How Did the War on Drugs Affect the African American Community - Term Paper Example

How did the war on drugs affect the African American Community? Drug addiction is one of the most important problems faced by human race whichcurbs human health and drags to the depths of illness and insanity. One can easily identify that drug addicts are considered as nuisance in their private and public domains. Within this context, the War on Drug initiated by the US government is an innovative step to wipe out drugs and to save the youngsters from the clutches of drug addiction. But in the US, most of the people who are accused as drug addicts belong to African American Community and this leads to further problems in the society. Thesis statement: The war on drugs initiated by the US government affect the African American Community because it leads to further problems in the society. The war on drugs The war on drugs is initiated by the US government, aiming to conduct campaigns against production, supply and abuse of harmful drugs. Friman opines that “Among developed countries, the United States has adopted the strictest national control measures against illicit drugs and has played the most active role in international enforcement” (4). The war on drugs includes providing military support to reduce international level illegal drug trade. The National Prohibition Act of 1920, which prohibited the usage of alcohol, is to be considered as the initial step against the influence of harmful beverages. One can easily identify that this Act led to implementation of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 in USA. The establishment of Drug Enforcement Administration in the year 1973 was another innovative step taken by the US government against drug abuse. In addition, the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 paved the way for the the National Narcotics Leadership Act of 1988, which created the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) under the US government. The ONDCP conducts a number of media campaigns among the youngsters to create awareness against drug abuse. In short, the war on drugs is a continuation of drug policy in the US. How did drugs affect the African American Community? Almost all the racial groups in the US face the problem of drug addiction and related issues. Comparing to other racial groups, the African American Communities face more problem from drugs. The history of the African American Communities and their growth and development from slavery to freedom, gaining political, social and economic progress did not help much to fight against drugs. Besides, an individual’s gender, age and economic status are considerable factors which lead to drug addiction. From a different angle of view, the socioeconomic status is to be considered as a vital factor which leads an individual towards drug addiction. When this idea is superimposed into the context of drug addiction among the African American Communities, one can easily identify that poverty originating from socioeconomic disparity is the most important factor which leads to drug addiction. The war on drugs resulted in rapid increase of prison population because the law enforcement department became more active and vigilant. Within this context, more African Americans were imprisoned and it resulted in further problems. For instance, the law enforcement agencies targeted the low income communities (say, the African American Communities) in the lower strata of the society. Roberts opines that “ Though whites, given their numerical superiority in the population, make up the majority of drug users, African Americans have been the chief targets by police” (30). The initiative undertaken by the US government reduced the negative influence of harmful drugs among the people but it affected the African American Communities. The grass root level cause of drug abuse or addiction among the African Americans is interconnected with their socio-economic status in the society. For instance, some of the African Americans consider drug abuse as an easy way to escape from the economic problems faced by them. Besides, some of the African Americans are forced to be the distributors of harmful drugs because of their poor economic condition. As pointed out, poverty is the most important factor which forces the African Americans to be the preys to harmful drugs. They are aware of the side effects of drug addiction, but poverty and low social status in the society leads them to be irresponsible in their private and public domains. The influence of drugs among the teenagers leads to less interest in education and this problem is high among the African Americans. When an individual decides to be irresponsible towards his or her life, the scope of job opportunities becomes limited. The African Americans who are under the influence of drugs face the same problem. Besides, some of the members of African American communities are not able to withstand the stressful lifestyle in urban areas. So, they become easy preys to drug addiction and related criminal activities. Drug addiction leads to violence and related problems in the society. Besides, the high rate of drug addiction among the African American communities leads to racial bias and discrimination. When an individual is arrested and sentenced for criminal activities resulted from the usage or distribution of drugs, there exists less scope for gaining future acceptance in the mainstream society. Gordon states that “This mass incarceration and criminalizing of African- American men has had a devastating impact upon the African-American family and communities nationwide” (152). When all these factors are considered, drugs affected the socio- economic development of the African American Community as a whole. The war on drugs and the African American Community The war on drugs deeply affected the African American community, especially the youngsters. The drug sweeps or search operations conducted by the police led the youngsters towards imprisonment. Generally, the ultimate aim envisioned by the creators of the war on drugs, to save the youngsters from the clutches of harmful drugs is noteworthy, but it proves to be failure in implementation level. For instance, less importance is given to rehabilitate the released prisoners and to lessen the scope of victimization faced by their families. The other family members, especially the children, face emotional and mental trauma. When fathers are imprisoned for a long time, the children gets less attention in their families. Weatherspoon makes clear that “ The “war on drugs,” however, has resulted in a disproportionate number of African- American males being arrested, sentenced and incarcerated” (232). Besides, this leads them to irresponsibility in life and the cyclic process of drug abuse and imprisonment continues. The war on drugs initiated the fight against drug addiction, illegal distribution of drugs and related violence in the society. Within this context, majority of drug dealers and drug addicts are behind the bars. The African American status in the US as minorities is not proportional to the rate of imprisonment. To be specific, most of the drug offenders belong to the African American community. The grass root level reason behind this problem is the wide spread usage of crack cocaine among the African Americans. As more and more African American youths become prey to drugs, the possibility of severe punishment is high. Besides, racial profiling of African Americans as possible suspects leads to bias against them. From a different angle of view, incarceration is not helpful to decrease drug related criminal activities. Smith states that “While blacks and whites have similar rates of illegal drug use, blacks are likely to be treated differently than whites at each step in the criminal justice system” (102). When an individual (say, African American, Hispanic or white) undergoes imprisonment for possession of drugs, there is high scope for mingling with other criminals. This may lead to further problems like anti-social sentiment and future involvement in criminal activities. As pointed out, the war on drugs helped to hinder rapid spread of drug related problems in the society. At the same time, the war on drugs victimized the African American minorities as possible suspects. In addition, short or long time imprisonment can prevent crime but does not help an individual to lead a healthy social life. The war on drugs reduced the scope of the high rate of criminal activities among the African Americans. On the other side, the war on drugs affected the socioeconomic progress of the African American communities. When the ‘breadwinner’ in a family is behind bars, the possibility of economic development becomes less and leads to poverty and low esteem in the society. In short, the war on drugs affected the growth and development of African American community as a whole. Besides, the war on drugs resulted in racial victimization and bias against the African Americans in the US. Summing, drug abuse and related crimes affected growth and development of African Americans. When more and more youngsters became prey to drugs, the scope of future development is limited to an extent. The war on drugs initiated by the US government to reduce the influence of drugs in the society was helpful to reduce crime. At the same time, the war on drugs forced the African American community to undergo racial victimization. To be specific, the best possible way to help an individual (say, a drug addict) is to help him or her to gain confidence through counseling and rehabilitation. On the other side, severe punishment must be given to drug dealers, who are aware of the problems created by drugs. References Friman, H. Richard. NarcoDiplomacy: exporting the U.S. war on drugs. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1996. Print. Gordon, Jacob U. The Black male in white America. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Publishers, 2004. Print. Roberts, Kevin David. African American issues. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006. Print. Smith, Robert C. Encyclopedia of African-American politics. New York, NY: Infobase Publishing, 2003. Print. Weatherspoon, Floyd D. African-American males and the law: cases and materials. Maryland, USA: University Press of America, 1998. Print. Read More