Racial justice has always been a problem in the United States, but last year saw an increase in organizational support for this critical issue due to repeated injustices and media coverage. To be educated on race and racial injustice is to take the first steps in equipping yourself in the fight against prejudice and racism. Here are 5 documentaries and films that you can watch that will help you to better understand the complexity and history of racial injustice in the United States. 

13th

Known as “The New Jim Crow, the mass incarceration of Black individuals is looked at in this 2016 documentary. The prison-industrial complex has created a system that profits from the mass incarceration of the Black community, perpetuating the racist and injust ideals that slavery upheld since the country’s inception. This Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning documentary explores the topics of segregation, involuntary servitude, and disenfranchisement of the Black community to help viewers better understand the racism still present in institutions today.

12 Years A Slave

Based on the real-life accounts of Solomon Northup, a Black man kidnapped and forced into slavery in the mid-1800s, 12 Years A Slave depicts Northup’s twelve grueling years on a plantation and his plans to escape. The film allows viewers to understand and witness the violence and abuse that Black Americans were subject to. An Academy-Award and Golden Globe winner, the film looks at the cruelty of slavery and the resilience of the Black men and women who fought against its injustices. 

When They See Us

The 1989 Central Park jogger case was a high-profile aggravated sexual assault case that wrongly convicted five young Black and Latino men. This Netflix mini-series depicts the struggles and hardships that the men and their families experienced during and after the trials. Eventually exonerated after serving their sentences, the mini-series exposes the way that People of Color are demonized in media, institutions, and society. 

Selma 

Martin Luther King Jr. is arguably the most influential and known civil rights activist in history. Selma looks at how King and other civil rights activists such as John Lewis fought against the disenfranchisement of the Black community. An Academy-Award and Golden Globe winner, the film looks both at the tenacity, dedication, and strength of the civil rights movement during the 1960s , as well as the continued fight and current injustices of present day America.

Get Out

Get Out looks at the experience of the Black community in modern-day America. Despite the facade of progression, acceptance, and equality, there is still a great deal of prejudice and racism present in the country today. This Academy-Award winning film was created as a “social thriller” featuring both horror and comedy to depict modern-day race relations and the psychological effects of racism. 

Whether based on a true-life event or created to dramatize, films can help us to better understand societal issues in creative, alluring ways. These 5 media pieces can help viewers to grasp some of the issues present in our communities today, and can help to spur conversations that will ultimately help us to properly address them. Net Impact is dedicated to creating inclusive environments that foster equity and problem solving. Learn about the different ways you can get involved with building a more equitable society today.