The war on drugs was a dog whistle continuation of the Jim Crow era. Because it was now illegal to discriminate against black people simply for being black, new methods of oppression needed to be instituted. When Nixon announced the war on drugs, drug use was going down and was approaching it’s lowest point in decades. His hope was that by finding ways to continue to police black people, he’d win support of Southern Democrats who were largely at the time, pro labor but mad about the civil rights movement.
This strategy worked, and it was continued and expanded under Reagan. When Nancy Reagan pleaded with Americans to ‘just say no’ drug use was at about 3% nationwide.
American police were always a tool of oppression of black communities. They grew out of post civil war racist brotherhoods like the KKK. On multiple occasions, entire chapters of KKK members were deputized.
The narco trafficking the CIA did was a natural progression of this, and was used as an excuse to further militarize the police.
“Because they were black” is a simple answer. And it’s correct. But you could add “and black people are who we oppress in this country.”
The war on drugs was a dog whistle continuation of the Jim Crow era. Because it was now illegal to discriminate against black people simply for being black, new methods of oppression needed to be instituted. When Nixon announced the war on drugs, drug use was going down and was approaching it’s lowest point in decades. His hope was that by finding ways to continue to police black people, he’d win support of Southern Democrats who were largely at the time, pro labor but mad about the civil rights movement.
This strategy worked, and it was continued and expanded under Reagan. When Nancy Reagan pleaded with Americans to ‘just say no’ drug use was at about 3% nationwide.
American police were always a tool of oppression of black communities. They grew out of post civil war racist brotherhoods like the KKK. On multiple occasions, entire chapters of KKK members were deputized.
The narco trafficking the CIA did was a natural progression of this, and was used as an excuse to further militarize the police.
“Because they were black” is a simple answer. And it’s correct. But you could add “and black people are who we oppress in this country.”