The end of slavery in 1862 was supposed to signify the end of the forced free labor of African American people and their right to live freely as human beings. Unfortunately for African American people, some white Americans could not fathom the idea of black people having equally opportunities. Thus begins the cycle of never ending oppression of black people. Black codes, segregation, the influx of crack in to black communities, and the era of mass incarceration are all tell tale signs of strategies created to break and weaken the African American community. The documentaries Letters to the President Thomas Gibson and 13th by Ava DuVernay explores the ideas of these of these strategies and how black people are still being
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Policies such as “stop and frisk” also know as “Terry Stop. In the United States, “The Terry Stop (also known as an “Investigative Detention” or “Stop and Frisk”) is the authority to conduct an investigative detention and frisk of a criminal suspect.” (Argiriou). Police officers would use certain tactics such as an increase in heart rate or signs of perspiration as probable cause to search a person’s vehicle. Most of the people targeted by “stop and frisk” were African American and Latino. Sentencing and criminal punishment for crack cocaine also weighed heavier on people in low income communities. “Prior to the enactment of the Fair Sentencing …show more content…
In Letters to the President, one outlined hos From the end of slavery to the 1960s black people believed as long as they lived the proper way, a portion of the American pie would be extended to them; that slice of pie never came that slice of pie never came. The generation of the 1970s and 1980s said “f” America, with no desire to fit in with American success, and rebranded their own definition of success. Keeping white ideas of capitalism, black people worked towards their own “success”. The documentaries 13th and Letters to the President shed light on various American conspiracies and scandals, but also forces one to question the intent of the country we actually live
Policies such as “stop and frisk” also know as “Terry Stop. In the United States, “The Terry Stop (also known as an “Investigative Detention” or “Stop and Frisk”) is the authority to conduct an investigative detention and frisk of a criminal suspect.” (Argiriou). Police officers would use certain tactics such as an increase in heart rate or signs of perspiration as probable cause to search a person’s vehicle. Most of the people targeted by “stop and frisk” were African American and Latino. Sentencing and criminal punishment for crack cocaine also weighed heavier on people in low income communities. “Prior to the enactment of the Fair Sentencing …show more content…
In Letters to the President, one outlined hos From the end of slavery to the 1960s black people believed as long as they lived the proper way, a portion of the American pie would be extended to them; that slice of pie never came that slice of pie never came. The generation of the 1970s and 1980s said “f” America, with no desire to fit in with American success, and rebranded their own definition of success. Keeping white ideas of capitalism, black people worked towards their own “success”. The documentaries 13th and Letters to the President shed light on various American conspiracies and scandals, but also forces one to question the intent of the country we actually live