The Best Anti-Racism Documentaries to Watch on Netflix
Time: The Kalief Browder Story
This docu-series follows the life of Kalief Browder, who in 2010 was arrested and jailed at Riker’s Island without a trial. During the three years of his imprisonment, he spent two of this in solitary confinement. Tragically, two years after his release, Kalief committed suicide due to the unimaginable levels of mental, physical, and sexual abuse he endured during his wrongful imprisonment. This grave injustice that Kalief suffered was all over a stolen backpack- something that has never been proven to be true. Kalief’s life tragically highlights the worst problems of prison industrial complex and why, ultimately, it must be abolished.
LA 92
This 2017 documentary analyzes the 1992 Los Angeles riots through a found video set up and the racial tension that led up this explosion of outrage. The savage beating of Rodney King by police and the shooting and murder of Latasha Harlins spurred the black community to revolt against a system that did not value their lives. After more than 25 years it’s necessary to understand how the system failed black people in L.A. in 1992 and how it’s still failing black people today.
13th
This documentary works to analyze and discuss the intersections of justice, race, and mass incarceration within the United States. The title of the film alludes to the 13th amendment of the United States which abolished slavery, except as a punishment for the conviction of a crime. Which to say, means that slavery was not abolished at all, but merely given a different name. The experiences of black people from the civil war to modern times are explored and gives viewers a deeper understanding of the deep injustices and inequalities that still plague black communities.
The Rachel Divide
The Rachel Divide explores the actions of Rachel Dolezal. Rachel Dolezal is a woman who claimed and presented herself as a black woman despite being born as a blonde haired, blue eyed white woman. Her usage of a black identity, despite not being a black woman sparked international outcry against her cultural appropriation of black identities. Despite her belief of being ‘transracial’ Rachel Dolezal’s actions illuminate the extreme levels of appropriation of black culture and identities.
When They See Us
This film is a dramatic and factual recreation of the Central Park 5. The Central Park 5 are a group of black and Hispanic boys who were falsely accused of the sexual assault of a white woman. After intense and illegal police interrogations, they confessed and suffered the consequences of a social system that was against them since they were born. This harrowing tale exposes American society as the true monster it is, showing that despite innocence, people of color has always been exposed to violence.
