the image of a caged animal dying to live, yet whose live is perished by the awful chains that dragged him back into a dark world of torture and misfortune. Yes, I am referring to African Americans, whose beautiful heritage, one which is full of cultural beauty and extraordinary people, was stained by the privilege given to white men at one point in the history of the United States. Though slavery has been “abolished” for quite some years; or perhaps it is the ideal driven to us by our modern society and the lines that make up our constitution, there is a new kind of slavery. One which in
As a child in elementary and high school, I was taught that President Abraham Lincoln was the reason that African slaves were freed from slavery. My teachers did not provide much more information than that. For an African American student, I should have received further historical information than that about my ancestors. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity or desire to research slavery on my own until college. And with my eagerness and thirst for more answers concerning my African American history, I set out to console my spirit, knowledge, and self-awareness of my ancestors’ history. I received the answers that my brain, mind, and soul need. Although Abraham Lincoln signed the 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution, courageous African American slaves were the real heroes and motivation of the movement.
Today, more African American adults are under correctional control than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began (Alexander 180). Throughout history, there have been multiple racial caste systems in the United States. In her book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander defines a “racial caste” as “a racial group locked into an inferior position by law and custom” (12). Alexander argues that both Jim Crow and slavery functioned as racial caste systems, and that our current system of mass incarceration functions as a similar caste system, which she labels “The New Jim Crow”. There is now a silent Jim Crow in our nation. Mass incarceration today serves the same function as did slavery before the Civil War and Jim Crow laws after the Civil War - to uphold a racial caste system.
In Blackmon 's book "Slavery by Another Name," he argues the existence of slavery after it was outlawed in 1865. This continued presence of slavery contributes to the existing racial problems faced in this day and age. On April 8, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment was passed, by Congress and The House, outlawing slavery. Although this amendment was passed as Blackmon points out there were ways around this amendment. Blackmon addresses four of the many ways that people would enslave blacks after the amendment was passed, those being convict leasing, sharecropping, chain gangs and peonage. This essay will go into depth on these four points and will tell a personal critic on Blackmon 's work.
Even worse, the way politicians address crime. The tough stand on drugs started during the Nixon presidency, with most of the resources focused on medical treatment rather than punishment. Although it was a better strategy and alternative than the drug war policies that exist today, it was a very divisive issue between the conservatives and the liberals. The war on drugs ignited during the Reagan administration, two thirds of the financial resources were being spent on law enforcement. In addition, the end of the Cold War left the United States with weaponry and resources that needed to be repurposed.
While the War on Drugs may have been portrayed as a colorblind movement, Nixon’s presidency and reasoning for its implementation solidifies that it was not. Nixon coined the term “War on Drugs” in his 1971 anti-drug campaign speech, starting the beginning of an era. He voiced, “If there is one area where the word ‘war’ is appropriate, it is in the fights against crime” (DuVernay, 13th). This terminology solidified to the public that drug abusers were an enemy, and if the greatest publicized abusers were black, then black people were then enemy. This “war” started by Nixon claimed it would rid the nation of dealers, but in fact, 4/5 of arrests were for possession only (Alexander, 60). Nixon employed many tactics in order to advance the progress
“13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery." Our Documents. http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=40 (accessed April 23, 2014).
The title, 13TH, refers to the 13th amendment of the constitution, which abolished slavery and
Most black Americans are under the control of the criminal justice today whether in parole or probation or whether in jail or prison. Accomplishments of the civil rights association have been challenged by mass incarceration of the African Americans in fighting drugs in the country. Although the Jim Crow laws are not so common, many African Americans are still arrested for very minor crimes. They remain disfranchised and marginalized and trapped by criminal justice that has named them felons and refuted them their rights to be free of lawful employment and discrimination and also education and other public benefits that other citizens enjoy. There is exists discernment in voting rights, employment, education and housing when it comes to privileges. In the, ‘the new Jim crow’ mass incarceration has been described to serve the same function as the post civil war Jim crow laws and pre civil war slavery. (Michelle 16) This essay would defend Michelle Alexander’s argument that mass incarcerations represent the ‘new Jim crow.’
Woolley, John T., and Gerhard Peters. "Richard Nixon: Special Message to the Congress on Drug Abuse Prevention and Control." The American Presidency Project. The American Presidency Project, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.
David M. Oshinsky’s book “Worse Than Slavery” brings to life the reality that faced slaves after the abolishment of slavery. It recounts the lives that these men faced daily and it made me question the humanity of all those who were involved and question how as a society we let this ever happen. From the convicts being leased out to people who didn’t care about their well-being to a life back on a state ran plantation, where life was worse than it was for them as slaves. It showed just how unfair the justice system was for a black prisoner compared to a white prisoner. Their lives were worthless and replaceable and only mattered when they were thought to be worth something to someone.
While Nixon made it a major crime to possess and distribute drugs, including marijuana, several states went against his belief and decriminalized the use of marijuana. However, presidents weren’t done with their say in the use of drugs. President Ronald Re...
Nominated for two Academy Awards and four Golden Globes, Ava DuVernay’s is an African-American director, writer, and filmmaker. DuVernay’s is best known for her film “Selma” about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s leadership in the struggle for voting rights and current directorial feature-length documentary the 13TH. DuVernay grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from University of California Los Angeles in 1995, with a degree in African-American Studies and English. DuVernay saw that there was a demand to make more non-stereotypical African-American films and wanted to bridge the gap in the film industry. Today DuVernay, successful career continues to peak, with her being the first African-American woman to be nominated for Best Director at the Sundance Film Festival and the first African-American female director to be