13th By Ava Duvernay: Film Analysis

When Thomas Jefferson was president in the early 1800’s he believed that all men were created equal. It wasn’t until December of 1865 that the 13th Amendment was passed, ending slavery and making every man, woman, and child equal. While this did end slavery, it also caused problems that would negatively impact African American families for several decades, even to this day. In Ava DuVernay’s documentary 13th, she uses compelling statistics and several qualified narrators to educate her audience on what life has been like for African American families and shows how they have been “criminalized” by society, even after the 13th Amendment was passed. The documentary starts by talking about the initial impact the 13th amendment had on the South. Slavery was what made the economy in the South function. When the people in the South lost all their slaves/workers, they were at a loss on what to do. The 13th amendment states, “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…” The people of the south …show more content…
Some might argue that this has been happening all along, there was just no way for everyone to know all the small acts against African Americans that have happened. But with most people having phones with video cameras on it now, we are able to capture these small acts of hate towards anyone and we can share them on the internet for everyone to see. So it might not be that these things haven’t always been happening, it’s just that we are more able to capture and share them now. That’s why protests, like Black Lives Matter, matter. People need to be aware of the injustice in American still. Sure we have come a long way, but there is still so much more that can be done. What will you do to