Living in a society where being colorblind is now a trend, it is hard for most individuals to believe that racism still exists, and that racism still taunts minorities through law. Although transitioning away from slavery and the civil rights movement has assisted African Americans’ in no longer being suppressed in society— another obstacle of suppression is alive, and runs through the criminal justice system. In this paper you will see how and why drug laws were created and its effects, how law, and inequality is supported by racial discrimination; criminal justice policies and its leading to the rise of incarceration rates, the promotion of the Rockefeller drug law by African Americans’, and Clinton’s reaction to the 1994 law.
Because race …show more content…
During the late nineteenth century, marijuana, like cocaine and opium, was a favored ingredient for over the counter drugs. The smoking use of the drug increased when the Mexicans brought along with them their cultural practice of marijuana use . As time passed, the prejudice toward the minority group became stronger since they competed with whites for jobs (especially during the great depression). The hatred toward them during the 1930s took many forms, and there became a heavy focus on the Mexicans marijuana use. Similar to the previous propaganda that arose for the other minority groups, emerged for the Mexicans as well; the stories that spread around consisted of Mexican Americans becoming violent under marijuana use, and their use would cause them to murder and rape white people . The same rumor sounds similar to what was said about the African Americans, and makes sense because both Hispanics and Blacks at the time were considered as people of color, and disliked. Prejudice toward the Mexicans led to the ban of marijuana use in 29 states by 1931, and eventually, the ban became a federal Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 which made its use a crime …show more content…
However, evidence does show that racial discrimination in all three areas tend to support law and inequality. The war on drugs over the last two decades has mainly focused on people of color and is out of proportion to their use of these drugs . In other words, the law has subscribed to racial inequality by the contribution of felony disenfranchisement between both African Americans and Latinos . Taking the actions of the prohibitions into consideration, all three drugs (cocaine, marijuana, and opium) were banned partly because of prejudice towards the African Americans, Latinos, and
Because race …show more content…
During the late nineteenth century, marijuana, like cocaine and opium, was a favored ingredient for over the counter drugs. The smoking use of the drug increased when the Mexicans brought along with them their cultural practice of marijuana use . As time passed, the prejudice toward the minority group became stronger since they competed with whites for jobs (especially during the great depression). The hatred toward them during the 1930s took many forms, and there became a heavy focus on the Mexicans marijuana use. Similar to the previous propaganda that arose for the other minority groups, emerged for the Mexicans as well; the stories that spread around consisted of Mexican Americans becoming violent under marijuana use, and their use would cause them to murder and rape white people . The same rumor sounds similar to what was said about the African Americans, and makes sense because both Hispanics and Blacks at the time were considered as people of color, and disliked. Prejudice toward the Mexicans led to the ban of marijuana use in 29 states by 1931, and eventually, the ban became a federal Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 which made its use a crime …show more content…
However, evidence does show that racial discrimination in all three areas tend to support law and inequality. The war on drugs over the last two decades has mainly focused on people of color and is out of proportion to their use of these drugs . In other words, the law has subscribed to racial inequality by the contribution of felony disenfranchisement between both African Americans and Latinos . Taking the actions of the prohibitions into consideration, all three drugs (cocaine, marijuana, and opium) were banned partly because of prejudice towards the African Americans, Latinos, and