A historical American documentary film called, 13th, directed by director Ava DuVernay is an eye opening and emotional film. I believe that everyone should watch this film due to its educational benefits. The film is focus in the United States criminal justice system. The title of the film comes from the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished slavery. Since slavery has been outlawed in the United States, it is unlawful to practice slavery in the United States. However, there are loopholes in the 13th constitution. For example, there are more African Americans under surveillance than there were during slavery era. In addition to that, the Thirteenth Amendment reads as follows; “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction” (13th). It tells us that slavery still exists in the United States, but we just don’t know it. As the film shows us, there are even more slaves in the United States than there were during slavery era.

There is a very interesting fact that the film brings to our attention, from our presidents Nixon to Bush that so many black Americans are criminals. Even though this is a very long film, but the time is very worth spending. The film opens the public mind that slavery still exists in our societies. The film brings the public attention to the loopholes of the 13th Amendment. There are still much more works needed to be done in order to truly abolished slavery in our society.