Critical Race Theory In Civil Brand

Throughout society and culture there have often been a separation of the intersections of law, power, and race. However, in many instances and institutions these lines become blurred. For instance, within American culture, the legal system–more specifically corrections system; is defined by the implications that race play on the exertion of power and interpretation/implementation of the law. There are various examples of how the critical race theory can be seen at work within the criminal justice and corrections system, however, its visibility in “13” by Ava DuVernay and “Civil Brand” by Neema Barnette are perfect instances to which critical race theory is informed within the context of this racial based theory. The purpose of this analysis …show more content…
It is not a documentary but a fiction depiction of the Black woman’s experience in a prison system. The movie covers these prisoners’ rebellion against the systematic structure in place that abuses and exploits the woman in the facility. The focus is on the plantation like work the women are forced to endure, rape and sexual abuse, and other harsh conditions. Hay (77) notes that Civil Brand is not your typical women-in-prison film because of the emotional intensity in the film. The climax of the story unfolds when one of the women who is befriended by others is raped while pregnant and eventually succumbs to her bodily harm and wounds. There is not much research present on Civil Brand from the academic side, however, there are many reviews and synopsis of the films plot. Each public document and other source shares enough feedback and interpretation of the events that took place in the film to make way for it to be interpreted in reference to critical race theory and the institutionalized racist system of oppression that engulfed the prison in the …show more content…
As people who draft policy, corporations and the legal system manipulate the thirteenth amendment–it perpetuates mass incarceration (Abraham 72). As a result, being victim to this process, Black men are not allowed to be Black in America. Black criminality becomes a thing. Abraham, (73) notes that Nixon launched the war on drug to terrorize Black people. This was shown and discussed in 13th. As a result of the critical race theory being holistically at work, the being tough on crime stance got politicians ahead; and black and brown bodies locked away. This is what 13th discussed and is an example of the critical race theory influenced the movie. Black men were racially visibly being oppressed within this