Argumentative Essay On 13th
Racism. Racism can be a rather touchy subject for most to talk about which is ironic because many are racists themselves. No matter who you are, white or not, a racist is someone who unfairly judges another based on race. Racism sees no color. 13th, a documentary dealing with the subject of racism, acknowledges that racism is about action and systemic discrimination and only those with the power to act, and not those who are the targets of discrimination, can be racist. In other words, this documentary focuses primarily on racism against black people or ¨the targets” rather than racism against all races. The documentary, 13th, emphasizes the issue of unfair jail sentencings against black people by stating that many black people who had no
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By focusing strictly on racism against black people, 13th overlooks the deeper issue of racism against all races rather than against just one. I do agree with the fact that it is wrong that some have been sentenced to an unfair amount of time in jail just because they were black but I do not agree with the notion that blacks are the only race that this has happened to. The current U.S. prison population is over 2 million which is 25% of the world’s prisoners. Were all 2 million of those prisoners sentenced to a fair amount of time? Probably not. Were all of those unfair sentencings sentenced to black people only? Probably not. My point being is that this is an issue centered around racism and involves all races being the target at some point or another. Racism sees no color. “In many ways, the so-called war on drugs was a war on communities of color, a war on black communities, a war on Latino communities.” This statement was made by Angela Davis who appeared in the documentary, 13th. Next to unfair jail sentences, the war on drugs was the next hot topic of the documentary. 13th recognizes that the Nixon administration began the cycle of criminalizing African-Americans struggling with drug addictions, rather than increasing availed resources for treatment and rehabilitation. 13th also recognizes the United States’ 40th president, Ronald Reagan, to be the cause of this
By focusing strictly on racism against black people, 13th overlooks the deeper issue of racism against all races rather than against just one. I do agree with the fact that it is wrong that some have been sentenced to an unfair amount of time in jail just because they were black but I do not agree with the notion that blacks are the only race that this has happened to. The current U.S. prison population is over 2 million which is 25% of the world’s prisoners. Were all 2 million of those prisoners sentenced to a fair amount of time? Probably not. Were all of those unfair sentencings sentenced to black people only? Probably not. My point being is that this is an issue centered around racism and involves all races being the target at some point or another. Racism sees no color. “In many ways, the so-called war on drugs was a war on communities of color, a war on black communities, a war on Latino communities.” This statement was made by Angela Davis who appeared in the documentary, 13th. Next to unfair jail sentences, the war on drugs was the next hot topic of the documentary. 13th recognizes that the Nixon administration began the cycle of criminalizing African-Americans struggling with drug addictions, rather than increasing availed resources for treatment and rehabilitation. 13th also recognizes the United States’ 40th president, Ronald Reagan, to be the cause of this