13th

13th explores how mass incarceration in the United States is connected to the justice system and racial discrimination. It argues that forms of slavery have persisted in the United States through the criminalisation of certain behaviours, convict leasing, the suppression of African Americans, the war on drugs, and mass incarceration. The film also examines the prison–industrial complex and how it profits from mass incarceration.

The documentary investigates the economics of slavery, racist legislation, and legal practices that emerged after the Civil War. It also discusses the Civil Rights Movement and the Southern Strategy used by Republicans to appeal to white conservatives. Despite crime rates in the United States declining, politicians continue to stir up fear of crime as a political tool. Mass incarceration has damaged the lives of several generations of minority families and their children. The film further explores how conservative politicians receive funding from corporations to promote laws that support the prison–industrial complex.