Ava DuVernay Announces Netflix Documentary on the 14th Amendment

Nueva York (AP) — Ava DuVernay has announced a Netflix documentary focused on the 14th Amendment. This amendment granted freedom and rights to formerly enslaved individuals after the Civil War. It has faced legal challenges from President Donald Trump. Netflix revealed the documentary, titled ‘14th’, will debut later this year.

DuVernay, known for ‘Selma’ and ‘Origin’, returns to nonfiction filmmaking with this project. Her previous documentary, ‘13th’, examined the legacy of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery. The 14th Amendment has been a significant focus for Trump. On the first day of his second term, he signed an executive order aiming to severely limit birthright citizenship, protected by the amendment. The Supreme Court struck down Trump’s order with a 6-3 vote in June.

Ratified in 1868 during the Reconstruction era, the 14th Amendment states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” This constitutional amendment overturned the Supreme Court decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford from 1857, which had asserted that slave descendants could not be citizens.

DuVernay noted her film would explore how the 14th Amendment became “a permanent argument.” It will feature input from politicians, historians, and cultural voices.

DuVernay stated, If ‘13th’ asked who ends up in cages, then ‘14th’ asks who counts. She emphasized the film is not a retrospective on freedom. Instead, it asks what kind of country is currently being shaped beneath us as we believe the narratives we’ve been told.

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing on behalf of the court, upheld the amendment’s protections that ensure citizenship for anyone born in the country, with very limited exceptions. Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights: to participate freely in our political community. The framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to ‘every person born free on this land’, Roberts wrote. Today we uphold that promise.

Trump has expressed his intent to challenge the Supreme Court’s decision. Following the ruling, he stated on Truth Social, This judicial mistake will destroy America if they don’t reverse their absolutely insane decision.