Documentary Reflection Refection

Please watch the documentary, The 13th (link below) and write a two page reflection answering the prompts below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krfcq5pF8u8 Links to an external site.

1. How did you feel after viewing the 13th? Did you feel helpless, inspired, stirred to action, or a combination of all three? Do you think the message of the film was ultimately hopeful? Why or why not?

2. How much did you know about the war on drugs and war on crime before watching the film? Were you surprised to learn about the racial underpinnings of these legislative policies, and the active role of the state in criminalizing and targeting communities of color? What was your reaction after hearing the following quote from John Ehrlichman, one of Richard Nixon’s aides:

“The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? 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. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”

3. How do you think media and popular culture representations of Black Americans, particularly of Black men, have contributed to a dangerous climate of white fear and anxiety? (Think back to the way George Zimmerman was heard describing Trayvon Martin, or the media frenzy around the Central Park Five that resulted in their wrongful imprisonment.) How can we challenge these instances of racism and dehumanization?

4. Many politicians, including the Clintons, Newt Gingrich, and Charles Rangel in this film, have apologized
for their role in promoting devastating “tough on crime” legislation. Considering the billions of dollars made off the imprisonment of people, the ongoing practice of prison labor, and the cases of unjust imprisonment (as in the tragic case of Kalief Browder), is an apology enough? Is our country compelled to repay these communities and families in a more material, restorative way? Why or why not?

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