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In honor of Grand View’s Kevin Gannon being featured in the documentary “13th,” a special screening was held on campus Thursday. Two students went to the screening and reflected on what they saw.

MEGAN:

Land of the Free? Far from. Watching the documentary “13th,” I was absolutely disgusted with how our country is today. My body was covered goose bumps that would not go away, and my stomach was in knots. It was making me feel sick.

Before watching the film, I was aware that there were still problems in our society, but I never thought people, human beings, could be so vile to others in their own communities. I have never had to deal with racism or abuse the way blacks have, but I do know that not a single person deserves the treatment that they receive on a daily basis.

The documentary explains that a loophole in the 13th Amendment was twisted by many government authorities. After being freed from slavery, blacks were forced right back into “modern day” slavery by being branded a criminal and arrested for anything and everything. In prison, they were often forced into labor that benefited American companies. Whites arrested blacks merely under the idea that they had done something wrong. Only an idea! There was no evidence to support the accusations. Later on in history, Richard Nixon’s “War on Drugs” campaign added to the fire against blacks. The War on Drugs treated drug addiction and drug use as a crime rather than a mental health issue. This is just one example of how many of the stereotypes we have about blacks today came from the minds of white male authority figures.

I wanted to scream watching “13th.” I wanted to scream because it was just repulsive to see humans treat other humans as if they belonged in a cage. Never in the United States history have blacks been treated in a correct and humane manner. Young black men especially have to face the fact that every day they could be next. The next to be abused and walked over. I understand that being a young, white female I will never truly grasp how bad it is for them, but I know that NO ONE deserves to live like this. And I cannot express it enough.

The documentary did a good job of comparing today’s harassment of blacks to what happened right after the Civil War. There simply is no difference. They are being pushed, shoved, yelled at, spat on. They are being treated as less than human and far from equal. Equality does not exist; if it did I would not feel disgust and angry when I watch the documentary “13th.”

It just bothers me that every idea of inequality is only an opinion that was twisted and advertised in ways to make others believe it was a fact. We are not a free country; we are not even a great country. I do not think we ever were. Everything I know today is based off of tearing someone down to get higher up, and unfortunately blacks were the scapegoats. I am pleased to be more educated on the matter, but I was livid at the information I was seeing.

And I want to help.

Bryan Stevenson was interviewed in the documentary, and at the end he said that people ask him the same question all the time: How could anyone have tolerated slavery? How could someone have participated in a lynching? How could they act like everything was OK? He then said we’re still tolerating forms of slavery today. I agree with what Stevenson said, that we still are tolerating it. Slavery is still happening in the modern day era, but it’s just presented in a different way. It is not in our faces daily because we do not go strolling through prisons, but slavery still very much exists. I do not think I have stepped up enough in the past and even today to make a change, but I hope I will find a way to make an impact and help the movement in the future.

BREON:

The documentary “13th” was a great learning experience for me as a young black man. I don’t know what to write for this reflection because so many things are going through my mind. It’s hard to pick highlights from this extremely informational documentary because everything was important to me.

I’ll start with what I’m confused about: ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) and the 13th Amendment. I have the most confusion on ALEC because I have the least amount of knowledge about them and what they do. According to the documentary, ALEC is a group of corporations influencing politicians to make and pass laws that help the corporations make money. I don’t blame ALEC for trying to make money because if I had the opportunity to make a large amount of money I would do the same as them. I believe a lot of other people would also. But the laws they push often hurts the black community. For example, ALEC pushed initiatives that allowed corporations to use inmates as laborers who work for unreasonable pay. This is a great business move, but it also looks a lot like slavery.

To be extremely honest, I will probably continue to shop at the stores that are associated with ALEC. But every time I do, in the back of my mind I will have thoughts of what I’m doing to myself and others by making my purchases. I also know I need to enrich my mind on this topic more because I need to learn how much I might be supporting what is now my enemy.

I keep erasing what I am writing for my first sentence of this paragraph because I don’t want to get any important information wrong for the audience that may see this. Not coming from the greatest environment in Chicago made me live with the people affected by the twists and turns of the government and the world. Some people feel that if a person steals or sells drugs they’re a criminal, and I agree. But many overlook the circumstances of these crimes. I have seen crimes committed not because of willingness but by the need to survive. Just like the government and the world we live in, there are things beneath the surface. I’ve seen individuals do certain things that they aren’t so proud of but they had to do it to feed themselves and the people around them. They live in an environment where this behavior is common. They are a hero to someone else such as their younger siblings, daughters and sons for bringing home food even though they have done wrong in society.

To me, these people are not Robin Hood. The black community needs to realize this.

And yet the white community needs to take some responsibility too.

This world is fucked up.

I don’t know what changes we could make or should make. But I know something needs to change. It starts with communication. Communication between the powerful and the general public. I’m not talking just communication with blacks or whites or Hispanics. I’m talking everybody. Me included.