Heather Hamilton

While there is historical evidence of slavery, reconstruction, the Jim Crow era and the struggles of the civil rights movement, what there is NO evidence that the policies set in motion to stop crime from 1970 to the present day were done to target people of color and to create a new form of slavery. That is utter nonsense. This film is nothing but an effort of a political party to politicize issues of concern to people of color. Was the 3-strikes law ineffective at stopping crime? Absolutely! Was it cruel? Of course - to all people in this country - not just people of color. Is prison labor another form of robbing a person of their work? No. People in prison committed a crime and were convicted by either a judge or a jury of their peers. They are incarcerated away from society because of those circumstances - not because the color of their skin isn't white. There are plenty of white people in prison and to compare the % of those incarcerated to the overall population of a particular ethnicity - how misleading can you be? Of course, it'll look like more people of color per 100,000 population are incarcerated - but it should show the number of incarcerated in relation to the number who committed crimes. That is the real analysis that should be represented. How about making that a study of the economic class instead of color of skin! There you will find where the true discrimination exists - with all people in the lowest economic class. Should convicts get a free ride? No. Why should I go to work every day and have a percentage of my earnings taken to support a criminal while they sit in jail and do nothing? Criminals should work for their keep - and it's not "free" labor like it was with slavery. Yes, we need prison reform. Earning a profit from the management of prisons is just wrong. It is a disgusting twist on capitalism - but it is nothing like the financial benefit gained from slavery. 13th is NOT a documentary. It is political messaging cleverly delivered in the form of a fake documentary. Oh sure, there are historical events that factually occurred - but then there is just one spin after another to support a claim that (1) capitalism is evil and a way to oppress people of color, and (2) whites in America do all they can to oppress people of color. These claims are false - read real history people - this is just BS spinning out of control. Ask yourself who benefits from this movie? Democrats and the far left who want to halt capitalism and have the government control the production of society. Who is the real victim of this movie? Any American who wants a free society, especially people of color.