If anyone tries to tell you we live in a post-racial society, or tells you to put aside the past when discussing race, this is where you send them. "Selma" director Ava DuVernay's Netflix documentary "13th" homogenizes a lot of discussion and history into a profound resource on the black experience in America with an emphasis on the post-Civil Rights era. To use the most relevant terms, it explains why, in fact, black lives matter.DuVernay and her "Selma" editor Spencer Averick have crafted an extremely efficient overview of this subject matter. Despite its purely educational purpose, the stringing together of facts and footage of so many troubling moments over the last 50 years creates an unavoidable emotional resonance. When shown in contexts where it will matter most, "13th" will undoubtedly be politicized, but the documentary reveals decade by decade that no single political party is to blame for what we today refer to as the mass incarceration epidemic. From Nixon and Reagan's War on Drugs to Clinton's "Three Strikes," politicians posturing to be tough on crime created laws that disproportionately affected people of color to the point that today, one in every three black men is expected to serve jail time.At its most fundamental, the film suggests that the wording of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery "except as a punishment for crime," has allowed for modern-day systems of oppression to go unchecked. The film assumes no intentional wrongdoing – no cries of a conspiracy among any person or group of persons to enslave black people through disguised means – but rather it shines a light on the racial animus that many people claim no longer exists, which underpins those means. To say that fear, mistrust and hatred of "the other" has nothing to do with the enactment of laws and policies that hurt people of color is to be willfully ignorant of history. The way these attitudes manifest themselves has simply gotten less direct.The educational framing of "13th" puts a limit on the film's creativity, but techniques such as motion graphics, incorporating relevant music and lyrics and the thoughtful environments where DuVernay interviews the film's many commentators help elevate the material where possible. Nothing about "13th" breaks ground or reveals something that wasn't being told at all, but few can argue that there's a documentary more necessary right now for the education of the American people than "13th."~Steven CThanks for reading! Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more

I am white, but not from the U.S. and years goes by, my hate I would describe it, to those whites or other racists gets stronger and stronger. I feel like those people are the real vampires that kill or see black people as their dinner blood. Back in my country we have black people but, there is no such a thing as racist or seeing them different than ourselves. Nobody would understand if you say they are black, should be treated different, NOBODY! And then America talks about human rights in the other countries, if you really care first fix it in your country. I have friends here black, white, Latinos and more, and I see no color. THOSE racist people should be evils that live with us. "Hell is empty, all devils are here", William Shakespeare, must meant those white, cruel racists. I watch lots of movies, especially these kind, and every time I see movies like that I wish I were a superhero or someone who could do whatever he or she wishes, and feel what people are thinking and kill those racists. I am white, but not from the U.S. and I am 100 % with "BlackLivesMatter". I am white, and I care about black People!

Be patient with "13th," Ava DuVernay's documentary about how the American prison system has become a modern-day fill-in for slavery. For a long time, the film is a mess, scattered and unfocused. But gradually the various threads come together in support of her central thesis, and what emerges is an accusation aimed at the American white establishment and American big business that benefits financially from keeping the rest of America convinced that black men are criminals and deserve to be incarcerated.Whether or not you find DuVernay's arguments convincing depend I guess on how well you think she makes them. I liked "13th" while I was watching it, but I'm writing this comment while in the middle of watching "O.J.: Made in America," a film that tackles many of the same themes but handles them all much better, and I have to admit that I can barely remember DuVernay's film now thinking back on it.Nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 2016 Academy Awards.Grade: B+

On the synopsis it mentions "An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States" ,i was quite excited, finally an interesting movie with a good subject , but what i watched was the American history of the blacks being slaves and... black people commit crime but it's the white peoples fault. Nothing ,but nothing about the prison system in the United States.Extremely disappointed... in the end it was just a Total liberal propaganda.