Made in America, the War on Drugs was created by Americans, fought by Americans, against Americans, and ended with consequences that have taken an enormous toll on all citizens, not just those in the African American community. The factious war was a nuclear bomb, filled with racism, with a short fuse that was ignited by all the politicians who ran their campaigned based on “law and order” and felt that certain groups of people, such as African Americans, anti-war participants and more, were public enemy number one. The actions and rhetoric used by President Nixon, Reagan, and Clinton played a very integral part in how we ended up with the phenomenon that plagues our country today, mass incarceration. From the “War on Drugs”, mandatory minimum
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For example, the 100 to 1 crack-cocaine crime bill was specifically aimed at low class, poor communities. Powder cocaine was an expensive drug; therefore, there was no surplus of it in the black community. Blacks used crack because it was a cheaper, diluted, smokeable form of cocaine. Both powder cocaine and crack cocaine were potent and deadly, but crack was treated more severely because minorities most commonly used it. Simple tactics like this were used to put more blacks behind bars, put more funding into the criminal justice program, and normalized the idea of racism among white citizens. Yes, the War on Drugs was created to break the black community, but I believe it still had a universal effect because funding was taken from education and social programs, which all Americans utilize, and devoted to police, prisons, and the military. The prison industry is a quite lucrative business, but the cost to build and house inmates is disproportionate, which leaves other national programs in the dark. Also, drugs are not a race-based, class-based substance, which means white people suffer from the laws and bills that were passed, placing them in jail for long periods of time for minor drug charges. The amount of people sentenced to prison because of drugs is ridiculous; each year after 1973 the prison population in the United States has seen an increase, yet the crime rate has not fluctuated as much. There is no correlation between the crime rate and incarceration rate, which should be seen as a red flag. Mass incarceration has been the result of the War on Drugs; it has paralyzed our society greatly. In my eyes, mass incarceration is public enemy number
For example, the 100 to 1 crack-cocaine crime bill was specifically aimed at low class, poor communities. Powder cocaine was an expensive drug; therefore, there was no surplus of it in the black community. Blacks used crack because it was a cheaper, diluted, smokeable form of cocaine. Both powder cocaine and crack cocaine were potent and deadly, but crack was treated more severely because minorities most commonly used it. Simple tactics like this were used to put more blacks behind bars, put more funding into the criminal justice program, and normalized the idea of racism among white citizens. Yes, the War on Drugs was created to break the black community, but I believe it still had a universal effect because funding was taken from education and social programs, which all Americans utilize, and devoted to police, prisons, and the military. The prison industry is a quite lucrative business, but the cost to build and house inmates is disproportionate, which leaves other national programs in the dark. Also, drugs are not a race-based, class-based substance, which means white people suffer from the laws and bills that were passed, placing them in jail for long periods of time for minor drug charges. The amount of people sentenced to prison because of drugs is ridiculous; each year after 1973 the prison population in the United States has seen an increase, yet the crime rate has not fluctuated as much. There is no correlation between the crime rate and incarceration rate, which should be seen as a red flag. Mass incarceration has been the result of the War on Drugs; it has paralyzed our society greatly. In my eyes, mass incarceration is public enemy number