I will give an additional 50pts to whoever answers
1. How did you feel after viewing 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. This documentary emphasizes that the current crisis of mass
incarceration is directly tied to our country’s legacy and history of
slavery. By showing how slavery shifted to convict leasing, to Jim
Crow segregation, to the war on drugs, 13th argues that “systems of
oppression are durable and they often reinvent themselves.” As Angela
Davis stated in the film, “Historically, when one looks at efforts to create reforms, they inevitably lead to more
repression.” What are ways you can end this cycle? What do you think are some of the factors that allowed
this system of racial control to simply evolve and replicate itself for the past 150 years? How can you be
more vigilant against institutional racism?

3. How does 13th characterize our criminal justice system and political institutions? How did this film shape

your understanding of the prison system? Was there a particular case or series of facts that altered or challenged

any of your pre-existing views? Explain.

4. 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.”

5. 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?

6. 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?