In the 1880s there was a Jim Crow society. One
hundred years later the United States still had a Jim Crow mentality. This
outdated mentality of the 1980s was called the War on Drugs. President
Reagan used this new policy to profile and separate black criminality from
white criminality. George Lipsitz writes in his article "The Possesive Investment in Whiteness: Racialized Social Democracy and the 'White' Problem in American Studies" that the Reagan administration invested in "regressive policies" that mirrored laws from the Jim Crow South such as "segregated education, housing, and hiring" and counters on voting-rights legislation.
The War on Drugs was a great example of racial profiling from police officers and systemic racism. An example of this is the policing of crack cocaine. Crack cocaine was a drug that was generally affiliated with people of color because it was significantly cheaper than powdered cocaine and present in poor urban areas such as central Los Angeles. Whereas powdered cocaine was more expensive and associated with white communities. The punishment for possession of crack was much greater than the punishment for powder cocaine causing a great imbalance of incarcerated people of color compared to whites. The War on Drugs created the image of the black mug shot and people of color as criminals.
The War on Drugs was a great example of racial profiling from police officers and systemic racism. An example of this is the policing of crack cocaine. Crack cocaine was a drug that was generally affiliated with people of color because it was significantly cheaper than powdered cocaine and present in poor urban areas such as central Los Angeles. Whereas powdered cocaine was more expensive and associated with white communities. The punishment for possession of crack was much greater than the punishment for powder cocaine causing a great imbalance of incarcerated people of color compared to whites. The War on Drugs created the image of the black mug shot and people of color as criminals.
In 1992 and carrying on to today police racial profiling
still exists and has evolved into a significantly unjust form of police
brutality. There is still a large discrepancy of incarcerated people of color
due to drugs and lower level crimes. In the 1980s a lot of the world was blind to the unjust system of the U.S police department, but after the incident with
Rodney King police brutality and profiling has become an everyday image for
more than just people of color. A lot of this has to do with the evolution of
technology and media. Today, police brutality and white privilege takes center
stage globally due to the convenience of smartphones and social media. We can
hope that this new technology could assist in change for the future, but for
now we must all live in a world where police protect and serve the white man.
For more information regarding the War on Drugs
you can visit this link: https://www.hrw.org/news/2009/06/19/race-drugs-and-law-enforcement-united-states
Miranda Huezo
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