The 13 significantly highlights key aspects comparing slavery to mass incarceration. Jim Crow laws arose after slavery in the years from 1877 through the 1960s. People think that Jim Crow laws were just a set of laws against blacks, but it was more than that, it was the way of life, people had to respect those rules. Jim Crow laws were reinforced by the belief that whites were superior to blacks in every way. Absurd laws like the ones that say blacks and whites can't eat together, or blacks can't show affection towards each other, because it's insulting to whites. (Pellegrino, 2000). The 13th Amendment banned slavery and involuntary servitude, but, when people go to prison, they are not rehabilitated, they are given tasks to do during the day involuntarily, but because they are in prison they have no choice but to do it, the 13th 1st Amendment doesn't apply to them, because they're locked up. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay Mass incarceration, started after our 37th president Richard Nixon, who was in office from 1969 to 1974, they wanted to crack down on drugs, have a drug-free America by 1995. This is when the “War on drugs”. Laws against drug possession in the 1970s became stricter, people received mandatory minimum sentences, which increased the prison population with nonviolent drug offenders. (Pilgrim, 2000). Under Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton's administration is when mass incarceration began. The problem with mass incarceration is that 2.3 million Americans are incarcerated, one in four prisoners in the entire world are in the United States. (Morgan, 2016) Mass incarceration has impacted African American communities due to the 2.3 million Americans in prison, 40% of whom are African American men. (Film “13°” by Ava DuVernay). African Americans were seen more as a threat than a target. African Americans were treated as a lower class than Caucasians, but mass incarceration also had to do with class. Most African Americans in the 60's and 70's lived in poverty, most of them turned to selling drugs as a way out, not in. problems but to bring some kind of income to the family. In the African American community, crack was an epidemic. Cocaine was too, but because crack was cheaper to produce and obtain, that was sold and smoked. Cocaine was more associated with Caucasians and crack more associated with African Americans. Crack had a heavier sentence than cocaine; someone who goes to prison for crack automatically gets a mandatory minimum of 5, 10, or 20 years depending on where, but someone who has cocaine has to get 100 times more to receive a prison sentence for that long. It took people away from their children, then laws were made to protect us African Americans. (FAMM, 2016). Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Nowadays, I don't believe criminal justice can be reformed. With the president-elect we have now, and the racism he has brought to light, he has shown how people in America really feel. To change the system, you have to first fix what is broken and that's the mentality of people who want to "Make America Great Again" going back in time, things will never change, unless the people want it to.