Intro to African American Studies AAST 2300-001

Dr. Frederick V. Engram Jr.

UT-Arlington

Center for African American Studies

Name: Bryan Sanders

Date: 05/04/202021
 Abstract

This signature project compares and contrasts society’s attitude towards drug use and the “War

on Drugs” : How it affected the black community and how it is being addressed today.

Government and Society has gradually changed views on the use and legalization of drugs like

Marijuana but still penalize marginalized minority communities, while profiting from these same

substances.
 In this project, I will compare and contrast the government’s and society’s attitude

towards drug use and it's particular effect on the African American community.” An estimated

one-third of black male Americans will spend time in state or federal prison at some point in

their lifetime – more than double the rate from the 1970s and over five times higher than the rate

for white males.``(Rockwall 2014) Aloto of the motivation behind this disparity was the “War on
Drugs.”Coined by President Nixon, its “unintended” consequences have left minority families

and communities shell shocked and in shambles."The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon

White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people," Ehrlichman told

journalist Dan Baum in 1994. "You understand what I'm saying? We knew we couldn't make it

illegal to be either against the war or blacks, but by getting the public to associate the hippies

with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt

those communities. "(Lopez 2016).This might be shocking to anyone who is oblivious to the

historical pattern.Since the days of “Reefer Madness", in the 1930’s,blacks have been painted as

the villain in the historical narrative of society’s drug addiction.

This continued into the 80’s, president Reagan reinforced and expanded many of Nixon’s

war on Drugs policies.(Lopez 2016)

As if the government was following a prewritten script, crack cocaine was introduced into

impoverished minority communities. Black and brown communities were some of the hardest

hit. In a symbolic war , this was a bomb that had literal effects , some that would last

generations."A number of ominous trends emerged in the black community in the mid-1980s.

Between 1984 and 1994, the homicide rate for black males aged 14 to 17 more than doubled, and

the homicide rate for black males aged 18 to 24 increased nearly as much. During this period, the

black community also experienced an increase in fetal death rates, low birth-weight babies,

weapons arrests, and the number of children in foster care."(Levitt and Murphy 2006)

We witnessed a completely different attitude in recent years in regards to drug addiction.

Especially since the “chickens have come home to roost.” Since the 1990’s, we have witnessed

an opioid crisis.In fact, from 1993 to 2005, 31% of white patients received opioid prescriptions,

compared to only 23% of black and 24% of Hispanic patients; adjusting for severity of pain did
not mitigate these disparities.The fact that our most recent drug crisis has disproportionately

affected white Americans (nearly 90% of addicts are white) seems insidiously linked to the

government response to the epidemic

(Om 2018) The response is the direct opposite of what happened during the “black experience”

in earlier decades. Now you see treatment and understanding as the main focus. What we

witnessed is a shift in government response from crime and punishment to one of compassion

and understanding. How ironic is that? In addition ,we have witnessed a softer tone coming from

government and demonstrated through more lenient laws and sentencing. Between 2009 and

2013, some 40 states took steps to soften their drug laws, lowering penalties and shortening

mandatory minimum sentences, according to the Pew Research Center(War on Drugs 2017) In

recent years we have even witnessed marijuna legalization. With many states decriminalizing

and legalizing it. States and communities have been able to profit off of it. This is the same weed

that was demonized along with the black and brown communities that were attached to its use.

So we have seen a shift in the attitude towards the same drug used and demonized in the

past.But, how much has society shifted its attitude towards black and brown communities?From

the past administration’s rhetoric and ability to rally half of the country around it, I dare say ,not

much. According to history.com War on Drugs - Timeline in America, Definition & Facts -

HISTORY(2017) However, blacks were nearly four times as likely than whites to be arrested on

charges of marijuana possession in 2010. Also,In Washington D.C., Iowa, Minnesota and

Illinois, blacks were 7.5 to 8.5 times more likely than whites to be arrested for possessing

pot.How can communities and people who are arrested for the same substance receive

completely different treatment and it still be called fair and just? So now we don’t only see a
difference in treatment in regards to drug use and affected communities across time, but also it

exists between communities in the same time and same social space.
 References

Levitt,S.D.,Murphy,K.M.(2006 April 1).How Bad Was Crack Cocaine?Chicago Booth

Review.https://review.chicagobooth.edu/economics/archive/how-bad-was-crack-cocaine

Lopez,H.(2016 March 29).Was Nixon’s War on Drugs Racially Motivated? Vox

.https://www.vox.com/2016/3/29/11325750/nixon-war-on-drugs.

Om,Anjali.(2018 December).The Opioid Crisis in Black and White.Journal of Public Health

https://academic.oup.com/jpubhealth/article/40/4/e614/5035761.

Rothwall,J.(2014 September 30).How the War on Drugs Damages Black Social Mobility.

Brookings.https://www.brookings.edu/blog/social-mobility-memos/2014/09/30/how-the-

war-on-drugs-damages-black-social-mobility/.

War on Drugs (2017 May 31).History.retrieved 5/3/2021

https://www.history.com/topics/crime/the-war-on-drugs