Topic > Racial Inequality and the Prison Industrial Complex

Social inequality based on race and ethnicity continues to plague America. Slavery evolved into the mass incarceration of marginalized groups and their exploitation for free prison labor. The prison industrial complex aims to profit off the backs of Black people by promoting an unjust justice system. A justice system structured against blacks and people of color, to detain and confine as many able-bodied individuals as possible. Through negative overrepresentation in the media, unjust social policies, and discrimination, impoverished blacks are destined to end up in the prison system. The thirteenth documentary brings these atrocities to light and helps educate the viewer about what happens in the prison system and how profitable it is. The system creates external effects on society, conditioning people to harbor prejudices and discriminate based on color. Maintain the status quo and keep marginalized groups subjugated and under the control of the majority. The 13th Amendment was a huge step forward in race relations. However, through the abuse of a loophole within its own content, the documentary presents a further need for debate and discussion about how we can move forward by easing tensions. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The thirteenth documentary highlights systemic racism, fostered by the United States prison system. From the birth of the United States of America to the present, blacks and other minority groups have faced prejudice and discrimination from the dominant group. Institutionalized discrimination has plagued America, promoting the maintenance of the status quo: the denigration of blacks, racial-ethnic stratification, and the abuse of minority groups. In 1865, the 13th Amendment approved the abolition of slavery. However, racial discrimination simply evolved, turning into the mass incarceration and exploitation of black people in America. As of 2017, the prison population in America has grown by more than 750% since 1972, with approximately 40% of the prison population made up of Black men. . There are a disproportionate number of blacks incarcerated compared to any other race. The prison industrial complex replaces slavery as a means to subordinate Black people and exploit them for free labor. This process is facilitated by the same amendment that granted freedom to blacks. “…neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for the crime of which the party should be convicted, shall exist in the United States.” A loophole in the amendment was immediately used to imprison newly freed slaves. The process of mass incarceration depends on the denigration and criminalization of black people. A method of detaining blacks en masse by defensible means was needed. Blacks were arrested for minor crimes, in which they had to perform servitude to rebuild the Southern economy after the Civil War. Additionally, Black males were and still are overly represented in the media as threatening and/or brutal entities. These portrayals of Black men in the media as dangerous and threatening have helped justify their imprisonment. The media's negative portrayals of Black men end up creating a self-fulfilling prophecy; where, seeing themselves characterized as criminals, blacks begin to act more criminally. The “war on drugs” campaign during the Nixon administration, continued by Reagan, sought to rapidly increase the prison population through the criminalization of crack and cocaine. This new one..