I don't know that this is partially true but I doubt that is was purely racial. Look at how we treated and still treat mental illness. I venture to say that we are learning as every generation before us learns from past mistakes. But what doesn't seem to help is pulling the race card. I feel like my generation and those later have to pay for the sins of a generation past and what good does that do? It merely re opens a wound that will never heal. It seems like a petty game kids play "got you last". No one ever will when that game. My grandchildren don't see people in color categories so quit dragging old baggage into every problem. It does little to address the problem at hand. Pro activity is always better. I've been around divorced people who are never able to get on with their lives because they continue gathering evidence instead of forgiving and building a new life. This life approach is healthier in any situation. Maybe God was onto something when he advised us to forgive one another. The author will be healthier and will be a solution instead of throwing gas on a dying fire if he instead wrote about what we each can do to be part of a solution.
8
Lest we forget the obvious, the potential profitability of white addiction. Affluent addicts make for a rich patient base. Not that black addiction doesnt serve the system but it does so more for the police/prison complex responsible for the drugs in the first place.
7
Justice is for the rich. Poor white kids get no help for addiction just as poor blacks do not. Period.
14
But only poor addicted blacks are scorned and jailed.
9
I think this a brilliant article that calls out the well documented institutional hypocrisy that has pervasively defined this land since its early days. Even if it requires the scripting of new supporting legislation the oppressed are always recruited to humanize the short comings of the oppressor but never the other way round. Mercy, grace, compassion, understanding, milk of human kindness bla, bla, bla, and all the virtues that are inherently human never seem to be targeted at black people. Just saying....!
6
I know a black kid who deals and a white one. Only one of them has done time for it. #blacklivesmatter
6
No one can blame you for your bitterness. This change of attitude tells everything we need to know about the modern era struggles of the Black community.
7
Look at historic drug usage between the races and then look at incarceration rates for drug usage between the races. Why is this opinion page filled with no surprises?
7
When whites expressed contempt for blacks, espoused hatred, and when white mobs targeted blacks we were told blacks were 100% the innocent victim and the perps were 100% at fault. Then blacks started directing similar views towards Jews and gays beginning with Malcolm X. Asians were the next group to be demonized. Crown Heights, Freddy's Fashion Mart, Sharpton's anti-Korean boycott and targeting of Asian owned businesses from the 90's to Ferguson and Baltimore today. Marion Barry proclaiming "the dirty Asians need to go!" when he was reelected a few years before his death not long ago.
This behavior- the hostility, scapegoating, and violence- is no different from how white racists treated blacks but there is a different "narrative" given. We are told blacks are "reacting" to "injustice and oppression". When blacks are subject to such abuse they are seen as the victim. When they subject others to the same abuse they are still seen as the victim. There is obsessive coverage over every perceived bias of "white America". I could write a set of encyclopedia's full of the bias of "black America". How about this paper occasionally have an article or two about that? This paper often resembles Nation of Islam's The FInal Call with it's obsessive advocacy and rose colored glasses view of blacks and Muslims vs. the open hostility and contempt towards whites and Jews.
This behavior- the hostility, scapegoating, and violence- is no different from how white racists treated blacks but there is a different "narrative" given. We are told blacks are "reacting" to "injustice and oppression". When blacks are subject to such abuse they are seen as the victim. When they subject others to the same abuse they are still seen as the victim. There is obsessive coverage over every perceived bias of "white America". I could write a set of encyclopedia's full of the bias of "black America". How about this paper occasionally have an article or two about that? This paper often resembles Nation of Islam's The FInal Call with it's obsessive advocacy and rose colored glasses view of blacks and Muslims vs. the open hostility and contempt towards whites and Jews.
12
Did I miss US history where groups of armed blacks murdered/mutilated random white people/jews at their leisure. When did Jews have to drink at separate water fountains? Your moral equivalence doesn't exist for this. History is not on your side.
13
Americans of European descent never want to acknowledge a racial component to an issue or racial disparities. That is unless a drug dealer is black, or a shooter is Arab then and only then does race become a factor
7
That is the most ridiculous statement ever made. When the shooter in Charleston, SC committed his crime, he was condemned as loudly as anyone else. Look in the mirror and you will find reverse discrimination is alive and well, but of course race isn't a factor if you are not a man of "color".
9
The difference in reaction is not based on the race of the user but the actual drug itself. Heroin is a downer, crack cocaine is a stimulant that depletes dopamine in the brain creating an immediate and "by any means necessary" type of addiction that leads to the type of violence that promotes tough on crime laws rather then compassionate treatment ones. Heroin,while also extremely addictive, immobilizes the user. A passed out heroin junky will always be less of a threat to personal safety then a crack user. The black community had their heroin epidemic in the 1970s and much like today it was not viewed as a public safety threat the same way. Methadone clinics were set up and the problem abated itself. Heroin is also much more expensive and less easy to procure and to make as profitable as crack, hence the explosions in the poorest of neighborhoods. I promise you if crack became an epidemic in white America as it was in black America then law enforcement would have the same response. Also, "white communities" deal with their own version of crack besides heroin I.e a highly profitable and addictive home made drug called METH and its users are subject to same draconian drug laws as black crack users are In the inner city. Meth has ruined just as many communities, families and lives as crack and almost none of them black. Tyrannical drug laws effect all of America and Americans it just depends on the drug and where, race has little to do with it.
15
America cracked down on crack cocaine and heroin dealers not because white racism but because black civic leaders complained the drug epidemic was destroying black neighborhoods. As a New York Times article titled “The Real Roots of ’70s Drug Laws” recently pointed out, the draconian drug laws that were the model current drug policies “were promoted and supported by an African-American leadership trying to save black lives.” Now we are seeing a move toward sentencing reform because black civic leaders are complaining the crackdown is sending too many black men to prison. It has little if anything to do with the recent increase in heroin use among whites.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/28/opinion/the-real-roots-of-70s-drug-law...
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/28/opinion/the-real-roots-of-70s-drug-law...
15
When you have Marion Barry, the mayor of Washington, D.C. smoking crack, it is hard to argue that the crack epidemic was solely the fault of institutionalized racism. Mayor Barry was the institution, a leader, and he smoked crack for all to see. Shaming can be a powerful motivator. It was not used during the 1980s
10
Thank you for this. You say it well: while the racism that abandoned and punished the victims of the crack crisis does not mean we should abandon today's victims, it is heartbreaking to see a sudden, bipartisan flowering of empathy *with not a word said* about its prior lack.
4
Bennett, the former so-called drug czar, swiftly retreated from his vow to punish all drug users as a means of solving the drug crisis in the 80s/90s once he discovered the racial diversity of drug users: "I don't want to be responsible for putting MY NEIGHBORS' kids in jail."
Let's be frank, his neighbors were/are White.
It therefore begs the question, whose neighbors' kids did he envision putting in jail? Minority for sure, Black in particular.
Let's be frank, his neighbors were/are White.
It therefore begs the question, whose neighbors' kids did he envision putting in jail? Minority for sure, Black in particular.
8
Perhaps you might thank Spike Lee for promoting that image via Halle Berry playing a black crack addict in a crack house.
But overall, when I think of addiction, it isn’t black faces that dominate that narrative from around that time, it is far more white. Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Sid and Nancy, River Phoenix, Downey Jr, even Farrah Fawcett! It is the thousands if not millions of working class/lower middles class kids from rural or suburban towns that never got out of that 70s slump. Crack might have been urban and black, but heroin, meth, cocaine, etc - they were used by way more (non-famous) whites. Btw - in prisons, it’s the white guys doing the drugs, statistically. So I don’t agree with your argument here, at all. It seems inflammatory most of all.
But overall, when I think of addiction, it isn’t black faces that dominate that narrative from around that time, it is far more white. Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Sid and Nancy, River Phoenix, Downey Jr, even Farrah Fawcett! It is the thousands if not millions of working class/lower middles class kids from rural or suburban towns that never got out of that 70s slump. Crack might have been urban and black, but heroin, meth, cocaine, etc - they were used by way more (non-famous) whites. Btw - in prisons, it’s the white guys doing the drugs, statistically. So I don’t agree with your argument here, at all. It seems inflammatory most of all.
11
Really, blame Spike Lee? Any recollection of Ron and Nancy's rhetoric during the 80s? How is the truth inflammatory?
4
solipsism - Not blaming anyone. Just pointing out a possible means by which that image got so popular. Or do you disagree that movies don’t influence reputation or image? I do recollect the Reagans' slogans...with a huge grimace. But now that you mention them, their (white) daughter was also a user. I just don’t think people equate drug use with race to the extent portrayed here. Some of the posts here about poverty are more accurate.
3
So a Spike Lee movie made the image of crack heads popular? I think the president saying crack heads, crack babies and super predators are destroying the country has more affect than a movie that only a small percentage of Americans saw. Or the nightly news, for that matter.
1
White people will never acknowledge these disparities as a problem because the nation and justice system was designed to have them. So they will never acknowledge or feel remorse for the hypocrisy.
6
Is there a double standard? Yes. Is race a factor? Yes. Right or wrong, change occurs when those directly impacted by an issue hold the power to effect change. Social awareness is not fair, never has been, never will be.
Drug Addiction is no longer someone else's problem. It is no longer in "their neighborhood". The drug epidemic is front and center for everyone. The question is not whether you know someone affected by the disease of addiction, rather how many do you know?
Not only have demographics changed but attitudes are changing. Imprisonment is not the answer. Just say no is not the answer. We are finally back to the realization that addiction is a medically proven disease (first diagnosed during the Eisenhower administration). Treating this epidemic as the disease it is changes everything.
The drug epidemic is moving up slowly, too slowly in Presidential debates. Of course it is being spoken about in New Hampshire. But what about the rest of the country? Republican, Democrat, I don't care. Words are cheap. Action takes commitment. My son died 5 years ago this month. I understand the author's point. My point is there are many factors causing a change in attitude and action. Learn from the past but move forward. We need awareness, compassion, change.
Drug Addiction is no longer someone else's problem. It is no longer in "their neighborhood". The drug epidemic is front and center for everyone. The question is not whether you know someone affected by the disease of addiction, rather how many do you know?
Not only have demographics changed but attitudes are changing. Imprisonment is not the answer. Just say no is not the answer. We are finally back to the realization that addiction is a medically proven disease (first diagnosed during the Eisenhower administration). Treating this epidemic as the disease it is changes everything.
The drug epidemic is moving up slowly, too slowly in Presidential debates. Of course it is being spoken about in New Hampshire. But what about the rest of the country? Republican, Democrat, I don't care. Words are cheap. Action takes commitment. My son died 5 years ago this month. I understand the author's point. My point is there are many factors causing a change in attitude and action. Learn from the past but move forward. We need awareness, compassion, change.
5
Addiction know no color line - it is just as disturbing to see white heroin addicts as it was to see African-American crack addicts. Both need care.
7
Deplorably true.
3
Unlike hypertension and prostate cancer, diseases that have significant racial differences in epidemiology (and effective drugs for hypertension), there is no difference in the medical approach to addiction based on race. Just adding that FACT, because FACTS are important. And if you get outside the major cities, you will find addicts of all races - remember that we also have Latinos, Asians and Native Americans in this country who are addicts, in addition to blacks and whites. I am wondering if someone at the NY Times can look up the real definition of "diversity" and apply it to the articles. Here's hoping.
4
You missed the whole point of the article....such a pity!
3
Why is it that we punish blacks more severely for their failings and then bend over backwards to be understanding and kind to whites who do the exact same things? Why is it okay for a white male teenager to go to the store and pick up chips, soda, and sweets while a black male teen doing the same thing must be up to no good, is followed, and then shot to death by a neighborhood watch volunteer who is acquitted of murder? Why is it okay to be white and break the law while a black who is doing nothing more than being is considered suspicious when driving a BMW he owns?
Why should blacks go to jail for crimes that whites aren't in jail for after they've been caught? A truly Christian country, which America is not, would practice charity and forgiveness for all, not just those who are of the right skin color. This same country would also stop looking for reasons to avoid improving the welfare of the population as a whole just because part of that population is black, Hispanic, or some other ethnicity the dominant culture doesn't like.
Why should blacks go to jail for crimes that whites aren't in jail for after they've been caught? A truly Christian country, which America is not, would practice charity and forgiveness for all, not just those who are of the right skin color. This same country would also stop looking for reasons to avoid improving the welfare of the population as a whole just because part of that population is black, Hispanic, or some other ethnicity the dominant culture doesn't like.
5
Lesson to take away ... if you want instant compassionate action on any social problem, make sure that problem afflicts upper middle-class white people ... then you're sure to see some traction immediately.
9
More liberal hogwash from the times. Oh the crack epidemic...nobody cared....those same dealers were flooding suburbia with powder coke for the money...it was all over my upper middle class suburb in the 1980s and it was affecting white kids also. The difference was and still is the level of violence in the inner city...most of those dealers caught with crack had multiple convictions and most carried guns although those charges were dropped at trial because with the long criminal record they would have gone away for life...because they have long criminal histories. The same thing today...violent felons with firearms charges dropped or reduced to just drug charges..then they kill someone and the full record is in the press and everyone asks themselves how was that guy out on the street......Liberal judges with liberal guilt thats how. Now, it is heroin coming across the border and it is racist to stop that epidemic as well.....while Americans of all colors and income levels suffer..so our politicians do get called racist and other names. Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time still applies
8
5yrs mandatory sentencing for 5grams of crack vs 500grams of cocaine? Totally fair, right. You're bending over backwards to justify a war on drugs that was unbalanced. Amazing that liberals are to blame. Who started the war on drugs and passed ridiculous sentencing guidelines? A lot of what you're saying doesn't make sense. It just seems like a political rant
4
“Suddenly, police officers understand crime as a sign of underlying addiction requiring coordinated assistance, rather than a scourge to be eradicated…
White heroin addicts get overdose treatment, rehabilitation and reincorporation, a system that will be there for them again and again and again. Black drug users got jail cells and “Just Say No.”
While I agree with the premise of this piece, I can't help but disagree with the above statement. While the language and the dialog around addiction might be changing, the system is still very much broken. My white, college educated brother has been struggling with heroin addiction for years. I have never once heard of a police officer offering compassion or understanding toward him during his years of addiction. They don’t care that he’s white. They don’t care that he has a college education. All they see is an addict. And while yes he IS currently in a three month rehab facility, when he gets out he will go to jail to serve time for non-violent drug related charges that happened prior to his rehab stint. He’s not getting out of jail time because he went to rehab or because he’s white. He’s stuck in a system, founded in inherent racism, with laws that don’t include “reincorporation” or “rehabilitation” for any addict regardless of color or class. This is a system that fails everyone.
White heroin addicts get overdose treatment, rehabilitation and reincorporation, a system that will be there for them again and again and again. Black drug users got jail cells and “Just Say No.”
While I agree with the premise of this piece, I can't help but disagree with the above statement. While the language and the dialog around addiction might be changing, the system is still very much broken. My white, college educated brother has been struggling with heroin addiction for years. I have never once heard of a police officer offering compassion or understanding toward him during his years of addiction. They don’t care that he’s white. They don’t care that he has a college education. All they see is an addict. And while yes he IS currently in a three month rehab facility, when he gets out he will go to jail to serve time for non-violent drug related charges that happened prior to his rehab stint. He’s not getting out of jail time because he went to rehab or because he’s white. He’s stuck in a system, founded in inherent racism, with laws that don’t include “reincorporation” or “rehabilitation” for any addict regardless of color or class. This is a system that fails everyone.
7
Your brother has failed himself, his family. He has failed you. He is your brother and I am sure you feel you want to do whatever to get him out of this quagmire you would be better off to get him sober one day and have a talk with him. You say he is college educated, which means he can understand what you are telling him... so if he listens to you and follows good advise all will be good, if he doesn't then you start thinking clearly, cut your losses and let him be.
1
The writer conveniently overlooks the REAL reason why enforcement is so different now: VIOLENCE.
11
Why are you white readers always in denial about blatant double standards based on race? I mean you twist yourselves into knots trying to justify and/or disregard blatant truths: yes, the sickening response to the crack epidemic in communities of color devastated those communities and destroyed black lives. And yes, today, those same folk – architects of the misguided drug policy – are preaching tolerance for white drug addicts. The hypocrisy is shameful. And you know it!
6
The author writes this:
Nor do I write in mere hopes of inducing cheap racial guilt."
Seriously? It certainly seems that that is precisely the author's intent.
and in the next sentence:
"The hope, however vain, is that we learn from our meanest moments."
And so we have; we have learned and we are treating addicts differently.
So what is the author's point?
Nor do I write in mere hopes of inducing cheap racial guilt."
Seriously? It certainly seems that that is precisely the author's intent.
and in the next sentence:
"The hope, however vain, is that we learn from our meanest moments."
And so we have; we have learned and we are treating addicts differently.
So what is the author's point?
7
Perhaps when the epidemic disproportionately affects minorities, next time we'll be as compassionate as we are now for white heroin addicts. That's what can be learned. Why do you pretend like race has nothing to do with how we perceive who deserves compassion? Read up on the Empathy Gap. Might help.
3
Not often do I agree with the NYT but I agree with this one.
3
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't young black males have just a little bit something to do with spreading the scouge of drugs in America, and don't they still do?
8
Beautifully said, and true in every word! Our punishment of addicts--as long as they were black--was a thinly veiled form of genocide.
Now that addicts are white, we're realizing that addiction is its own punishment!
For a remarkably insightful understanding of addiction, see the Huffington Post article, "Why This Doctor Believes Addiction Starts in Childhood." Or Google "Vancouver physician Gabor Maté."
Now that addicts are white, we're realizing that addiction is its own punishment!
For a remarkably insightful understanding of addiction, see the Huffington Post article, "Why This Doctor Believes Addiction Starts in Childhood." Or Google "Vancouver physician Gabor Maté."
1
The columnists I read in the NYT and elsewhere were supporting rehabilitation efforts versus prison sentences long before headlines about the growth of addiction and drug deaths among white was news. I, too, agree/d with them.
2
Must everything be made into a racial issue? Nice way to fuel hate and resentments and thereby fracture the people into groups that may be more easily pandered to by the democrats. Crack was an especially hideous drug that destroyed almost every life it touched. Not everyone who uses opiates gets addicted but virtually all who experiment with crack do. It was the heightened danger of crack and not race that determined the force by which it was fought against. The solution is to decriminalize ALL drugs and we won't have to worry about seeing things in black and white ! Invest the money in curing addiction and treating addicts rather than in the failed drug war!
7
I'm not sure I agree with the premise of the op-ed piece.
Yes, there has been a change in how local government deal with the scourge of drug abuse since crack exploded on America over past 35 years ago. But I don't believe the racial composition of drug abusers has been the primary motivator in the change in policy outlook.
I have been deputy public defender for 25 years now, here in California. The War on Drugs effectively bankrupt our State. We were stuffing so many people into prisons for longer and longer periods that we could no longer afford it. We built prison after prison. We allowed the Prison Guard union to become the most politically powerful union in the State. We got to the point where people could be sentenced to 25 years to life for possessing a tenth of a gram of methamphetamine. And it happened.
It got so bad that there have been repeated Federal lawsuits against California resulting in Federal Judges of different political persuasions demanding we lower our prison population and significantly boost the amount of money we spend on healthcare for inmates.
Our 'new' attitude towards drug rehabilitation has a lot more to do with the overwhelming cost of locking every one up for long periods of time than it does with the racial composition of those using drugs. What I call the 'law enforcement-prison complex" had become just about the largest employer here in California. Too many jobs and billions of dollars went into the machine.
Yes, there has been a change in how local government deal with the scourge of drug abuse since crack exploded on America over past 35 years ago. But I don't believe the racial composition of drug abusers has been the primary motivator in the change in policy outlook.
I have been deputy public defender for 25 years now, here in California. The War on Drugs effectively bankrupt our State. We were stuffing so many people into prisons for longer and longer periods that we could no longer afford it. We built prison after prison. We allowed the Prison Guard union to become the most politically powerful union in the State. We got to the point where people could be sentenced to 25 years to life for possessing a tenth of a gram of methamphetamine. And it happened.
It got so bad that there have been repeated Federal lawsuits against California resulting in Federal Judges of different political persuasions demanding we lower our prison population and significantly boost the amount of money we spend on healthcare for inmates.
Our 'new' attitude towards drug rehabilitation has a lot more to do with the overwhelming cost of locking every one up for long periods of time than it does with the racial composition of those using drugs. What I call the 'law enforcement-prison complex" had become just about the largest employer here in California. Too many jobs and billions of dollars went into the machine.
12
Is it just me, or is it that a whole bunch of Sanders supporters dont like the truth telling in this article, and similar such articles?
1
Swing and a miss.
5
White addicts mainly play video games and rot in various states of ennui.
Crime is down across the board in America,
That's the difference! -The white addicts just kill themselves.
Crime is down across the board in America,
That's the difference! -The white addicts just kill themselves.
10
That's my experience working with inner-city young people. White kids get treatment, black kids go to jail. The jail route is the opening of the rat hole.
4
Okay number one yes there is a heroin epidemic in America that we aren't really doing anything about. Number 2 your comparing heroin to crack cocain these are two very different drugs and well addiction may seem like it is the same with every drug it isn't although there may be some similarities. This is just another black man writing about how whites treat them different .... Well would you look in the mirror? The author just wrote a whole article talking about how we treated blacks almost half a century ago and comparing that to today's standards of how we are dealing with two very different drugs decades upon decades later. If anyone was discriminating it would be the people writing articles like this trying go separate the whites from the blacks and as you may notice it's one of the only things blacks talk about; get over yourself and do something good for your community instead of pointing out vices that happened dam near 40 years ago and comparing it to today with a very harsh racial attitude. Black writers like this just amaze me. Now I can bet a million blacks well try and turn the tables on me calling me "racist" when they don't even know the difference between racism and discrimination, now adays whites are a minority and blacks are not, get over yourself, and do something worth while, please.
5
This has been on my mind and the minds of my many in my cohort. Thank you Ekow Yankah for putting it out there, and doing it so well.
1
I hear what you're saying but your thesis seems to be that rehab and consideration wasn't part of the crack epidemic because the takers were black but now it is because the addicts are white. I guess that could be true but isn't it just as plausible that folks realize that the approach doesn't work and now they're trying something different?
6
One vital point has been missed here. the effects of crack vs. those of heroin. a hit of crack has an immediate and overwhelming rush--providing the illusion of power and dominance. Heroin? lay down on the couch and stare out the window for hours. a crack hit lasts minutes--heroin? hours. thus the "crack-head" tends to be far more dangerous BECAUSE of this huge difference in the drugs themselves.
These effects have nothing to do with race--and are the main reason societies' response has been so different.
These effects have nothing to do with race--and are the main reason societies' response has been so different.
8
It's telling that Republicans are capable of empathy only after one of their family members is affected. Whether it's Jeb Bush and Carly Fiorina on drug addiction or Rob Portman on marriage equality, these Republican outliers show that when you ask a Republican to "imagine if it was your child", they can't. It has to actually happen to their child.
2
This is an op-ed at best. The writing is based on perception instead of reality.
8
This is just wrong wrong wrong ... it fits a current narrative. But.... it's wrong.
The drug epidemic -- heroin, in particular had/has always been white. In the 60's and 70's and before ... pills and then Coke (not in a can). The author is only going back 30 years .. go back 55 years and the start of Vietnam.
Crack was an epidemic by the start of 1980's -- it was cheap and very strong -- and it quickly spread violence and death. Talk to those on the front lines back in the late 70's and see what they say about this.
The "just say no" program was aimed at kids ... the author of this article has no direct knowledge of what he is talking about.
America wanted action and they got it -- black and white got locked up. It was the decriminalization of small amounts that changed the incarceration rates. The sellers got jail and the uses got to use again.
The drug epidemic -- heroin, in particular had/has always been white. In the 60's and 70's and before ... pills and then Coke (not in a can). The author is only going back 30 years .. go back 55 years and the start of Vietnam.
Crack was an epidemic by the start of 1980's -- it was cheap and very strong -- and it quickly spread violence and death. Talk to those on the front lines back in the late 70's and see what they say about this.
The "just say no" program was aimed at kids ... the author of this article has no direct knowledge of what he is talking about.
America wanted action and they got it -- black and white got locked up. It was the decriminalization of small amounts that changed the incarceration rates. The sellers got jail and the uses got to use again.
11
Anything constructive here? or is it more hostile rhetoric?
Good advice is the following
1. Don't take drugs or abuse alcohol
2. get the best education and skills possible
3. don't commit crimes
4. don't have children until you can support them
If you violate these rules,you are unlikely to be successful in any country in the world regardless of your race
Good advice is the following
1. Don't take drugs or abuse alcohol
2. get the best education and skills possible
3. don't commit crimes
4. don't have children until you can support them
If you violate these rules,you are unlikely to be successful in any country in the world regardless of your race
12
Outstanding piece. I've been waiting for someone to write this.
1
Heroin use is not new to America.
In the 60s and 70s, this drug ravaged black urban communities but there was no out-cry to define it as a “public health” issue. Its use was associated with “black pathology” and the users were simply labeled junkies unworthy of compassion. Now that white kids in affluent suburbs, as well as rural areas, are overdosing, there is a clarion call by politicians to label it as a public health issue rather than white pathology.
Even with crack cocaine, empirical evidence showed the biggest users to be white, particularly white males. But they were not the ones mass incarcerated nor were their communities and families torn asunder.
Instead, the media and the war on drugs policy totally painted the problem black and implemented a full-court press to mass incarcerate black and brown people, along with the destruction of their communities.
White denial contributes hugely to the drug problem in America. But echoing Malcolm, “the chickens are finally coming home to roast”.
In the 60s and 70s, this drug ravaged black urban communities but there was no out-cry to define it as a “public health” issue. Its use was associated with “black pathology” and the users were simply labeled junkies unworthy of compassion. Now that white kids in affluent suburbs, as well as rural areas, are overdosing, there is a clarion call by politicians to label it as a public health issue rather than white pathology.
Even with crack cocaine, empirical evidence showed the biggest users to be white, particularly white males. But they were not the ones mass incarcerated nor were their communities and families torn asunder.
Instead, the media and the war on drugs policy totally painted the problem black and implemented a full-court press to mass incarcerate black and brown people, along with the destruction of their communities.
White denial contributes hugely to the drug problem in America. But echoing Malcolm, “the chickens are finally coming home to roast”.
1
I enjoyed the article, but journalists need to really look beyond the Black-White binary. The Latino community was also hit badly by the crack epidemic and the War on Drugs. Leaving them out of the narrative is a slap in the face to the families that lost love ones
6
The majority of white kids are prescribed some sort of drug: ritalin, adderall, xanax, vyvanse, you name it, and they continue that use into adulthood. It's accepted and encouraged. It's been reported that such drugs are more such as LSD is de rigueur on Wall Street and Silicon Valley. Everyone in high places are now well aware of the extent of drug use among whites, including doctors and law enforcement, and are now working in concert with each other to give drug use a positive spin. The legalization movement of marijuana is wholly fueled by white demand for that drug.
1
Sorry, Professor Yankah, you have failed to prove racism as the most prominent differentiator between today's reaction to drug abuse and the reaction in the past. Consider some other differences:
A. As a stimulant, crack fuels violence. Lots of people get killed. Check it out, almost without exception, Black leadership pushed for tougher drug laws. Was Rangle racist when he took point in pushing for these laws? Or was he desperately trying to save Black lives the best way he knew how?
B. As a downer, heroin doesn't tend to drive violence, therefore it doesn't create near the panic. Further, the opioid craze affects a wider range of ages compared to crack. Older addicts are just not going to be involved in as much trouble. This makes it easier to treat the problem from a public health, rather than law enforcement perspective.
C. Thirty and forty years on into the drug war, we know more than we did before. Our understanding of addiction has changed. Many now know that mass incarceration does not work. We are coming to accept that marijuana can be legal and that treatment is more effective and less expensive than jail.
Changing attitudes about drugs, treatment, and incarceration is not racism. It is society slowly learning from experience over a long period of time about what works and what doesn't.
A. As a stimulant, crack fuels violence. Lots of people get killed. Check it out, almost without exception, Black leadership pushed for tougher drug laws. Was Rangle racist when he took point in pushing for these laws? Or was he desperately trying to save Black lives the best way he knew how?
B. As a downer, heroin doesn't tend to drive violence, therefore it doesn't create near the panic. Further, the opioid craze affects a wider range of ages compared to crack. Older addicts are just not going to be involved in as much trouble. This makes it easier to treat the problem from a public health, rather than law enforcement perspective.
C. Thirty and forty years on into the drug war, we know more than we did before. Our understanding of addiction has changed. Many now know that mass incarceration does not work. We are coming to accept that marijuana can be legal and that treatment is more effective and less expensive than jail.
Changing attitudes about drugs, treatment, and incarceration is not racism. It is society slowly learning from experience over a long period of time about what works and what doesn't.
15
In addition, there is a movement to release prisoners who were given excessively long jail terms. Most of the beneficiaries of this policy will be young men of color.
4
People like simple solutions and explanations. But things aren't usually black and white when it comes to cause and effect. The crime wave that rose in the 60s and peaked in the 90s has been strongly linked to societal lead poisoning, and the elements' high concentration in areas of urban blight. Black Americans often lived there because of their spot on the American economic totem pole.
You have to understand the crack turf battles in black neighborhoods through that lens. Then throw in AIDS. Add in the poor economy of the entire 70s, early 80s, and early 90s. The list goes on as to other major and minor influences that contributed to the 30 year crime wave that peaked during the "crack epidemic."
The turf battles among dealers and their supportive gangs were often conducted by the worst affected kids from a (broadly speaking) lead poisoned population, who had limited options economically. Dealers had to run open air drug markets and crackhouses to facilitate crack's rapid-return repeat sales (typical of active use) mainly because there were no cell phones.
Consider the kid with lead-based behavior and learning issues, who fails in school and then has no job prospects. Next, put him in a gang and then have that gang require street style crack distribution for its economic success.
Good luck with that, cities.
You have to understand the crack turf battles in black neighborhoods through that lens. Then throw in AIDS. Add in the poor economy of the entire 70s, early 80s, and early 90s. The list goes on as to other major and minor influences that contributed to the 30 year crime wave that peaked during the "crack epidemic."
The turf battles among dealers and their supportive gangs were often conducted by the worst affected kids from a (broadly speaking) lead poisoned population, who had limited options economically. Dealers had to run open air drug markets and crackhouses to facilitate crack's rapid-return repeat sales (typical of active use) mainly because there were no cell phones.
Consider the kid with lead-based behavior and learning issues, who fails in school and then has no job prospects. Next, put him in a gang and then have that gang require street style crack distribution for its economic success.
Good luck with that, cities.
10
I wish that one day, whites can say, "Yeah it was about race. Now how can we move on?"
Even when there's video, whites still refuse to admit it.
Even when there's video, whites still refuse to admit it.
2
I wish people like you would stop asking "all" whites to apologize. It makes no sense. It's like saying, "once the borders are closed we'll talk about immigration reform". You don't want to move on unless you have your red meat.
5
In his essay, Mr. Yankah promises:
"Nor do I write in mere hopes of inducing cheap racial guilt."
but goes on to opine that:
"...many are dedicated to ignoring racial prejudice."
and then offers the observation that:
"...countless instances of institutionalized racial control across generations."
And so instead of a fresh, original perspective, the tired old narrative marches on.
"Nor do I write in mere hopes of inducing cheap racial guilt."
but goes on to opine that:
"...many are dedicated to ignoring racial prejudice."
and then offers the observation that:
"...countless instances of institutionalized racial control across generations."
And so instead of a fresh, original perspective, the tired old narrative marches on.
9
It's hard to read this and not get the impression that you think many black folks would feel better seeing white folks suffer as they did, and that justifying those feelings is what this piece is really about. If that's true, it's only natural and I get it, but what of the better angels of our nature?
7
The blacks don't know what to do for themselves but they expect some magical other people to know what to do. This problem is not as old as crack, it as old as the first abolitionist meeting.
3
First of all...Thanks NYT for once again, being willing to mention Black People only in a pathological, problematized sense. Todays conflict trigger, CRACK. "The Black Baby's Kryponite!"
Crack was introduced into American ghettos in order to destabilize destroy a percieved threat of Black uprising. The Civil Rights Movement and the resulting Black Power Movement inspired a sense of fear and guilt in whites that still exist to this very day. Crack provided an excuse to arrest, invade, investigate and suspect ANY black person occupying a public space. Crack helped justify Regan's "War on Drugs" that has since proved to be nothing but a war on Black People, the poor, and those who threaten American interests (namely drugs and weapons) in Central and South America. It was a mere extension of America's "War on Resistance" that they had waged in Korea and later, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and would later wage in Iraq, Afghanistan, and now, Syria.
Or course, some will deny it but in the end, we must look at the hard facts. Crack is part of American domestic and forgiegn policy. It's hard to ignore a Centuries-Long pattern of the deliberate, viscious, and systematic destruction of the Earth's melanated people. The day it can be proved that Heroin was introduced in order to destroy America's young white population, then we can have an equal conversation on the subject. Until then, we must equate crack as just another function of AmeriKKKan Racism.
Crack was introduced into American ghettos in order to destabilize destroy a percieved threat of Black uprising. The Civil Rights Movement and the resulting Black Power Movement inspired a sense of fear and guilt in whites that still exist to this very day. Crack provided an excuse to arrest, invade, investigate and suspect ANY black person occupying a public space. Crack helped justify Regan's "War on Drugs" that has since proved to be nothing but a war on Black People, the poor, and those who threaten American interests (namely drugs and weapons) in Central and South America. It was a mere extension of America's "War on Resistance" that they had waged in Korea and later, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and would later wage in Iraq, Afghanistan, and now, Syria.
Or course, some will deny it but in the end, we must look at the hard facts. Crack is part of American domestic and forgiegn policy. It's hard to ignore a Centuries-Long pattern of the deliberate, viscious, and systematic destruction of the Earth's melanated people. The day it can be proved that Heroin was introduced in order to destroy America's young white population, then we can have an equal conversation on the subject. Until then, we must equate crack as just another function of AmeriKKKan Racism.
1
Crack drove violence and murder. Today's white addicts are losers but not killers. On another note, this endless stream of "feel sorry for me" campaigns is not helping African Americans. It promotes an image of victim-hood and perpetuates it. Why not focus more on successful Black people. There are millions of them...including the President of the United States.
14
The author does not mention that the substance-abuse gene is hereditary and that DNA is color-blind.
4
Is it a shock that blacks and coloreds get treated differently, and much worse, by the establishment?
Addiction in blacks - crime. Worthy of being beateen down like an animal. Shoot on sight. Blame the victim, and say they are animals.
Addiction in whites - oh my goodness, what a tragedy. Even Trump who debases and dehumanizes handicapped people suddenly trurrns soft and mushy. Christie who is jumping over everyone else how tough he is, how he prosecuted (9/11 criminals, drug overlords, and every single bad person in the country) begins talking about his own personal connection to this "tragedy" (no longer a crime).
We all know this.
Addiction in blacks - crime. Worthy of being beateen down like an animal. Shoot on sight. Blame the victim, and say they are animals.
Addiction in whites - oh my goodness, what a tragedy. Even Trump who debases and dehumanizes handicapped people suddenly trurrns soft and mushy. Christie who is jumping over everyone else how tough he is, how he prosecuted (9/11 criminals, drug overlords, and every single bad person in the country) begins talking about his own personal connection to this "tragedy" (no longer a crime).
We all know this.
1
Society is slow to learn.
People have sympathy mainly for their own kind.
Minorities who have been slighted (whether black, or female, or disabled--insert your category here) must march through life knowing that the majority don't really have a clue.
That said: now what? We're all still here, together, and bitterness on anyone's part won't move the needle one tick.
People have sympathy mainly for their own kind.
Minorities who have been slighted (whether black, or female, or disabled--insert your category here) must march through life knowing that the majority don't really have a clue.
That said: now what? We're all still here, together, and bitterness on anyone's part won't move the needle one tick.
7
Something tells me if the face of a heroin was a dark one, "lock 'me up" would be the rallying cry. It's funny to read the comments here from white people indignant that some one is calling them on their double standard.
2
I don't understand how someone who was 12 years old and living at a relatively safe distance except in the imagination can even pretend to know anything about the crack epidemic.
6
I wholeheartedly agree with the author. I think we all know that it is White lives that truly matter. They look after their own. When they see their own in crisis, they react right away. The rest of us are uncivilized, lack moral standards, deserve what comes our way, and incapable of reform. The law enforcement officer who said 'These are people and they have a purpose in life and we can’t as law enforcement look at them any other way', is most certainly part of the problem. We live in a society that is blind to some and put others under a very fine microscope. There are so many white people in denial of their part in this unjust system. Always full of excuses: blacks are inherently violent therefore they deserve to be locked up; blacks are inferior they deserve to be enslaved; [X] made eye contact with such and such so he deserved to be murdered...on and on. Black people have been set up to fail since they were brought here to ‘work’ as slaves.
Blacks are progressing however, even if there are those struggling to make ends meet, and despite those trying to obstruct a path to prosperity. People need to change their mind-set, as many people suffer from mental bondage. We All need to take a look at our shortcomings. The world is changing however and I believe positive outcomes will come about for minorities.
Blacks are progressing however, even if there are those struggling to make ends meet, and despite those trying to obstruct a path to prosperity. People need to change their mind-set, as many people suffer from mental bondage. We All need to take a look at our shortcomings. The world is changing however and I believe positive outcomes will come about for minorities.
2
I agree with the commenter named Margaret that this article is revisionist history, and that articles in the NYTimes archives contradicts the viewpoint of this article.
Hopefully sometime soon a responsible non-ideological historian will write a definitive history of the genuinely disastrous effects the crack epidemic had on many our inner cities.
It is ridiculous to compare the scope and depth of the effects of the crack epidemic to those of the current heroin epidemic.
Hopefully sometime soon a responsible non-ideological historian will write a definitive history of the genuinely disastrous effects the crack epidemic had on many our inner cities.
It is ridiculous to compare the scope and depth of the effects of the crack epidemic to those of the current heroin epidemic.
11
This same paper has done several articles claiming whites are for the first time experiencing poverty and despair previously only known to black Americans. History revisionism is exactly what is going on.
6
I do not believe the 'War on Drugs' program was a complete failure. I believe it worked as best as it possibly could. Which was FAR better than doing nothing.
I grew up in the 80's and 90's and went to school with all different races. We had it pounded into our heads in elementary/junior/high school, on the tv, at the movies, to "Just Say No" to drugs. We had police come to our school and lecture us on the dangers of drugs. We were shown films of kids overdosing and dying from drugs. We heard messages from employers of losing our part time jobs flipping burgers if we did drugs. We were scared out of our wits. No one tried drugs. No one became addicted.
For all anyone knows, the 'War on Drugs' DID work. As well as it possibly could. Maybe things would have been A LOT worse had that message never come out and had authority figures of ALL races, cultures, economic and political backgrounds NOT spoken out the way they did. It is the one time I felt North America was truly united in acknowledging and trying to solve a problem.
So yeah, I kind of think the 'War on Drugs' worked. Maybe it didn't do everything people hoped for, but it did a lot.
I grew up in the 80's and 90's and went to school with all different races. We had it pounded into our heads in elementary/junior/high school, on the tv, at the movies, to "Just Say No" to drugs. We had police come to our school and lecture us on the dangers of drugs. We were shown films of kids overdosing and dying from drugs. We heard messages from employers of losing our part time jobs flipping burgers if we did drugs. We were scared out of our wits. No one tried drugs. No one became addicted.
For all anyone knows, the 'War on Drugs' DID work. As well as it possibly could. Maybe things would have been A LOT worse had that message never come out and had authority figures of ALL races, cultures, economic and political backgrounds NOT spoken out the way they did. It is the one time I felt North America was truly united in acknowledging and trying to solve a problem.
So yeah, I kind of think the 'War on Drugs' worked. Maybe it didn't do everything people hoped for, but it did a lot.
4
Yet another "it's the white guy's fault" opinion piece from the NYT.
I grew up on the streets of NY, and it sounds like we are somewhat close in age. In those multicultural streets, we all saw the crack epidemic, and were indirectly effected by it. I had to route myself through back ways to avoid the gangs, which, in my neighborhood, in LIC, were made up of kids from all background. If anything, I often felt targeted more because I am an Anglo-Saxon white, which comes with it a certain cache, if you will, on the streets.
From my recollection, Blacks seemed to be disproportionately hit with the epidemic, for some reason, but it effected everyone in NY, and I doubt there was an easy way to save or even arrest crowds huddled in crack dens, just as there was no easy way to save, or arrest, rural white meth addicts from the last decade. And yes, the meth problem tended to be really bad, and really white, and there wasn't much pampering going on there.
Drugs aren't new among white people, and yeah, it might be comforting to place blame on the bad suburban judgmental white guy who helps support all of the structural roadblocks for others, but I think the world is much more complex than that.
I grew up on the streets of NY, and it sounds like we are somewhat close in age. In those multicultural streets, we all saw the crack epidemic, and were indirectly effected by it. I had to route myself through back ways to avoid the gangs, which, in my neighborhood, in LIC, were made up of kids from all background. If anything, I often felt targeted more because I am an Anglo-Saxon white, which comes with it a certain cache, if you will, on the streets.
From my recollection, Blacks seemed to be disproportionately hit with the epidemic, for some reason, but it effected everyone in NY, and I doubt there was an easy way to save or even arrest crowds huddled in crack dens, just as there was no easy way to save, or arrest, rural white meth addicts from the last decade. And yes, the meth problem tended to be really bad, and really white, and there wasn't much pampering going on there.
Drugs aren't new among white people, and yeah, it might be comforting to place blame on the bad suburban judgmental white guy who helps support all of the structural roadblocks for others, but I think the world is much more complex than that.
12
While anyone who denies a double standard in the treatment of different communities addiction problems clearly hasn't been paying attention, I think there is a little more to the dichotomy in response than is laid out in this article.
Perhaps I am wrong, but I would suggest that the community/societal impact is, in perception if not reality, worse for a crack "epidemic" than one with heroin. Heroin hits home with the white community, which cannot be ignored, but part of what allows for the different perception is also that where crack causes a more direct (or perceived) link to crime, gangs and unrest and heroin creates less overt crime and more "family tragedy" for lack of a better term.
With all that said, it is sad and unfortunate that drug abuse that creates a destabilizing force in a community and endangers generations of being trapped in that cycle is viewed as less important than one that impacts families but not the community. It's hard to imagine that race, or more accurately, socio-economic delineations, weren't a major factor as well.
Perhaps I am wrong, but I would suggest that the community/societal impact is, in perception if not reality, worse for a crack "epidemic" than one with heroin. Heroin hits home with the white community, which cannot be ignored, but part of what allows for the different perception is also that where crack causes a more direct (or perceived) link to crime, gangs and unrest and heroin creates less overt crime and more "family tragedy" for lack of a better term.
With all that said, it is sad and unfortunate that drug abuse that creates a destabilizing force in a community and endangers generations of being trapped in that cycle is viewed as less important than one that impacts families but not the community. It's hard to imagine that race, or more accurately, socio-economic delineations, weren't a major factor as well.
3
Well I don't know about the finger wagging. I raised two daughters through a divorce. Both are married now with children and wonderful marriages. One is a doctor, and the other has advanced degrees. I was there for them with mind, body, TIME, and a good example. Never had a drug or alcohol issue.
My daughter's BFFs died of a heroin OD in high school. Tragic. White. But I don't give these White parents any slack. In fact, I give them less. They have everything going for them. Money. Nice neighborhoods. And please don't blame it on the culture. People's lives look prosperous and soft from the outside. Yet if you look at each of these families, there was a festering wound that could have been dealt with. These parents let their kids be "free spirits" while said parents drank, smoke and partied. I have never seen a family with heroin or drugs where something had not gone terribly wrong. We even offered to enroll the daughter in a private school, and the parents refused. The girl got involved with the wrong crowd while the parents looked the other way.
So don't assume that just because heroin moved into White communities that us White folks give the home but not home parents any slack because I sure don't. Selfishishness, parental addiction, inattention, too busyness all to blame.
My daughter's BFFs died of a heroin OD in high school. Tragic. White. But I don't give these White parents any slack. In fact, I give them less. They have everything going for them. Money. Nice neighborhoods. And please don't blame it on the culture. People's lives look prosperous and soft from the outside. Yet if you look at each of these families, there was a festering wound that could have been dealt with. These parents let their kids be "free spirits" while said parents drank, smoke and partied. I have never seen a family with heroin or drugs where something had not gone terribly wrong. We even offered to enroll the daughter in a private school, and the parents refused. The girl got involved with the wrong crowd while the parents looked the other way.
So don't assume that just because heroin moved into White communities that us White folks give the home but not home parents any slack because I sure don't. Selfishishness, parental addiction, inattention, too busyness all to blame.
2
This fellow seems to think America sees only black folks as dangerous. Let me tell you our history is full of dangerous classes, both bclak and white, who needed heavy policing. This resurgence of focus on dangerous white people is more the norm than the exception. Moreover, all of this talk about a kinder response is just that, talk. My guess most of the money will be on more punishment.
1
I think the change in how addiction is addressed is also influenced by age - people who were young during the 80s and 90s "War on Drugs" grew up seeing that the "war" tactics didn't work. It didn't get rid of drugs. It didn't make less addicts. The DARE program was pretty much pointless. Then those young people grew up and have pushed for changes in policy. Voters are pushing for decriminalization of certain drugs and for not putting people in prison on possession charges.
It's a tragedy that some many people had to have their lives destroyed before people realized that the "war" tactics don't work on addiction. Addiction has ALWAYS been a public health crisis, even when it wasn't treated as one.
It's a tragedy that some many people had to have their lives destroyed before people realized that the "war" tactics don't work on addiction. Addiction has ALWAYS been a public health crisis, even when it wasn't treated as one.
5
Eventually, this mere hatred and divisiveness on behalf of vanity and ambitions will come knocking on the door of the Times.
Anyway, that's what I tell myself. By the way, if anyone's interested, spend some time looking at the actual demographics of drug addiction over the past several decades. Somewhat undermines the Times' current narrative - unless the term "minority" is intended to mean "working class white people".
Anyway, that's what I tell myself. By the way, if anyone's interested, spend some time looking at the actual demographics of drug addiction over the past several decades. Somewhat undermines the Times' current narrative - unless the term "minority" is intended to mean "working class white people".
5
As someone who is born and raised in one of the most drug ridden, impoverished, and whitest areas in the United States (eastern Kentucky), it certainly isn't just blacks who are treated in such a way. Prescription painkiller abuse has ravaged this area since the mid/late 90s with very little sympathy from anyone on a national setting. Rehab and care for addicts are virtually non existent as well, it's pretty much jail and "just say no".
I will agree with another poster; it isn't white people... It's RICH white people.
I will agree with another poster; it isn't white people... It's RICH white people.
7
The addiction epidemic in the Black community did NOT start in the 1980s. Read Claude Brown's coming of age in 1950s Harlem novel, Manchild in the Promised Land. He describes how widespread heroin addiction, with its tragic results, decimated the community. He also describes how Harlem was rife with violent crime before heroin ever arrived.
2
the drug laws have always been about the suppression and control of minorities. its no accident that the lack of economic opportunity that pushed the black community in to the maelstrom of drug culture is now affecting whites as well. the chickens have come home to roost, and if that means life may become at least marginally easier for minorities then I say well done.
The author conveniently omits the issue of extremely elevated violence that was associated with the crack epidemic in order to insinuate an overly racist attitude by the police and judicial system at that time. The author disingenuously (or ignorantly?) plays the subtle "victim card" for the mostly black crack addicts. The writer should stop revising history to make weak and flawed comparisons with today's herion addicts and the treatment they receive from law enforcement agencies.
8
From the ACLU:
Marijuana use is roughly equal among Blacks and whites, yet Blacks are 3.73 times as likely to be arrested for marijuana possession.
Addiction and drug use is treated completely differently depending on race. It is just a fact. It needs to be changed now. how many lives, mostly black lives, have been ruined over an 1/8 of marijuana, its just sad. Furthermore, during the "crack epidemic" no comparison was made to the "cocaine epidemic" that preceded it. Whites were doing cocaine like it was going out of style in the 70s and 80s and an insane amount of violence was created because of this drug use. White cocaine addicts were not viewed the same as crack addicts at all. There is clearly a bias. Anyone who says there isn't is just factually incorrect.
Marijuana use is roughly equal among Blacks and whites, yet Blacks are 3.73 times as likely to be arrested for marijuana possession.
Addiction and drug use is treated completely differently depending on race. It is just a fact. It needs to be changed now. how many lives, mostly black lives, have been ruined over an 1/8 of marijuana, its just sad. Furthermore, during the "crack epidemic" no comparison was made to the "cocaine epidemic" that preceded it. Whites were doing cocaine like it was going out of style in the 70s and 80s and an insane amount of violence was created because of this drug use. White cocaine addicts were not viewed the same as crack addicts at all. There is clearly a bias. Anyone who says there isn't is just factually incorrect.
1
Im sorry this iformation is all well known for most people. Where is the original content? It doesn't matter the color, all instiutions of our current "Civilization" have fallen. As this one ends it is apparent that rage, violence, fear, and ignorance are the four horses of the apocalypse.
I say, prepare for carnage
I say, prepare for carnage
1
The comments prove the author's point.
Many, many writers seek to nuance how the latest addiction epidemic affects this, that and the other group, not at all a wholesale epidemic! But one, that through its variety of affliction, is so very, very human in its impact!
Was there no nuance when blacks represented a plague of addiction similar to that today afflicting whites?
Was it only young black males? only thugs? only criminals?
Or were children, men, women, families, the old, all hit, just like whites are today?
Nuance is not a white monopoly.
It applies to the entire human race.
In equal fashion.
Many of the writers to the NYT seem to warrant serious self examination,
as well as deep (and corrective!) history lessons,
on the facts of addiction in the US.
Many, many writers seek to nuance how the latest addiction epidemic affects this, that and the other group, not at all a wholesale epidemic! But one, that through its variety of affliction, is so very, very human in its impact!
Was there no nuance when blacks represented a plague of addiction similar to that today afflicting whites?
Was it only young black males? only thugs? only criminals?
Or were children, men, women, families, the old, all hit, just like whites are today?
Nuance is not a white monopoly.
It applies to the entire human race.
In equal fashion.
Many of the writers to the NYT seem to warrant serious self examination,
as well as deep (and corrective!) history lessons,
on the facts of addiction in the US.
1
I'm surprised Mr. Yankah did not frame his piece within the context of historical trauma, or post-traumatic slave syndrome (http://joydegruy.com/resources-2/post-traumatic-slave-syndrome/), both of which place the 1980's crack epidemic within an intergenerational, post-slavery process of trauma recovery and struggle. If looked at from a public health angle, intergenerational trauma is a social determinant of health.
African Americans who were already suffering long-term effects of racism, oppression, poverty, and daily discrimination were very vulnerable to the crack epidemic. That epidemic did not happen in a vacuum. History actually created the forces that shaped that epidemic, and in a very tragic and cruel way. Institutional racism continues to shape and harm lives every day in these communities. You cannot discuss the 80's crack epidemic without its historical context.
Another commenter remarked that low income people of color have easier access to drug rehab. Really? It's apples and oranges. Your $25K for a middle/upper class rehab is like a luxury hotel/spa vacation compared to the publicly-funded (accessible via Medicaid) rehab facilities for low income people. Low income people only have access to bare-bones, short-staffed rehab centers that don't have the funding to keep patients as long as they really need to be there. What your $25K gets you, in terms of rehab quality, is worlds apart from the experience of your lower income fellow citizens.
African Americans who were already suffering long-term effects of racism, oppression, poverty, and daily discrimination were very vulnerable to the crack epidemic. That epidemic did not happen in a vacuum. History actually created the forces that shaped that epidemic, and in a very tragic and cruel way. Institutional racism continues to shape and harm lives every day in these communities. You cannot discuss the 80's crack epidemic without its historical context.
Another commenter remarked that low income people of color have easier access to drug rehab. Really? It's apples and oranges. Your $25K for a middle/upper class rehab is like a luxury hotel/spa vacation compared to the publicly-funded (accessible via Medicaid) rehab facilities for low income people. Low income people only have access to bare-bones, short-staffed rehab centers that don't have the funding to keep patients as long as they really need to be there. What your $25K gets you, in terms of rehab quality, is worlds apart from the experience of your lower income fellow citizens.
2
This analysis is so hackneyed and unilluminating it really is a poor reflection on the Times.
Where is the analysis of what is similar and what is difference between the crack epidemic of the 80's and the heroin epidemic of today? If there ever was an example of surface-level analysis, this is it.
Where is the analysis of what is similar and what is difference between the crack epidemic of the 80's and the heroin epidemic of today? If there ever was an example of surface-level analysis, this is it.
12
Perhaps addiction needed to hit closer to home for the white majority to feel more empathetic. In any event, better late than never. I hope the same empathy will be shown, regardless of race, to our growing underclass that is weighted down by debt, unemployment and poverty and are condemned to live in crime riddled neighborhoods.
Good read sir!
Good read sir!
3
We all asked for stronger sentencing back in the 80's. Especially middle class Black folks like mine who were desperate for a solution as they saw their communities disintegrating. Who would think that their son's escape from the ghetto to a tony suburb would be a mirage when it came to the scourge of drugs.
7
Face facts, this is the case. Saddening but all too true. Whites are now the 'face' of heroin and the approach has swiftly changed. In NYC, for example, first responders to a potential scene of drug overdose (police, etc) are outfitted with an antidote to administer in order to save their lives, first and foremost.
In the past, no. Punishment and a complete disregard for life was the only order of the day. Oftentimes, the police would just stand by and let the person die right there in front of them or while they're attempting to arrest them.
In the past, no. Punishment and a complete disregard for life was the only order of the day. Oftentimes, the police would just stand by and let the person die right there in front of them or while they're attempting to arrest them.
1
My sister battled alcohol & drug problems her whole life--she is white, born in 1961, comes from a lower middle-class background. In 2002 or thereabouts, she went off the deep end and started using heavy drugs, including crack.
I have a different perspective than many people writing comments here because I think the criminal justice system saved her life. The 2nd time she got arrested & thrown in jail, we left her there instead of bailing her out because she'd been through so many drug treatment programs that we decided she needed to realize that jail was where'd she'd be if she didn't clean up her act. This actually worked--she took rehab seriously after that.
What I think people don't realize is that: 1)The criminal justice system treats people of all colors the same--green is the only color that matters (to hire politically-connected lawyers). 2) Rehab programs are available to everyone but most addicts mainly use them as a neat place to meet other addicts to hang out with after they get out, 3) There's often a mental health issue underlying drug use, and 4) Drug addicts are highly manipulative & narcissistic.
People seem to be all excited about the treatment approach lately but these programs have been available for years and the sad fact is that the relapse rate is extremely high, no matter how fancy the program is. I personally think the answer is to do mental health screening in the early school years and help people who are bi-polar, etc.
I have a different perspective than many people writing comments here because I think the criminal justice system saved her life. The 2nd time she got arrested & thrown in jail, we left her there instead of bailing her out because she'd been through so many drug treatment programs that we decided she needed to realize that jail was where'd she'd be if she didn't clean up her act. This actually worked--she took rehab seriously after that.
What I think people don't realize is that: 1)The criminal justice system treats people of all colors the same--green is the only color that matters (to hire politically-connected lawyers). 2) Rehab programs are available to everyone but most addicts mainly use them as a neat place to meet other addicts to hang out with after they get out, 3) There's often a mental health issue underlying drug use, and 4) Drug addicts are highly manipulative & narcissistic.
People seem to be all excited about the treatment approach lately but these programs have been available for years and the sad fact is that the relapse rate is extremely high, no matter how fancy the program is. I personally think the answer is to do mental health screening in the early school years and help people who are bi-polar, etc.
7
What I realize, and you should too, is the criminal justice system DOES NOT treat people of all colors the same. This is proven statistically. The most outstanding example was the difference between the penalties for powder cocaine versus crack. Just about everyone, including many Republicans, has come to realize the important disparities in the way people of different races are treated and many are calling for change.
Finding and affording a good lawyer is the first step that many minorities, and many whites, cannot master, a step that leads to jail time.
Finding and affording a good lawyer is the first step that many minorities, and many whites, cannot master, a step that leads to jail time.
2
The availability of treatment for addiction is not a racial issue. It is a class issue. I live in a rural area that has had a methamphetamine epidemic for the last decade. The general attitude in rural America has been that meth addicts should be locked up in prison for a long time. If they are not locked up in prison, at the very least, their children should be taken away. There is also no talk here about treatment instead of incarceration for meth addicts in the news media or by elected officials. The reasons for the harsh attitudes about meth addiction is that your average meth addict is a poor white living away from all the so called good people on a back road in a trailer park or in some run down house. The reason why treatment for heroin is being talk about now is that heroin addiction has spread to wealthy areas because of the explosion of prescription opioids.
7
When I was in medical school 25 years ago we received a good amount of training on how to deal with chemical dependency. Of course, treatment starts with diagnosis, and diagnosis for addiction starts with screening questions. This is where things get a bit ugly.
It turns out that poor and minorities, especially blacks and Latinos, are more likely to receive a full battery of screening questions than are middle- and upper-class whites. However, when random screening is done across these populations, the prevalence of drug use is nearly the same. This of course means that poor and minority populations only appear to use more drugs, which of course feeds the selection bias in screening.
Added to this is the fact that people with money can hide their behavior more effectively. They don't have to steal or use violence to keep their supply coming, and thus they're less likely to get arrested and discovered. And if they do get into trouble they have a network of family and friends to fall back on.
I'm sure race plays a role in all this; there are plenty of people who just love to point out the failings of black communities, as evidenced by many of the comments here. Still, I think the biggest issue is class: people of means have always been able to hide and buy their way out of trouble.
It turns out that poor and minorities, especially blacks and Latinos, are more likely to receive a full battery of screening questions than are middle- and upper-class whites. However, when random screening is done across these populations, the prevalence of drug use is nearly the same. This of course means that poor and minority populations only appear to use more drugs, which of course feeds the selection bias in screening.
Added to this is the fact that people with money can hide their behavior more effectively. They don't have to steal or use violence to keep their supply coming, and thus they're less likely to get arrested and discovered. And if they do get into trouble they have a network of family and friends to fall back on.
I'm sure race plays a role in all this; there are plenty of people who just love to point out the failings of black communities, as evidenced by many of the comments here. Still, I think the biggest issue is class: people of means have always been able to hide and buy their way out of trouble.
8
Although there are significant historical differences between these groups, poor rural white communities have battled a meth epidemic with almost identical distain by the rest of society as poor urban black communities experienced during the crack epidemic. I don't think the differences are so much racial (though to be sure, that's part of it) as they are economic. Poor people just don't matter as much in the eyes of many.
I think what's different is that many heroin addicts are middle class people, largely white, who got hooked on opiates. Often the initial uses were for legitimate reasons and prescribed appropriately based on the standards of care at the time. However, once hooked, it becomes a problem. Heroin is just much cheaper and easier to get than prescription opiates.
Poor urban blacks are much more visible to society at large than poor rural whites. And of course, even poor whites can blend into a crowd in ways that blacks can't. So when a stream of stories and images of crack-riddled inner cities becomes seared into the minds of middle class whites, we have the unfortunate and grossly unfair tendency to associate a black person with the faces we see in the news.
I think what's different is that many heroin addicts are middle class people, largely white, who got hooked on opiates. Often the initial uses were for legitimate reasons and prescribed appropriately based on the standards of care at the time. However, once hooked, it becomes a problem. Heroin is just much cheaper and easier to get than prescription opiates.
Poor urban blacks are much more visible to society at large than poor rural whites. And of course, even poor whites can blend into a crowd in ways that blacks can't. So when a stream of stories and images of crack-riddled inner cities becomes seared into the minds of middle class whites, we have the unfortunate and grossly unfair tendency to associate a black person with the faces we see in the news.
2
The author remembers the devastation visited on the innercity black community by the crack epidemic; the level of violence is hard to imagine today. Cities had murder rates three, four, five times or more today's rates. Think Chi-raq on, well, crack. Housing stock was abandoned, schools were unsafe; the community was ravaged.
But the author is elsewhere off target. Users and most tragically "crack babies" were viewed sympathetically. And far from cordoning off blighted areas and withdrawing resources, the opposite happened, sometimes with consequences that are bemoaned today. So yes, dealers and importers were sent to (mostly Federal) prison, and the violent enforcers/shooters ended up in state prisons, and the war on crack was gradually won, or at least beaten back.
The opiate epidemic is qualitatively and quantitatively different. The victims are mostly users and their immediate families. The nature of the drug induces less violence in users and the attendant violence in the distribution end is, empirically, a fraction of what it was with crack. There are far fewer shootouts and "collateral damage" to uninvolved victims. Yet the number of deaths to users from accidental overdoses is huge, far exceeding the crack epidemic and now exceeding auto deaths and gun homicides combined. So the attempt to cast the different responses, separated by decades of experience and entirely different circumstances, as racially driven is just wrong.
But the author is elsewhere off target. Users and most tragically "crack babies" were viewed sympathetically. And far from cordoning off blighted areas and withdrawing resources, the opposite happened, sometimes with consequences that are bemoaned today. So yes, dealers and importers were sent to (mostly Federal) prison, and the violent enforcers/shooters ended up in state prisons, and the war on crack was gradually won, or at least beaten back.
The opiate epidemic is qualitatively and quantitatively different. The victims are mostly users and their immediate families. The nature of the drug induces less violence in users and the attendant violence in the distribution end is, empirically, a fraction of what it was with crack. There are far fewer shootouts and "collateral damage" to uninvolved victims. Yet the number of deaths to users from accidental overdoses is huge, far exceeding the crack epidemic and now exceeding auto deaths and gun homicides combined. So the attempt to cast the different responses, separated by decades of experience and entirely different circumstances, as racially driven is just wrong.
10
What really demonstrated to me how mainstream opioid use and abuse have become was the ad during the Superbowl for a remedy for opioid-induced constipation, with the bland acronym of "OIC."
2
umm the key to your entire article. which is biased and racially charged is the first sentence "in the 1980's. " That was almost 20 years ago, what we know about the brain and addiction now is light years away from what we knew then. There are services available to help all addicts, no matter where they are. If the choice is to not get clean it doesn't matter what color you are, you won't
7
It has been common knowledge for decades that the drug 'war' was a race war, pure and simple.
4
Your unsubstantiated claim has as much credibility as the assertion that "diversity" initiatives are a war against Caucasians.
7
Sadly no good change comes until it hits home to a large Not disenfranchised part of us. When it involves the "other" guys we just demonize.
He had me up until he used the phrase "unarmed black men". Anyone who thinks that an unarmed man can't possibly be a lethal threat is not living in reality. It taints the article.
2
I am amazed at the number of comments here that are lambasting Professor Yankah for his thoughtful column .
I read the same piece and do not see it as a arm chair, liberal revisionist history to the crack epidemic, but an acknowledgment that the way society talks about the current plague of addiction has factors in race.
Last month HBO aired a documentary " Heroin: Cape Cod" if ever there was a geographical location ( besides Iowa) that conjured 'white' its Cape Cod. The point of the show, I believe, is that addiction can hit any of our homes , our lives our families. Not just poor people ( of any color) and not just inner cities. And so government is reacting a totally different way.
To fail to acknowledge that , does not make one immune to the PC police. but rather to the reality of how our laws are made and what drives them in America.
For any one of any color to deny that race is strong and sometimes overwhelming factor in these laws, is to deny the state of our Nation.
I read the same piece and do not see it as a arm chair, liberal revisionist history to the crack epidemic, but an acknowledgment that the way society talks about the current plague of addiction has factors in race.
Last month HBO aired a documentary " Heroin: Cape Cod" if ever there was a geographical location ( besides Iowa) that conjured 'white' its Cape Cod. The point of the show, I believe, is that addiction can hit any of our homes , our lives our families. Not just poor people ( of any color) and not just inner cities. And so government is reacting a totally different way.
To fail to acknowledge that , does not make one immune to the PC police. but rather to the reality of how our laws are made and what drives them in America.
For any one of any color to deny that race is strong and sometimes overwhelming factor in these laws, is to deny the state of our Nation.
1
Allow people the right to choose!
If a person wants to take drugs then let them be they black or white. Quit being a nanny state and let freedom ring.
People know the dangers of drugs, alcohol and sugar so let them partake as they wish.
If a person wants to take drugs then let them be they black or white. Quit being a nanny state and let freedom ring.
People know the dangers of drugs, alcohol and sugar so let them partake as they wish.
What may appear to be a "choice" may actually be a chemically-driven mandate. Your comment reflects the formerly prevalent belief that drug-diseased patients could turn on - or off - their drug use at will. Research has shown that is not the case. Once the substance addiction is triggered, it is a lifelong medical issue. Anyone like me who lived with a substance-addicted family member know this truth. Reverting to the "responsibility" and "choice" language only gets us back into the soup of "irresponsibility" jargon that starts the demonizing of sick people. Let's help them get well and STAY well.
2
Embittered is the right term this authors revisionist outlook on addiction. I leave it to the New York Times editorial page to be vindictive and racialize the recent heroin issues, and I expect the tune will change when the addiction makes inroads into non-white communities.
5
Thanks for writing this. People need to hear it.
White addiction, while lamentable, does not come with the crime and gang violence of black addiction. It is merely a couple of dudes holed up in a 2nd floor apartment in a private house in Burlington, VT. or Conway, N.H., or any other nondescript town across America, getting high and slowly lowering the population of the U.S.
12
I'm not sure why people don't get that this is not -- for the most part -- about race.
It's about poverty.
There have ALWAYS been white drug addicts. Most of them poor, and most of them not cared about by society either. They were urban crack addicts, rural meth heads -- and you'd find very few people interested in offering them any kind of solution other than jail, either.
Middle class drug addicts have always been treated with more respect than poor drug addicts, usually because their families would pay to get them into treatment (again and again) and the courts were happy to let users off the hook.
Another difference is that I suspect that middle class drug users are less likely to engage in other illegal activities to get money to feed their addition. If they steal, it's from family members, who aren't as likely to prosecute them. And they are less likely to have to sell drugs to get the money to buy them. Not the same for poor addicts.
Being poor -- not white -- is the main reason for the different treatment. If we don't start looking at problems through the lens of class instead of race, we won't solve them.
It's about poverty.
There have ALWAYS been white drug addicts. Most of them poor, and most of them not cared about by society either. They were urban crack addicts, rural meth heads -- and you'd find very few people interested in offering them any kind of solution other than jail, either.
Middle class drug addicts have always been treated with more respect than poor drug addicts, usually because their families would pay to get them into treatment (again and again) and the courts were happy to let users off the hook.
Another difference is that I suspect that middle class drug users are less likely to engage in other illegal activities to get money to feed their addition. If they steal, it's from family members, who aren't as likely to prosecute them. And they are less likely to have to sell drugs to get the money to buy them. Not the same for poor addicts.
Being poor -- not white -- is the main reason for the different treatment. If we don't start looking at problems through the lens of class instead of race, we won't solve them.
15
That's pretty hard to argue considering how racist most of these comments are, along with the mentality of the rest of the country. If you sweep racism under a rug, it will never disappear. Black communities living in poverty don't get support, maybe a welfare check but there aren't many actions helping the comminities. Teachers don't want to teach there, black parents talking their children down because they theme selves never had opportunity, the hood and slinging drugs dominating the future of young adults, and studies supporting that in certain instances places would rather hire a white criminal than a black person, not to mention racial profiling which is making people angry.
What I'm saying is, first hand, I see this every day. It happens and its constant. If people don't recognize that racism is a root cause of poverty then it will continue.
What I'm saying is, first hand, I see this every day. It happens and its constant. If people don't recognize that racism is a root cause of poverty then it will continue.
2
The point of this is not to say why drug addiction occurs. The point of this is that drug addicts are treated and viewed very differently depending on their race.
2
The thing that people are not realizing when they are talking about the response to fighting the tide of drugs in this country is that we have learned some things since 1980. Half of our states in this country now allow marijuana, people need to realize just because there are more suburban white kids overdosing this is not the crack epidemic all over again. This is obviously not a race thing. Everyone is being harmed by this. When it comes to being a drug convict it honestly doesn't matter what your skin color is in this country. Dont let anyone tell you it makes one bit of difference in the eyes of the law and the eyes of judges here in the US. When your in court for a drug offence white privilege does not exist!
9
One could wonder whether the "softer" reaction is because we're racist, or because we've learned that what we did to black people during the crack epidemic was wrong no matter what color their skin might have been.
Addiction, like alcoholism, is hidden from public view. The affluent can hide their problems. As a society, we're still focused on the "down and out" - the people we relegate to live in our effluence after we've abandoned it..
4
Oh please. The cracks epidemic involved robberies and muggings everywhere. This time the drugs are mostly confined to individuals. Stop complaining about nonexistent forms of racism.
10
The distinction here that needs to be made is between charges for drug possession and sale vs. other crimes, and as applied to blacks vs. whites, both then and now.
There is another variable that wasn't touched on in the article: social class. Money makes a difference when it comes to rehab and staying out of the legal system.
9
It also makes a difference in the Times' coverage of the issue. White folk have been a pretty steady 33% of narcotic addicts for the past several decades (the Times' reporting on this topic is false and easily disproven). But it wasn't the right kids of white folk, so the Times didn't care.
2
We should judge drug addicts based on their addiction and not by the color of their skin. It is their choice to take the drugs regardless of race. Leave them to it.
1
Sometimes not everything is about race. Maybe some of what you write is true...that some of the difference in attitude towards crack addicts vs heroin addicts is based on race.
However, there's also no denying that society as a whole has been changing its attitude as a whole, towards not only addicts but the mentally ill. We are realizing how very wrong it's been to throw the mentally ill (who sometimes behave inappropriately and break laws) into prison, versus providing them with readily-available drugs to treat their illness. So it's possible that this is all part of a sea-change to treat the illnesses (be it drug addiction or mental illness) vs simply punishing the resulting behaviors.
However, there's also no denying that society as a whole has been changing its attitude as a whole, towards not only addicts but the mentally ill. We are realizing how very wrong it's been to throw the mentally ill (who sometimes behave inappropriately and break laws) into prison, versus providing them with readily-available drugs to treat their illness. So it's possible that this is all part of a sea-change to treat the illnesses (be it drug addiction or mental illness) vs simply punishing the resulting behaviors.
1
I understand the authors sentiment and agree except that I would substitute the words poor and rich for the words blqck and white. Rich or middle class with credit cards go to rehab, poor go to jail. Same with mental health in general. While one can certainly argue that minorities are affected by disproportionately by many of societies ills, I am absolutely ecstatic that the conversation around drug addiction and mental health issues is finally becoming more reality-based and humane. We all need to fight together to ensure fair treatment for all
4
One misperception was to label the entire black population as either participating or helpless in the face of the crack bomb. I lived in DC at the time the bomb hit and it was horrible, but that doesn't mean that people didn't resist.
Some people did fight back in the hard hit areas, but their stories are largely unknown and often they were unreported entirely. One such person in D.C. was a grandmother by the name of Loree Grand who banned together with other women in their neighborhood, not far from the U.S. Capitol Building, to drive the drug dealers out. She took on some of the most violent street thugs in America and risked her life in the process. Ms. Grand now has a modern, high rise apartment building at 3rd and L Streets, N.E. named in her honor by a builder who wanted to thank her directly for helping to clean up the neighborhood and make new development possible. I suspect there are hundreds of such stories across America, but because we do not know these stories, because we are subjected to repeated negative images without counterbalance, we just assume the worst.
Ralph Ellison wrote The Invisible Man many years ago. In some ways, the black community in America is invisible, except for the negative images pushed on television news. We look at the truth, occasionally, but we can't see it. We are blinded by lingering racial ideas that we can't seem to shake. If we can't change ourselves, at least we need to change the way of operating.
Some people did fight back in the hard hit areas, but their stories are largely unknown and often they were unreported entirely. One such person in D.C. was a grandmother by the name of Loree Grand who banned together with other women in their neighborhood, not far from the U.S. Capitol Building, to drive the drug dealers out. She took on some of the most violent street thugs in America and risked her life in the process. Ms. Grand now has a modern, high rise apartment building at 3rd and L Streets, N.E. named in her honor by a builder who wanted to thank her directly for helping to clean up the neighborhood and make new development possible. I suspect there are hundreds of such stories across America, but because we do not know these stories, because we are subjected to repeated negative images without counterbalance, we just assume the worst.
Ralph Ellison wrote The Invisible Man many years ago. In some ways, the black community in America is invisible, except for the negative images pushed on television news. We look at the truth, occasionally, but we can't see it. We are blinded by lingering racial ideas that we can't seem to shake. If we can't change ourselves, at least we need to change the way of operating.
5
This link will take you to a google street view of the apartment building in DC named after Loree Grand, a woman who fought drug dealers with great courage and lived to see the good results.
http://tinyurl.com/zy66mo8
http://tinyurl.com/zy66mo8
In the 1980s I attended a well known university with a glowing reputation for honor and integrity. One day in the back room of the school newspaper office where us cartoonists worked, I heard two of the editors discuss the shipment of cocaine they had received and how much money they were going to make from its sale to fund their spring break jaunt to Cancun. They were white I was black. If you wanted marijuana, hashish, quaaludes, coke, speed, shrooms and even this new thing called "E", ecstasy or now molly, you went to your dude who lived at one of the many white fraternities. Somehow I don't imagine any of those upstanding young men ever got busted or sat for one day in a jail cell, instead I imagine they now run global corporations, big banks and the country.
5
This is a thoughtful and heart wrenching piece. It is hard to face what our institutionalized racism has cost the black community and I don't blame them one bit if they were to disregard what is happening now to white communities feeling the scourge.
I am a 65 year old white woman and I am taken aback by the comments some people are making - the often heard "all lives matter" rhetoric that still seeks to soften or erase what has been done to poor people of color in this country.
Wake up, America and take a long hard look in the mirror.
I am a 65 year old white woman and I am taken aback by the comments some people are making - the often heard "all lives matter" rhetoric that still seeks to soften or erase what has been done to poor people of color in this country.
Wake up, America and take a long hard look in the mirror.
4
It turned out that the "crack babies" generally were not permanently harmed.
On the other hand, fetal alcohol syndrome cripples for life. No racial issues there.
On the other hand, fetal alcohol syndrome cripples for life. No racial issues there.
3
The deeply embedded racism in our entire society, from top to bottom, is so obvious to me (a white woman) that I fail to understand how other white people can't see it. When will whites stand up and say NO MORE? Until more people in the "white community" can admit that racism is here, and part of every moment of every day, the problem cannot be resolved. It permeates everything. The compassionate response to white addicts is but one example. There are many.
2
I apologize to the author for all of his community's problems: the 72% illegitimacy rate; massive property and violent crime; a hostility toward education; flagrant disregard for the law; burning down their own neighborhoods; welfare dependence. The list goes on and it's all my fault.
12
Only an uneducated, isolated and white Midwesterner would not recognize that those statistics are the result of poverty mixed with years of discrimination and white flight.
You have no idea how hard it can be for these people, constantly dehumanized, seen as criminals, racially profiled and clearly taken advantage of. Since the inception of the US, white people have never been through struggle as race, or as a minority. Most of these comments unveil how uneducated people are and how angry and racist white people continue to be. Change won't happen if you dismiss the fact that racism and poverty are the root cause of these statistics.
Have you ever stepped into a wealthy black community?
You have no idea how hard it can be for these people, constantly dehumanized, seen as criminals, racially profiled and clearly taken advantage of. Since the inception of the US, white people have never been through struggle as race, or as a minority. Most of these comments unveil how uneducated people are and how angry and racist white people continue to be. Change won't happen if you dismiss the fact that racism and poverty are the root cause of these statistics.
Have you ever stepped into a wealthy black community?
3
I agree with the contrast in responses. Let's take a stab at causality, perhaps:
95% Violence
5% racism
95% Violence
5% racism
8
Woah -- you very eloquently capture not only the evolution of these epidmics (black and white), but also the white visceral response to these perceived black "thugs". I am old enough to have seen them all, but a big difference is that I never saw as much violence-on-strangers with white addicts as I saw from black addicts. I, too, crossed the street many times.
If I might add a slightly off-subject point, I was once in a waiting room for my car to be repaired when I noticed that an adorable, bored black child (about 2-3 yrs old) who was obviously annoying the man she came with. When I offered to read a book to her to occupy her, the man said sure, he didn't care. She readily sat on my lap and it was immdiately apparent that she didn't know what a book was for, had probably never seen one, didn't care, and wasn't interested in being read to. Sigh. As a retired educator, I thought to myself -- so THIS is at the heart of much of the problem with black society. And what makes it so different from much of addicted white society.
If I might add a slightly off-subject point, I was once in a waiting room for my car to be repaired when I noticed that an adorable, bored black child (about 2-3 yrs old) who was obviously annoying the man she came with. When I offered to read a book to her to occupy her, the man said sure, he didn't care. She readily sat on my lap and it was immdiately apparent that she didn't know what a book was for, had probably never seen one, didn't care, and wasn't interested in being read to. Sigh. As a retired educator, I thought to myself -- so THIS is at the heart of much of the problem with black society. And what makes it so different from much of addicted white society.
7
In a country that has security so tough, how does all of this heroin get from Afghanistan to the streets of every town in America?? My grandmother and people's children are touched and bullied just to fly within our borders. I'm confused how everybody ignores the most important part, the importers are immune from scrutiny. Only one group I know of with that power.
1
I live in a rural area of SW VA adjacent to the coal fields of VA, WV, and KY and I got news for you. Addiction to opiates has had a white face for over 20 years down here and in much of rural America. As a retired teacher I have seen my former students drop like flies over the decades. I am not denying that there is racism in America, but that is not what has been going on in these mountains. It has to be worse than we know, because families deny what has happened in many instances and the true cause is not listed. The reasons are complex, but economics are at the core of it. I am sorry to see suburban middle America be hit by this epidemic, but at least we are discussing the problem at the level it should be.
15
"We do not have to wait until a problem has a white face to answer with humanity." If this were the case, then the meth problem all throughout the country would be treated differently. It isn't.
7
The heroin epidemic is the face of institutional racism. No clearer example is needed to illustrate to the white privilege deniers that in fact white privilege is alive and well.
3
This is one of the most insightful, provocative and accurate assessments of the current state of affairs in America as it relates to the issue of drug usage and response thereto. Bravo to the author!
3
Hopefully, you're being sarcastic.
1
I shed no tears for any loser drug addict, social parasite, regardless of race and the world is better off with out them. But here once again, we just have to find a racial element. When the white community starts shooting itself up like the black community the responses will be different.
1
64% of all drug users are white, yet whites only make up 13% of all drug arrests. Drug addiction has always had a white face. It's just that the media refused to show it. They wanted you to believe that it was only a black problem. However, talk to some of the major crack dealers of the '80s and '90s, they'll tell you who the majority of the people they sold to.
7
The difference is that the black crackheads were murdering and robbing and raping people on an industrial scale. They were harming innocent people, who needed protection. The white heroin addicts for the most part only harm themselves or their own family.
4
Wish I could say the Prof Yankah is overreacting. I think we have made much progress in recognizing our mistakes. Unfortunately, we have not figured out how to learn from our mistakes and then take those lessons and apply them today.
1
Thanks NY Times for giving this "Brotha" a voice. The issue today is white denial. Martin Luther King's victory was only that he force whites to end open prejudice and resort to this covert non stop prejudice that still destroys blacks. Today the new black is Muslim, but the old black remains. I like to say there is a code whites have as they go after and destroy blacks. Tough on crime" is a part of the code. "Free stuff" is another code word, like no white person has ever been helped by any government. Today white racism is this hate whites have at the idea that the government will help anyone not white. "Don't let them in" of the Trump campaign and venom Cruz displayed as he attacked Obama over and over; the venom was the big deal. His repetition was for effect. To hate the President because...he wants all Americans to be able to go see a doctor? Today our job is to break the code. This article is a great step in that direction.
3
No mention of the drug dealers and what race they are/were. No mention or sympathy for the victims of addicted criminals and what colour they are/were. People attract police attention because of bad or criminal behaviour; if you want to keep out of trouble, don't harass people and obey the law. Show some respect for other peoples space and rights.
3
There are so many things that people do because they lack control, being fat, high blood pressure from eating bad, raping, addiction to drugs, addition to money, addiction to power, addiction to smoking, addition to alcohol, and on and on. But only certain addictions are condemned. Why?
2
Sorry, but my recollection is that Charles Rangel and other black leaders in the 1980s demanded enhanced sentences for crack.
http://www.wnyc.org/story/312823-black-leaders-once-championed-strict-dr...
http://www.wnyc.org/story/312823-black-leaders-once-championed-strict-dr...
7
The simple, rational approach is to end the war on drug users by legalizing for adults ALL drugs. The gov has no business defining "victimless crimes" (as they are known by the discerning). But the ignorance of the voters and the money being made in the "drug war" business by the drug sellers and the police mean that this folly will continue for many decades more.
At last the NY Times came out for legalization of marijuana but the editors are way too conventional too advocate the end to all prohibition.
No thanks, I can take care of myself and don't need a Nanny State.
Think for yourself?
Think for yourself?
At last the NY Times came out for legalization of marijuana but the editors are way too conventional too advocate the end to all prohibition.
No thanks, I can take care of myself and don't need a Nanny State.
Think for yourself?
Think for yourself?
2
Your point seems to be that illegal opiate addiction started in the black community and now has spread (gleefully) to the white community. You make no other point, really. That's sad and may I say, racist.
The daily dose of "white guilt" doled out on this page is mind-numbing and counter-productive.
The daily dose of "white guilt" doled out on this page is mind-numbing and counter-productive.
4
The author's complete failure to distinguish between drug addiction and drug-related violence is yet another example of NYT race prism blindness. "Generally speaking," the new legions of white heroin addicts don't kill people (other than themselves). There are no drive-bys and gang wars in white neighborhoods afflicted with drug addiction. Maybe the author should give a thought as to why the drug epidemic plays out so differently in the two cultures.
5
You are correct that white heroin addiction has generated a certain societal sympathy as compared to black crack addicts. I find the softness toward white middle class addiction reprehensible. All addicts, those who knowingly choose addiction, should be punished. I know that my view is counter cultural. but those who know better, and believe me, many do, should be punished for the harm they inflict on their families and society.
I completely agree. I don't think the answer is softness towards other addicts, I think it should be harshness towards heroin addicts as well.
Growing up in the inner city in the 1990s I saw many white people die from drugs and violence or be sent to prison. I will tell you this -- no-one cared. Not because of their color but because they were poor. Until race issues are put aside and the real prejudice which is against poor people of all colors is discussed, nothing will ever be accomplished.
12
This article forgets Latinos, just thought I should mention Befor I digress .
Drug abuse whether it's an upper or downer will drive an addict to steal commit crimes and disregard self preservation. The issue of money & access to resources is a huge denominator here. White America still very much sees minorities as "Those People". They are different, don't act like us or want to assimilate. So therefore "Those People" don't deserve humanization. All extremes are unhealthy, equality & understanding are important. Enabling, denial and lack of accountability is toxic to all.
Drug abuse whether it's an upper or downer will drive an addict to steal commit crimes and disregard self preservation. The issue of money & access to resources is a huge denominator here. White America still very much sees minorities as "Those People". They are different, don't act like us or want to assimilate. So therefore "Those People" don't deserve humanization. All extremes are unhealthy, equality & understanding are important. Enabling, denial and lack of accountability is toxic to all.
The "compassion and empathy" does not extend to communities of color. The full metaphor of war applies there. Social science is a cruel joke when your community is treated as a free fire zone by gangs and law enforcement. The death penalty applies to crimes as minor as the sale of a loose cigarette. Every young man is treated like an escaped convict, assumed to be armed and dangerous, likely to die for lifting a cell phone.
Some people get second, third and fourth chances. Others dream of a mythical first chance. Almost as rare as unicorns.
Some people get second, third and fourth chances. Others dream of a mythical first chance. Almost as rare as unicorns.
2
Maybe it's just that I live in Baltimore, which historically has been a heroin town, but heroin has always been seen as a drug that affects both whites and blacks equally. Many of the open air heroin drug markets have long served an mainly white. suburban clientele, and many serve white city folks. Mr. Yankah is peddling a false narrative. The crack cocaine epidemic is most equivalent to the methamphetamine epidemic, which grew up contemporaneously with it and was greeted with similar, punitive measures. It affected mostly whites.
Heroin addiction is now affecting small towns, small cities and rural areas. This is due to extraordinarily cynical behavior by large drug manufacturers in aiding and abetting the criminal distribution of Oxycontin. These actions largely targeted rural areas and small towns, with corrupt doctors, pill mills, etc. Heroin then became a cheaper, more readily available replacement. It's not that heroin is now affecting white people, it's that it's affecting residents of rural and small town America where it never had a foothold before.
Heroin addiction is now affecting small towns, small cities and rural areas. This is due to extraordinarily cynical behavior by large drug manufacturers in aiding and abetting the criminal distribution of Oxycontin. These actions largely targeted rural areas and small towns, with corrupt doctors, pill mills, etc. Heroin then became a cheaper, more readily available replacement. It's not that heroin is now affecting white people, it's that it's affecting residents of rural and small town America where it never had a foothold before.
21
The movement toward treatment and fewer uses of the penal system preceded the rise of Heroin addition. The suggestion of the author is that the change in policy and sympathy for drug abusers is because they are white.
As it stands, government support for drug addition through public funds remains disproportionately focused on minority populations and those in prison are largely minority. So the evolution of these policies is actually largely benefiting minority populations.
I wonder why those concerned with racial politics have not called out the increase in education funding for K12 (disproportionately minority focused), Higher Ed (same), Obamacare or other programs where focus on the benefits to society of massive increases in public investment have in fact been focused on money flows into minority communities. I doubt we would call that reverse racism.
As it stands, government support for drug addition through public funds remains disproportionately focused on minority populations and those in prison are largely minority. So the evolution of these policies is actually largely benefiting minority populations.
I wonder why those concerned with racial politics have not called out the increase in education funding for K12 (disproportionately minority focused), Higher Ed (same), Obamacare or other programs where focus on the benefits to society of massive increases in public investment have in fact been focused on money flows into minority communities. I doubt we would call that reverse racism.
3
Drugs are a problem regardless of race. Making race an issue only masks the problem. The real problem is availability, by curtailing the availability we enhance the desirability of drugs making the sale of controlled substances a highly profitable venture. Making opiates freely available would eliminate the profit making factor, plus making drug control enforcement unnecessary, such as police, prisons, and so on. The cost of drug control in the United States involves so many agencies and damages so many people that it staggers the imagination. Law enforcement feeds on the drug problem, leaving other important areas of law enforcement orphaned. Prior to the 1930's alcohol was the law enforcement drug of choice for elimination and we all know how that ended, other drugs were legal and did not present a large problem. Legalizing all drugs will result in some abuse but nothing compared to the problem we now have. Our control of alcohol should be a model for the control of all drugs. When will we learn as we learned with Probibition? Race is not the problem, our ill conceived laws are!
2
Nancy Reagan tried to help with her "Just say no" campaign. Since then there has been no anti-drug leadership from the White House. Drug use, in my opinion, has been encouraged by jokes on television shows. If I were president, I would ask the TV people to lay off the drug jokes.
2
Really? "Just say no" falls into the same catagory as "abstinence" as a form of birth control. It's beyond foolish in it's complete disregard of reality. Saying something foolish is not helping.
3
I must be missing something. Is there any overwhelmingly white neighborhood where white heroin drug users are killing each other in large numbers in a turf war?
What is the equivalent in "white America" to the 2,000 murders a year that were common in NYC during the crack epidemic?
America was never at war with "struggling, non violent addicts". America was at war with the wanton violence perpetrated by the (mostly black, and to a lesser extent hispanic) violent criminals fighting for the crack distribution turf.
What is the equivalent in "white America" to the 2,000 murders a year that were common in NYC during the crack epidemic?
America was never at war with "struggling, non violent addicts". America was at war with the wanton violence perpetrated by the (mostly black, and to a lesser extent hispanic) violent criminals fighting for the crack distribution turf.
10
America was at war with pot smokers, a group less violent and less self-destructive than alcohol users.
1
I believe that it isn't so much, "When Addiction Has a White Face," as it is now knowing that the human animal is by nature an addict, whether the substance is sugar, salt, fat, alcohol, pain killers, street drugs, gambling, sex, pornography, the internet, etc. We are dealing with a society, where the majority of people have such serious addictions, and it is not only taking tremendous amounts of resources, but the road to recovery does not look like recovery at all, but looks like millions of people, who will be life long addicts, whether diabetics who should, but often don't watch their eating, to heroin addicts, most of whom will die, because their addiction is stronger than there desire to permanently quit. It is just that now everything with all its horrific images is on television 24-7 for all to see, not just celebrities, but your family, your neighbor, your race, your religion, your class, addiction has no favorites!
1
There's no denying that now that addiction has more of a white face, attitudes towards addicts have moderated. But as at least one post here pointed out, plenty of white addicts were treated just as cruelly as black addicts have been.
And the good news for the future is that black addicts should also benefit from the more compassionate attitude towards addicts that is now in vogue.
And the good news for the future is that black addicts should also benefit from the more compassionate attitude towards addicts that is now in vogue.
4
I'm and old white guy. Somehow, I think that in this new found compassion by our political elites and the move toward treating addiction as a medical and social problem, that a lot of young white addicts will be diverted to treatment programs and that black and brown addicts, er "offenders" will still end up in the criminal justice system, but for marginally shorter sentences. Perhaps I am being too cynical, but I'll believe that our approaches to drug addiction have changes when I actually see them change from heart-wrenching rhetoric to actual action with proper funding. Put our money where your mouths are you of the political class.
2
As so many people have noted already, the difference isn't the face of the victim but the face of the drug. My boyfriend, who first used prescription opiates recreationally as a young teen, became a heroin addict while in law school, where several of his classmates also used IV heroin. Although he changed subtly, leaving me wondering what was different about him, he graduated with honors and a prestigious job. Per his plan, he only went to rehab after graduating. Seven months later, he relapsed and committed suicide. In the course of his addiction, he never hurt anyone, stole anything, nor committed any crimes beside procurement and use of opiates--admittedly unlike his cohort of addicts, so many of whom were young professionals. Few drugs are so insidiously harmful yet benign to the untrained eye.
3
I wish the writer would at least acknowledge that the towns where white addicts about are not at all the war zones that we saw in black ghettos. It is for some other time to discuss why. But there is simply no comparison.
By the way. I live in a town that has a relatively high rate of addiction. It is a largely hispanic town, and the addicted and non addicted live alike in older housing. I can come home late and never hear gunshots, nor see signs of crime.
On the otherhand, i regularly visit Paterson NJ and if I dare go near the worst parts of town, every aspect screams war zone.
By the way. I live in a town that has a relatively high rate of addiction. It is a largely hispanic town, and the addicted and non addicted live alike in older housing. I can come home late and never hear gunshots, nor see signs of crime.
On the otherhand, i regularly visit Paterson NJ and if I dare go near the worst parts of town, every aspect screams war zone.
4
The difference is that America addresses addiction in a different way now. It has nothing to do with skin color. The crack epidemic was a learning situation for how to deal with these situations. The injustices stemming from this epidemic have nothing to do with race but not knowing how to properly effect addiction & the causes of it. But go ahead and continue to divide America with your racially charged & bias articles. One thing I ask is to stop asking for changes in race relations when all you are doing is dividing us instead of bringing us together. By pointing out failures by government while instituting race takes away from the real message that should be presented. Poverty, drugs, crime & lack of opportunities & proper education all run hand in hand. Addiction doesn't see skin color. Unlike you who will use racially charged articles like this to sell your paper.
3
Amen. Some of these comments miss the author's point. He's absolutely correct in his analysis. Whether or not there was more violence associated with crack is beside the point. Suddenly, when white lives on are the line there is empathy for the drug user. That's a fact. Period. End of story.
4
Point well taken, but addiction has always had a " white face ", to those white people who are addicted. The devastation to families and bodies has ever been the same. 20 years ago I attended a conference and the keynote session was entitled " what if we really treated addiction as an illness ". Let's get it done. It's about time.
1
Selective memory - selective data - obfuscation - the traditional hallmarks of the professional apologists.
Latest CDC data is quite clear - illegal drug use is still a greater problem among folks of color and the rate on increase over the past five years has occurred at the same rate among whites and blacks
But - hey - never let a little data get in the way of telling a good story to celebrate the victimhood of color.
Latest CDC data is quite clear - illegal drug use is still a greater problem among folks of color and the rate on increase over the past five years has occurred at the same rate among whites and blacks
But - hey - never let a little data get in the way of telling a good story to celebrate the victimhood of color.
8
(Estimated Substance Abuse or Dependence in the US by Race/Ethnicity, 2013, According to NSDUH)
"• In 2013, among persons aged 12 or older, the rate of substance dependence or abuse was 4.6 percent among Asians, 7.4 percent among blacks, 8.4 percent among whites, 8.6 percent among Hispanics, 10.9 percent among persons reporting two or more races, 11.3 percent among Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders, and 14.9 percent among American Indians or Alaska Natives. Except for Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders, the rate for Asians was lower than the rates for the other racial/ethnic groups."
Source:
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Results from the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings, NSDUH Series H-48, HHS Publication No. (SMA) 14-4863. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2014, p. 88.
http://www.samhsa.gov/data/NSDUH/2013SummNatFindDetTables/Index.aspx
http://www.samhsa.gov/data/NSDUH/2013SummNatFindDetTables/NationalFindin...
This sure looks like whites were almost 12 percent more likely to abuse or be dependent on illegal drugs than African Americans.
But -- hey -- never let a little data get in the way of telling a good story.
"• In 2013, among persons aged 12 or older, the rate of substance dependence or abuse was 4.6 percent among Asians, 7.4 percent among blacks, 8.4 percent among whites, 8.6 percent among Hispanics, 10.9 percent among persons reporting two or more races, 11.3 percent among Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders, and 14.9 percent among American Indians or Alaska Natives. Except for Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders, the rate for Asians was lower than the rates for the other racial/ethnic groups."
Source:
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Results from the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings, NSDUH Series H-48, HHS Publication No. (SMA) 14-4863. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2014, p. 88.
http://www.samhsa.gov/data/NSDUH/2013SummNatFindDetTables/Index.aspx
http://www.samhsa.gov/data/NSDUH/2013SummNatFindDetTables/NationalFindin...
This sure looks like whites were almost 12 percent more likely to abuse or be dependent on illegal drugs than African Americans.
But -- hey -- never let a little data get in the way of telling a good story.
1
I worked in mental health during the 80's and watched helplessly as Ronald Reagan and many Republican governors scraped rehab programs in favor of prison. Now they whine about the costs(monetarily) of this approach without realizing what the social costs have been.Hundreds of thousands of black youths were brutalized by the prison experience.Are we surprised at their behavior upon release?I recently saw two TV programs dealing with the subject.One,Recovery Road, a fictional drama wherein most of the addicts happen to be people of color.The other,a documentary on HBO about heroin in Cape Cod in which all the addicts are white kids headed for rehab.I guess this is Hollywoods version of diversity.The way the politicians and the media have treated the subject is shameful.
1
It is unfortunate that it has taken a scourge to hit the Caucasian community before our view of addiction has changed, but at least it is beginning to change. Perhaps those viewing this addiction can now imagine it hitting their very community or family, but in fact some sort of addiction probably his many if not most extended families. Now we need Congress to put its money where its mouth is and devote more research funding to addiction research and to basic research. It would be money well spent and a wise investment in our future.
Do you think that maybe the associated crimes, murder, armed robbery, assault, intimidation, etc, that came with the crack epidemic and are still problems that are much more focused in urban black majority locations are part of the reason that the law enforcement response is calibrated differently to opiate use and addiction? There are more parallels between the law enforcement response to crack and meth with meth production and use more likely to be focused in rural largely white populated areas. Heroin use by working and middle class whites is nothing new. Heroin use has been a problem in Gloucester MA http://nyti.ms/1UkCoAD since I can remember going back to the late 70s. No doubt is was before than as well. Same for New Bedford. These are hard scrabble towns but places where most people worked and worked hard for a living. There is a difference like it or not. Moving to a more treatment focused response to drug addition is the right way to go and should be encourage where ever possible.
3
Addiction is a chronic, progressive brain disease. It's treatable. Perhaps not as successfully as one might like, but on a par with other chronic diseases that require substantial behavioral change, like diabetes and hypertension.
Unfortunately, many people still don't believe addiction is a disease. That's why science-based education is so important.
For websites that discuss the science of substance use and abuse in accessible English (how alcohol and drugs work in the brain; how addiction develops; why addiction is a chronic, progressive brain disease; what parts of the brain malfunction as a result of substance abuse; how that malfunction skews decision-making and motivation, resulting in addict behaviors; why some get addicted while others don't; how treatment works; how well treatment works; why relapse is common; what family and friends can do; etc.) you can google "addict science."
Unfortunately, many people still don't believe addiction is a disease. That's why science-based education is so important.
For websites that discuss the science of substance use and abuse in accessible English (how alcohol and drugs work in the brain; how addiction develops; why addiction is a chronic, progressive brain disease; what parts of the brain malfunction as a result of substance abuse; how that malfunction skews decision-making and motivation, resulting in addict behaviors; why some get addicted while others don't; how treatment works; how well treatment works; why relapse is common; what family and friends can do; etc.) you can google "addict science."
We should all learn how it is almost impossible for us to see the world through the eyes of others. We can try, but when something hits US, it is ten times more important than when it hits THEM. This is basic human nature. Our sensory perceptions are oriented around, first, self protection and then toward getting what we need, food and shelter. This is hard to escape. Documentary films, novels, plays and movies are steps to allowing us to see through other's eyes, but with no guarantee.
In the case of African-Americans as viewed by whites, there is an even bigger problem. American society took destroyed a belief in humanity in African-Americans. Under the Constitution, they were 3/4s of a human being. In the eyes of many, perhaps a majority, they were not seen as fully human. This is a crime of all but unspeakable proportions, murder by social attitudes.
We have not resolved the legacy of slavery, segregation and buried racial perception. While millions of white people might be tired of the cry of "racism!", we should accept that much of how our society operates is filtered through it. This applies in double or triple when it comes to the criminal justice system, which has been used as an instrument of suppression and control of blacks. Economic suppression as a force is one of the most important in creating the current status quo.
We must address this problem in new and fundamental ways. Otherwise, the problem will address us, in ways we don't like, long into the future.
In the case of African-Americans as viewed by whites, there is an even bigger problem. American society took destroyed a belief in humanity in African-Americans. Under the Constitution, they were 3/4s of a human being. In the eyes of many, perhaps a majority, they were not seen as fully human. This is a crime of all but unspeakable proportions, murder by social attitudes.
We have not resolved the legacy of slavery, segregation and buried racial perception. While millions of white people might be tired of the cry of "racism!", we should accept that much of how our society operates is filtered through it. This applies in double or triple when it comes to the criminal justice system, which has been used as an instrument of suppression and control of blacks. Economic suppression as a force is one of the most important in creating the current status quo.
We must address this problem in new and fundamental ways. Otherwise, the problem will address us, in ways we don't like, long into the future.
3
Professor Yankah is right on. He has gotten behind our eyes and painted scenes that no matter how startling, are true. He has shown us the desperate scourge of drug addiction affecting poor, unemployed, aimless people without prospects or purpose. Our awareness about drug addiction, though evolving, is in stark constraint to the militaristic approaches of law enforcement in our civil society. All justifications for disproportionately aggressive pursuits or slip ups, and their tragic outcomes, dissolve because of skin color.
We have a long way to go to rid our minds and our tongues, senses and sensibilities, our communities and collective practices of prejudice. And where we make progress among blacks and whites, we both faulter when it comes to accepting unconditionally others with different skin hues, or religions. Assimilation and the potential comfort of living well with each other in our diversity are on one side of reality. Enclaves of separate impoverishment, despair, and mistrust are on the other.
While we have a long way to go, we must also give credit to ourselves for how far we have come. Although we have each and everyone of us felt the sorrow of someone on the street hating us, distrusting us, sneering at us, intimidating or fearing us for a physical prejudice, we learn to swallow that suffering, resolve to work to form connections with each other, and pray for a more conscious and tolerant future for the coming generations.
We have a long way to go to rid our minds and our tongues, senses and sensibilities, our communities and collective practices of prejudice. And where we make progress among blacks and whites, we both faulter when it comes to accepting unconditionally others with different skin hues, or religions. Assimilation and the potential comfort of living well with each other in our diversity are on one side of reality. Enclaves of separate impoverishment, despair, and mistrust are on the other.
While we have a long way to go, we must also give credit to ourselves for how far we have come. Although we have each and everyone of us felt the sorrow of someone on the street hating us, distrusting us, sneering at us, intimidating or fearing us for a physical prejudice, we learn to swallow that suffering, resolve to work to form connections with each other, and pray for a more conscious and tolerant future for the coming generations.
This is a powerful and moving essay. The region I came from is notorious for its opioid addiction. I know many friends who OD'd or went to jail for pain pills and related crimes. Although our region is very poor and has very bad outcomes compared to national averages, I now see that "white privilege" is more than a catchphrase. Thank you for highlighting injustice and for giving those of us in that category the realization that more privilege = more responsibility.
Id like to point out that while the author does have some points and clearly racism plays a large part in many of the cultural respones we have, unfortunatley, its not entirely black and white. Its a whole different world from the 80s now. Marijuana is medically legal in most of our 50 states now, and recreationally in several. The notion of what addiction actually IS has changed DRASTICALLY, as well as our ability to communicate globally and change perception, for better or for worse, with the rise of the internet. Lastly, even if you put the characteristics of the 2 drugs side by side, opioids are an entirely different drug from stimulants. Opioids, apart from periods of withdrawal, pretty much lay you down flat. Stimulants like crack send you to the moon with energy. We also had no epidemic of legally prescribed opioids in the 80s like we do now. I respect the article, but its really constructed in a bubble and not updated to reflect how the world has changed since the 1980, which was almost 37 years ago.
21
But the POINT is drug addiction cries out for addiction treatment NOT incarceration!
Opioid or stimulant, laying down or running around, TREATMENT is the corrective. Incarceration is not.
And who in their right mind believes heroin addicts don't do violent crime to fund their addiction? Apparently, THAT's the strawman widely accepted in these comments. Convenient too!
Opioid or stimulant, laying down or running around, TREATMENT is the corrective. Incarceration is not.
And who in their right mind believes heroin addicts don't do violent crime to fund their addiction? Apparently, THAT's the strawman widely accepted in these comments. Convenient too!
3
With all of the TV watchers out there, many of them Breaking Bad fans, no one is talking about Crank, aka METH. What a devastating blight on suburban, and rural whites. What a stinking mess it has made of that landscape, and no one cared. Being from a rural and remote region, and having lived in the rural midwest, I saw this devastation first there in the cornfields. Every farmer sent their kids to college, and those kids came home addicted to crank or alcohol. Back home out west in the mountains, I saw this scourge of meth creeping there over the next half decade, and I could not take it any more, so I moved to a region with a lot of cops, and a lot of taxes and regulations. It was the right move for me. I am surrounded by intelligent and very highly educated, but like our governments all along, I have abandoned the white rural and suburban addicted to their fates worse than death until death comes, surely and early. If anyone was tracking this, and not just the Medical Doctors who can count. The deaths in the 40's come from from strokes, and heart attack. Everyone, no matter the skin color, likes drugging and drinking. Only a small percentage just don't do it. I still see nothing about meth, the most destructive drug, and its victims, or willing victims, are almost 100% white.
3
I find this column ignores many of the facts. There were plenty of white and Hispanics addicted to crack and there was massive violence associated with it that wasn't restricted to black neighborhoods, all of New York was dangerous during those days. Murder rates were over 2000, muggings and thefts were common. The late NYT columnist David Carr (a white guy) along with many others have written about their struggles with crack. Attend any AA meeting and you'll find that addiction cuts across all racial boundaries. Another thing that I find is that often there are more resources for blacks (housing, treatment, etc.) because they are often already in the system and have already lost their children. It's the middle class that really suffers, because they have to come up with 25,000 bucks to get into any treatment and insurance often only covers some outpatient treatment. As more and more families have faced addiction within their families, over the past 30 years there is a recognition, that this is now a treatable condition and not a moral failing. Everything does not fit neatly into a black and white box, maybe this is a poor and rich situation. As the middle class loses ground, there is a sense of desperation setting in and this is public health situation, just as gun violence which also tracks with the drug trade.
19
"how much we care about victims" is at the heart of society's response to OUR drug problem. Drugs were tolerable when concentrated in "bad" neighborhoods. We have a long ways to go to reach equality and understanding. More and more scourges get heaped onto these poor communities while people look on shaking their heads. The kids in such neighborhoods are our children too. It is not pie in the sky to develop a comprehensive vision and strategy to lift these communities. It is a matter of leadership and prioritization. Yet poverty is barely a debate topic.
1
In part the difference has to do with crack being associated with heavily armed and violent gangs (Bloods, Crypts, etc.). The stereotype for opiates for whites is out-of-control doctors (or those who directly or indirectly exploit them, like Russ Limbaugh who used his Chicana maid). Neither is 100% valid, but such stereotypes can influence how an issue is framed, like any issue. Now that whites are moving from Rx pills into H & M, the gang issue is starting to reappear, although now it is more likely for the stereotype to be a heavily armed, very violent Mexican/Chicano gang. Be that as it may, there is little doubt that racial prejudice played a material roll in how crack penalties were framed.
2
In Baltimore, we can directly compare the utter lack of constructive response to the ravages of heroin addiction among Black people for decades to the urgency, blue ribbon commissions, and allocations of resources once white suburbanites started dropping dead. The contrast is brutally obvious. This is the United States and the struggle against the nation's original sin and original lie of white supremacy continues.
2
It is very hard to blame the differentiating treatment of African American addicts over 30 years ago to the treatment today of addiction solely on race. The complexity of the situation gets reduced in this way and we loose out in understanding a bigger picture.
I saw the same differential that Mr. Yankah points out and pondered our changing policy. More research is needed. I am 58 and lost two white brilliant friends to heroin. One in 1973 in New York City. The Junkies in my White Blue Collar Working Class Neighborhood nodding on the corner.
Then my dear young friend last year.
Finally, I am not too old to forget COINTELPRO and the allegations and truths presented by the African American community regarding the explosion of Crack. And then there were the actual wars perpetrated with drug money.
Sorry, I won't buy the mere race explanation now. The world is too complicated.
I saw the same differential that Mr. Yankah points out and pondered our changing policy. More research is needed. I am 58 and lost two white brilliant friends to heroin. One in 1973 in New York City. The Junkies in my White Blue Collar Working Class Neighborhood nodding on the corner.
Then my dear young friend last year.
Finally, I am not too old to forget COINTELPRO and the allegations and truths presented by the African American community regarding the explosion of Crack. And then there were the actual wars perpetrated with drug money.
Sorry, I won't buy the mere race explanation now. The world is too complicated.
5
Methinks the author doth protest too much. It absolutely reads as to provoke racial guilt and to suggest that we abandon our white addicts. It is possible that as our world gets smaller, our narrow minded police forces and judicial system learn from other societies' more mature and compassionate dealing with addiction. It is possible that over time we are changing.
6
The move toward rehab vs. jail in "white" suburban and rural communities isn't quite so rosy as the professor speculates. There are a few places getting headlines (Worcester, Mass) for changing tactics but we have a long way to go-- action instead of just attitude. The cold fact is, rehab is usually very expensive (even with health insurance), and any "free" facilities have a long waiting list. The behavior of an opiate addict is different than a crackhead-- a heroin junkie is either half asleep, or sick from withdrawal and trying to steal anything that will buy them another dose. Heroin addicts are joining the countless alcoholics in the ranks of the millions of homeless across the nation, begging for spare change for a fix.
2
The issue with crack was that young blacks, urged on by gangsta rap albums like "Straight Outta Compton," went nuts murdering each other over turf for dealing crack. There were 2,000 homicides per year in 1990-91 in New York City. About 40 cabdrivers were murdered each year in the city.
White hillbilly heroin addicts and the Mexicans who are selling them the dope aren't creating that kind of carnage. Black intellectuals like Ekow N. Yankah ought to start thinking hard about why blacks have such a high propensity for homicide. This isn't just a historical question. It's happening right now. Why, for example, have the Ferguson riots been followed by a 17% increase in homicides in big cities, especially in heavily black cities? In contrast, homicide rates seemed to fall in more Hispanic cities.
White hillbilly heroin addicts and the Mexicans who are selling them the dope aren't creating that kind of carnage. Black intellectuals like Ekow N. Yankah ought to start thinking hard about why blacks have such a high propensity for homicide. This isn't just a historical question. It's happening right now. Why, for example, have the Ferguson riots been followed by a 17% increase in homicides in big cities, especially in heavily black cities? In contrast, homicide rates seemed to fall in more Hispanic cities.
2
Normal, happy people do not abuse alcohol or drugs.
Mere availability does not increase use of mind altering substances, if it did then everyone in America would be an alcoholic because alcohol is available everywhere.
The very first drug law in America was made in the 1800s and the only reason it was made was because opium dens were all run by Chinese immigrants. All drugs were legal then and the rich made money hand over fist in the drug trade.
The rich objected to Chinese immigrants getting rich running opium dens and petitioned the corrupt lawmakers to outlaw the 'dens' ... just the dens, not the opium that they themselves were making a killing off of mind you!
So the very first drug law was racist in its intent, corruption in government makes it so.
Mere availability does not increase use of mind altering substances, if it did then everyone in America would be an alcoholic because alcohol is available everywhere.
The very first drug law in America was made in the 1800s and the only reason it was made was because opium dens were all run by Chinese immigrants. All drugs were legal then and the rich made money hand over fist in the drug trade.
The rich objected to Chinese immigrants getting rich running opium dens and petitioned the corrupt lawmakers to outlaw the 'dens' ... just the dens, not the opium that they themselves were making a killing off of mind you!
So the very first drug law was racist in its intent, corruption in government makes it so.
3
This really is an apples and oranges comparison because the drugs in question are quite different and have different effects. Crack is a stimulant and thus fuels tremendous violence. Heroin is a downer and thus makes people lethargic and not particularly prone to violence. People were frightened of violence then as now. If all of these heroin dealers/addicts were shooting each other, they would be locked up. That just hasn't been the case thus far.
24
Why does it always come down to race? Is it possible that we are dealing with addiction today in a different manner because we now have some real experience with it, know how to treat it, and understand it better, partially BECAUSE of our experience with crack in the 1980's? Of course not, because that's not a racial explanation that makes Republicans look bad.
Is it possible that the heroin problem in the suburbs is starkly different than the 1980's crack epidemic in the inner cities because the former lacks an overwhelming wave of violence and gang activity that destroyed neighborhoods? That this problem went unnoticed for so long precisely for that reason? Never. Because race. And white privilege.
As a white guy who lost his white father to opiate addiction, I find it ridiculous to assert that we have "waited until the problem has a white face to answer with humanity". This problem has always had a white face, and a black one, and a brown, yellow and blue one. The authors confusion between the racial makeup of addiction's victims and our ability as a society to comprehend and solve the problem is self serving and ignorant. Correlation does NOT equal causation...unless we are talking about race of course. We had to crawl before we learned to walk with dealing with this demon. Now we're trying to run, and its only because of white people? Pathetic.
Is it possible that the heroin problem in the suburbs is starkly different than the 1980's crack epidemic in the inner cities because the former lacks an overwhelming wave of violence and gang activity that destroyed neighborhoods? That this problem went unnoticed for so long precisely for that reason? Never. Because race. And white privilege.
As a white guy who lost his white father to opiate addiction, I find it ridiculous to assert that we have "waited until the problem has a white face to answer with humanity". This problem has always had a white face, and a black one, and a brown, yellow and blue one. The authors confusion between the racial makeup of addiction's victims and our ability as a society to comprehend and solve the problem is self serving and ignorant. Correlation does NOT equal causation...unless we are talking about race of course. We had to crawl before we learned to walk with dealing with this demon. Now we're trying to run, and its only because of white people? Pathetic.
5
It is always about race in this country, even if you can't see the connection. My jaw drops every time I hear that the parents of the addicts deserve our sympathy and understanding, and politicians are calling them brave for telling their stories. The addicts that come forward are also considered brave, deserving our sympathy. Now that the nice suburban families are discovering the lack of resources to treat their children, they're calling for treatment not jail, and pushing their representatives to come up with a solution that does not involve jail.
Where is the sympathy and understanding for the inner city mothers trying to get help for their children even now?
Where is the sympathy and understanding for the inner city mothers trying to get help for their children even now?
2
If drug addiction was treated as a chronic public health problem like alcohol and tobacco instead of as a criminal justice issue that would be the proper humane human focused solution. Prohibition has fueled corruption, criminality, violence, mass incarceration and family destruction. Legalization plus regulation, education, quality control, use limitations including age and operation of machinery and taxation would be in the best interest of society.
8
The scourge of violence that emanated from the black crack cocaine epidemic has not accompanied the recent white surge of heroin usage. That is the reason for the differing attitudes, regardless of the race of the addicts. Everything does not need to be viewed through the prism of race, regardless of what many on the left want to push. Trust me, were white heroin gangs shooting up big city neighborhoods, we would be responding to it. Trying to make every conversation about supposed white racism is counterproductive at best, and disingenuous at worst.
8
Could this phenomenon be more of a economic than race issue? It seems to me that these white addicts have families to rob and sponge off of, and enough resources to kill themselves before resorting to terrorizing their neighborhoods. Until massive structural economic reforms (see Bernie Sanders), we can expect more of the same with economically destitute and opiod addicted middle class buying street drugs.
5
The hypocrisy of our country's "war on drugs" has been evident for a long time, and has always been a national disgrace.
I'm a recovering alcoholic - addicted to alcohol, if you prefer - and I got sober in a rehab mostly paid for by my employee-provided health insurance back in 1984. I'm also white. As a matter of record, a fellow patient was African American, addicted to both alcohol and cocaine.
That said, there's money in addiction, and politicians historically have preferred to score points rather than effectively deal with the problem. The "Hamsterdam" episodes of Season 3 on "The Wire" portrayed this very well.
I'm a recovering alcoholic - addicted to alcohol, if you prefer - and I got sober in a rehab mostly paid for by my employee-provided health insurance back in 1984. I'm also white. As a matter of record, a fellow patient was African American, addicted to both alcohol and cocaine.
That said, there's money in addiction, and politicians historically have preferred to score points rather than effectively deal with the problem. The "Hamsterdam" episodes of Season 3 on "The Wire" portrayed this very well.
3
It is a hypocritical and schizophrenic argument to appeal for compassion now the perpetrators hail from Ivy League schools and Upper Manhattan. As long as mandatory sentencing guidelines remain for non violent crack users don't expect compassion for this brand of drug user. Heroin kills far more frequently than crack and is associated with equally appalling criminal acts (prostitution, armed robbery, burglary). Treat them in prison with the countless mass of persons thrown into jail without a thought. We don't need to look at this problem differently, we need to apply the laws equally regardless of who they are and what they look like.
2
The response shouldn't be to act as stupidly with white drug users as we have with black drug users, but stop being stupid, and to use the obvious truth that our drug policies have been based on skin color, to find and address other, similar injustices.
What's to argue with? Excellent essay.
What's to argue with? Excellent essay.
2
In other words, double down on stupid instead of learning from our past and developing compassion?
3
The author is correct. Drug addiction should be treated as an illness for people of all colors and this is how the government needs to handle it. There are not enough treatment centers. Moreover, there is not enough reimbursement for mental health services. While were at it, there should be a huge public health campaign to educate and stigmatize the use of all drugs; just like the one they used for tobacco. Finally, the media and music industry needs to stop glorifying the use of drugs in television shows and songs. Tell it like it is, drug use is for the mentally ill.
3
What ridiculous bloviating. 'Civilization' did not fall with the crack epidemic, it carried on and tried to problem solve as it always does, with what some felt were mixed results, but thankfully crack isn't the scourge it once was.
Perhaps the official response to white heroin addiction has been different than the one to crack because there has been no concomitant explosion in violent crime. I can recall a young black boy of around 8 who was murdered in a black neighborhood in Connecticut in the eighties by a black crack dealer because he had inadvertently witnessed another crime. This silly bit of twaddle leaves out facts like that. Violent crime was at an all time high during the crack epidemic. That colored the official response. No pun intended at all.
Perhaps the official response to white heroin addiction has been different than the one to crack because there has been no concomitant explosion in violent crime. I can recall a young black boy of around 8 who was murdered in a black neighborhood in Connecticut in the eighties by a black crack dealer because he had inadvertently witnessed another crime. This silly bit of twaddle leaves out facts like that. Violent crime was at an all time high during the crack epidemic. That colored the official response. No pun intended at all.
7
What's also missing from this narrative is the relevance of class and not race. You could easily say a meth epidemic hit starting in the 2000's but those individuals were afforded little sympathy because they were largely poor. Now that the lives being ruined are from middle and upper class neighborhoods, we see pleas for clemency. I've always been in favor of decriminalizing drug use. The drug war is a tragic failure of hubris. While there is certainly something too the authors account, I believe it misses an even bigger picture. Drugs were always someone else's problem.
5
Seriously? This opinion is very slanted. The crack epidemic was a disaster, mainly in inner cities. The violence was astounding, and the pleas for help resulted in stricter laws. Those pleas came from the black communities and from black leaders. It was an almost hopeless time.
Fast forward to the 21 century. We have states that have legalized marijuana, unheard of back in the 80s. This wasn't and isn't a white vs. black thing. It follows the sentiment that pot is not addictive and doesn't result in violence. Crack? Not the same. To my knowledge, I don't see the heroin epidemic as resulting in violence in the street. It is said, and wastes the addict while breaking the hearts of family members. But it's increased use, while sad and alarming, is not producing war zones as crack cocaine did.
No comparison. Addiction has black and white faces, and sentiment today wants to try to help those that are non-violent, regardless of color. Something is wrong with the NYTImes these days as we read daily how racist white people are and how blacks are treated unfairly because of newly coined term white privilege. Really sick of the racist attitude and the excuses and victims that are created as a result.
Fast forward to the 21 century. We have states that have legalized marijuana, unheard of back in the 80s. This wasn't and isn't a white vs. black thing. It follows the sentiment that pot is not addictive and doesn't result in violence. Crack? Not the same. To my knowledge, I don't see the heroin epidemic as resulting in violence in the street. It is said, and wastes the addict while breaking the hearts of family members. But it's increased use, while sad and alarming, is not producing war zones as crack cocaine did.
No comparison. Addiction has black and white faces, and sentiment today wants to try to help those that are non-violent, regardless of color. Something is wrong with the NYTImes these days as we read daily how racist white people are and how blacks are treated unfairly because of newly coined term white privilege. Really sick of the racist attitude and the excuses and victims that are created as a result.
7
"If a ten year old in Harlem can find a drug dealer at any time, why can't the FBI?" So asked Dick Gregory at my college in the late 1960s, who argued that the government was complicit in the destruction of Black communities. This question has stayed with me for 50 years, and I still have no answer to it. Now that this plague has entered white communities and has consequently received revived attention as this excellent op-ed points out, it's time to raise it nationwide--and finally answer it in a way that makes it obsolete. Our kids, all of them, deserve a good drug-free life.
5
Because the dealer isn't hiding from the ten year old. The ten year old is his customer base.
1
Recent studies of heroin trafficking belie the conventional wisdom that violence necessarily accompanies the sale of illicit drugs. Unarmed dealers avoid markets controlled by gangs, target users seeking alternatives to expensive pain meds, and provide attentive customer service. Viewing addiction as a public health problem, regardless of race, is ultimately more humane.
3
Law enforcement learned from many of their mistakes during the crack epidemic and have been making changes in their enforcment techniques and procedures over the past dozen years. And the current herion crisis includes all demographics, not just white. While race may play a part, I do not accept the knee-jerk reaction/conclusion that enforcement changes are racist.
Prescription pain medications are now one of the root causes of heroin addiction. This needs to be addressed.
Also, racial stereotyping of addiction is not new. The 19th century temperance movements and eventually prohibition had the stereotypical drunk Irish male as its poster child.
Prescription pain medications are now one of the root causes of heroin addiction. This needs to be addressed.
Also, racial stereotyping of addiction is not new. The 19th century temperance movements and eventually prohibition had the stereotypical drunk Irish male as its poster child.
3
Mr. Yankah is incorrect that black and white addiction have always been treated differently.
I was a medical student in the late 1970s and rotated through a Veterans Administration hospital. We saw many patients, both black and white, who had health problems related to heroin use that began during service in Vietnam. There was no difference based on race between the treatments offered them.
I was a medical student in the late 1970s and rotated through a Veterans Administration hospital. We saw many patients, both black and white, who had health problems related to heroin use that began during service in Vietnam. There was no difference based on race between the treatments offered them.
5
Our society's attitudes about incarcerating those who commit victimless crimes, such as drug use, has become more focused on treatment and less on punishment.
To suggest that these changes, however, has been caused by a shift in the race of addicts is supported by any nothing but circumstantial facts, and those facts are weak. No one denies that black addicts suffered under the old attitudes, but so did whites addicts. Whites have always had drug problems.
Our attitudes have evolved. But to imply, like this articles does, that race has driven this evolution does little but feed the aging narrative of black victimhood. I say, let's move on.
To suggest that these changes, however, has been caused by a shift in the race of addicts is supported by any nothing but circumstantial facts, and those facts are weak. No one denies that black addicts suffered under the old attitudes, but so did whites addicts. Whites have always had drug problems.
Our attitudes have evolved. But to imply, like this articles does, that race has driven this evolution does little but feed the aging narrative of black victimhood. I say, let's move on.
3
When holding a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Everything comes in cycles, the economy, the NY Mets, the length of skirts, the popularity of cupcakes and Penny loafers. Addiction is no different. We are now in an era of social acceptance and openness, which leads to a more lax attitude to drug offences and addiction. Marijuana is being (somewhat) legalized all across the country. The fact that the drug dejour, Heroin, which is traditionally more or a "white" drug, is, in my opinion, just coincidence, and not the reason whites are getting off easier today than during the crack epidemic, which coincided with the more conservative Reagan era.
However, those race advocates with a political agenda can point to these two trends and see causality.
Everything comes in cycles, the economy, the NY Mets, the length of skirts, the popularity of cupcakes and Penny loafers. Addiction is no different. We are now in an era of social acceptance and openness, which leads to a more lax attitude to drug offences and addiction. Marijuana is being (somewhat) legalized all across the country. The fact that the drug dejour, Heroin, which is traditionally more or a "white" drug, is, in my opinion, just coincidence, and not the reason whites are getting off easier today than during the crack epidemic, which coincided with the more conservative Reagan era.
However, those race advocates with a political agenda can point to these two trends and see causality.
15
It seems to me that it has become quite easy to give an anecdotal response to a problem that is much deeper or complex than 1500 words will afford. While I can appreciate this piece for scratching the surface of the double standard that exists in the U.S. as it relates to black and white drug use, and the differing assessment and penalties imposed, based on color, makes the problem far more complicated. Yes, the root cause is racism, however, the complexities of capitalism cannot be explained within any column of any newspaper. I would suggest that each commentator and the author take a closer look at what a scholar has to say on the subject matter. I highly recommend, "The New Jim Crow:Mass Incarceration in the age of Colorblindness." by Michelle Alexander. There is nothing like real evidence to support any warrant or claim. Of course, if the truth makes one uncomfortable, it might be best to avoid the evidence. http://newjimcrow.com/
1
While I agree wholeheartedly that racism is one reason that attitudes are changing to drug abuse, there are two points that I think the author is missing. One is that African American communities have been working for 30 years to show that the war on drugs doesn't make sense and this newer attitude toward drug abuse is in part, the outcome of that advocacy.
The second is that the almost totally white organization, AA, has had a hold on drug treatment since the 1930s. I know that AA helps a lot of people, but it is, in essence a support group designed 80 years ago and while support groups help some people, they are not treatment. There has been a long fought battle to bring science into treatment, including medicines and evidence-based treatments like CBT. When we only had support groups, we blamed people who they didn't work for as deficient. Now we can do what happens with every other disorder, switch treatments if one doesn't work for you.
The second is that the almost totally white organization, AA, has had a hold on drug treatment since the 1930s. I know that AA helps a lot of people, but it is, in essence a support group designed 80 years ago and while support groups help some people, they are not treatment. There has been a long fought battle to bring science into treatment, including medicines and evidence-based treatments like CBT. When we only had support groups, we blamed people who they didn't work for as deficient. Now we can do what happens with every other disorder, switch treatments if one doesn't work for you.
1
Along with making everything else easier, money makes drug addiction easier as well. The new drug addicts in the white middle class have a lot of ways to get their drugs without turning to violence - begging (well-off) family members for extra cash, using insurance to get prescription pills from doctors, etc. This means that the new wave of addiction simply isn't accompanied by the violent gang crime that we saw in the 80s. Indeed, despite levels of drug use basically heretofore unknown, violent crime is also at its lowest level in decades around the country, including in New York. I don't think our drug laws have been fair or good for the black community, and I think there is clear racial bias in policing. But the latest responses to the drug epidemic I think are much more linked to the fact that it's mainly middle class nonviolent people involved in drugs, rather than racism.
1
Our Author fails to take into account the nature of behavior associated with the two drugs: heroin and crack cocaine. Heroin users are because of their drug of choice, placid and tranquil compared to crack users.
Just ask any cop, fireman, or ER worker. The cases of violence involving assaults and bodily injuries are far more often associated with crack, coke, and meth than any other drugs. Folks "on the nod" don't get too worked up.
. Americans can much more easily see heroin addiction as an illness that merits an understanding of a need for treatment and rehab simply because usually the addict had no drive, no ambition, no desire to strive for the American work ethic ergo they must be ill or out of their right minds, right?
On the other hand, crack users I have known were some of the most active and effective laborers I have ever seen. Many will work very hard days to get "rock" money. One simply could not let them inside in any way or they would cleverly find a way to rip their employers off.
Moreover, crack users are enhanced in their capacity to deceive and trick their victims because the user stays on top of his/her game with a concealed game plan to take advantage of anyone and everyone all the time. By comparison heroin users are "relatively" easily made and readily identified and a whole lot easier to feel sorry for.
Look at the history. Crack violence swept the inner cities and black communities took the hit. No similar splash and sensation with smack epidemic.
Just ask any cop, fireman, or ER worker. The cases of violence involving assaults and bodily injuries are far more often associated with crack, coke, and meth than any other drugs. Folks "on the nod" don't get too worked up.
. Americans can much more easily see heroin addiction as an illness that merits an understanding of a need for treatment and rehab simply because usually the addict had no drive, no ambition, no desire to strive for the American work ethic ergo they must be ill or out of their right minds, right?
On the other hand, crack users I have known were some of the most active and effective laborers I have ever seen. Many will work very hard days to get "rock" money. One simply could not let them inside in any way or they would cleverly find a way to rip their employers off.
Moreover, crack users are enhanced in their capacity to deceive and trick their victims because the user stays on top of his/her game with a concealed game plan to take advantage of anyone and everyone all the time. By comparison heroin users are "relatively" easily made and readily identified and a whole lot easier to feel sorry for.
Look at the history. Crack violence swept the inner cities and black communities took the hit. No similar splash and sensation with smack epidemic.
2
I think this op-ed makes compelling points but I feel paints too simple, and racial, picture. For at least several years Republican politicians have been among those leading the way in sentencing reform. Rick Perry for one has spoken passionately on the subject. Incarceration small time non-violent offenders (e.g. those charged with possession) has proven ineffective and costly. Across the country states and communities are looking for other ways to rehabilitate small time drug offenders. These reforms hopefully have positively impacted inner city neighborhoods where Incarceration rates are so high.
10
Rick Perry has responded to the sentiment underlying the article: "now it's white kids? Must be a health problem!!" He and his ilk have been behind the curve on treatment. I note that the error included Dems.
1
Oakland California, 1980, Felix Mitchell and Micky Moore, turned East Oakland and West Oakland into open war zones where young Black men and women, made the crack, distributed the crack, protected the crack business and stole and robbed for the next pipe. The victims were mostly Black. Thousands died. Violence and bullets coming thru the windows forced people in neighborhoods all over Oakland to sleep on the floor. Disproportionate sentencing was applied. Crack was distributed at the last rung of the ladder of cocaine distribution where most of the violence occurred. That meant the folks in the housing projects. The police and society responded when leaders from all communities called for mandatory sentences to stop the violence associated with crack distribution. The same happens with gangs and the use of firearms in the commission of violent crimes. If drug use and addictions did not bring violence and a drop in real estate prices no one would care. How much addiction do you think is in The Sea Ranch, Beverly Hills, Pacific Heights, Silicon Valley? In those communities, the addicts can afford their addictions. Those exclusive communities can order their drugs by telephone and have them delivered by courier service. Those drug deaths happen in the bathtub, bedroom and pool and Not in the streets, playgrounds and outside teaming nite-clubs.
3
In the 1980s, Congress knew that "crack" was for African Americans but "crank" and heroin were reserved for White Americans. Congress chose a War On Drugs and 30 - 40 years of racial profiling. The results are predictable because the results are the same.
Now that we have almost run out of Black Men to profile, arrest and imprison, we turn our compassion switch to "on" and find out that "crank" and heroin are decimating Whites. Suddenly the talk is about legalizing marijuana, getting meth and heroin users treatment and starting "fresh-start" community drug diversion programs coupled with alternative sentencing.
Where was all of this out-of-the-box thinking in the 1980s and 1990s? Are the prisons too full of young Black Males with no futures that we can't build more? And when only Whites are left on the streets to racially profile will we finally get a consensus about passing the End Racial Profiling Act?
Now that we have almost run out of Black Men to profile, arrest and imprison, we turn our compassion switch to "on" and find out that "crank" and heroin are decimating Whites. Suddenly the talk is about legalizing marijuana, getting meth and heroin users treatment and starting "fresh-start" community drug diversion programs coupled with alternative sentencing.
Where was all of this out-of-the-box thinking in the 1980s and 1990s? Are the prisons too full of young Black Males with no futures that we can't build more? And when only Whites are left on the streets to racially profile will we finally get a consensus about passing the End Racial Profiling Act?
2
Even John Kasich mentioned this a few weeks ago in New Hampshire, when the Republican candidates were at a forum on drug addiction. However, let me tell you about my sister, a white drug addict, who was hooked on prescription drugs since the 1960s. She was quite clever, and, I believe, could have won an Academy Award for best actress under the influence of drugs for her ability to get drugs from physicians. She is dead now--died at the age of 51, ten years ago, from a leukemia that would have been imminently treatable had she not ravaged her body with drugs. She was often stopped by police while driving under the influence; she would bat her eyelashes and look soulfully at the officer with her gorgeous blue eyes and tell him that she had a migraine, and that is why she was driving erratically. They would often drive her home, because she was a white housewife! She was breaking into people's homes after they had surgery and were going to their follow-up doctor's appointments, raiding their medicine cabinets. She certainly would have been thrown in jail, had she been black. I tried to warn the police about her. They laughed at me. This broke our whole family apart, especially her children, who were born with serious intellectual problems from having been born to a mother who took drugs while pregnant. Our mother was devastated from the many tried and failed rehab stints. My sister would surely have spent much of her life in prison if she had been black. I'm sure of it.
59
Yes the handling of the drug epidemics that have swept this country from the 60s onward have been heavy-handed; and now a resurging Heroin epidemic is sweeping the country. Getting certain segments of our population to even admit there is a problem has delayed addressing it. The two immediate concerns is (1) to redress the cruel and harsh sentences of the recent past (2) reducing the flow of cheap Heroin. Taking these two steps only treats the symptoms of greater more profound problems that lead to addiction in the first place. We had better get a grip on the fact that the concentration of wealth in the hands of the uber rich and decimation of the middle class has a lot to do with the drug epidemics we are experiencing. Large segments of our population have lost hope. Just like "last hired - first fired" hits the most vulnerable first, the concentration of wealth impacted those that never made it into the middle class first, then the newly middle class and is now decimating those who have been middle class for generations. Repetitive tax cuts have gutted state support of public colleges and universities. The greed of the uber rich to maximize profits have shipped millions of manufacturing jobs overseas and enabled the sequestering of profits in offshore tax free havens. And it goes on. Now the Citizens United ruling allows the uber rich to pump billions into political campaigns in order to get the most affected to vote against their own self interest. Vote smart!
2
The different reaction we see from white society to increasingly widespread white drug addiction is no different than the different reaction we saw to widespread white unemployment during the great recession. Prior to the great recession, black unemployment had been twice white unemployment for decades and the explanation routinely offered from white society was that those unemployed blacks simply didn't want to work. Anyone who really wanted to work could find a job, they insisted. Enter the recession. Suddenly, millions of whites couldn't find work for extended periods. The reaction? Sympathy. Understanding. A determination that the government should do something to help these otherwise virtuous people who were unemployed through "no fault of their own."
Some have claimed that the violence that attended the crack epidemic explains part of the different reaction, but the flaw in this claim is that it doesn't explain the zeal with which police, prosecutors and judges locked up non-violent black addicts whose only crime was possession.
The American racial double standard laid bare by the sympathetic response to widespread white addiction has always been part of the way that white America has operated. Until non-whites collectively exercise sufficient political power to generate a different response from government, it always will be.
Some have claimed that the violence that attended the crack epidemic explains part of the different reaction, but the flaw in this claim is that it doesn't explain the zeal with which police, prosecutors and judges locked up non-violent black addicts whose only crime was possession.
The American racial double standard laid bare by the sympathetic response to widespread white addiction has always been part of the way that white America has operated. Until non-whites collectively exercise sufficient political power to generate a different response from government, it always will be.
52
Revisionist history and it's shocking that the NYT would publish this when its archives are full of articles they wrote in the 1980's detailing how horrible the crack epidemic was & how the black & Hispanic community felt powerless in the face of gun-toting & pitbull-wielding crack dealers who took over the streets & parks. It was the community who wanted more cops & more arrests to address what was a tidal wave of crime, death, and disorder that made daily life a horror.
Prof. Yankah should go to Bushwick and say a prayer for the soul of Maria Hernandez, who now has a City park named after her there. She and her husband tried to fight the crack dealers, she was shot dead for her troubles.
Crack made people hyper to the max while heroin mellowed people out. During the crack epidemic the crime stats flipped and assaults went up while burglaries went down. Heroin addicts had the capacity to plan a burglary whereas a crack addict became so insane that they totally lacked the capacity to plan anything--they'd attack anybody walking down the street just to get a few dollars or things to sell.
The response to the crack epidemic wasn't racist. It was a response to a massive crisis that was making daily life in these communities a living hell.
Prof. Yankah should go to Bushwick and say a prayer for the soul of Maria Hernandez, who now has a City park named after her there. She and her husband tried to fight the crack dealers, she was shot dead for her troubles.
Crack made people hyper to the max while heroin mellowed people out. During the crack epidemic the crime stats flipped and assaults went up while burglaries went down. Heroin addicts had the capacity to plan a burglary whereas a crack addict became so insane that they totally lacked the capacity to plan anything--they'd attack anybody walking down the street just to get a few dollars or things to sell.
The response to the crack epidemic wasn't racist. It was a response to a massive crisis that was making daily life in these communities a living hell.
33
Heroin dealers and addicts needing a fix are also violent - visit the communities most affected by this and you'll see.
understanding is more likely to lead to a long term solution than fear.
and having lived in both majority black and majority white communities with high levels of drug usage and crime, I've seen what Prof Yankah notes about racism influencing how the community and police respond to drug dealing and use.
and I'm a white woman, 50 to 60 yrs old
understanding is more likely to lead to a long term solution than fear.
and having lived in both majority black and majority white communities with high levels of drug usage and crime, I've seen what Prof Yankah notes about racism influencing how the community and police respond to drug dealing and use.
and I'm a white woman, 50 to 60 yrs old
3
I agree with you (that things have changed now that it is white folks)....but I need to point out that it is RICH white folks. Working class and poorer white folks kids were dying since the 70's. And - the rich white folks cannot deal with the shame, and so it has become something that needs to be accepted in some way. In saying that, God bless everyone and every family who has this to suffer through.
6
Because socioeconomic class is a completely taboo subject for the NYT - it will cite the experience of a white, extremely affluent person, contrast it with the experience of a minority with an extremely disadvantaged background, and then indicate that the disparate situations are attributable to "white privilege."
1
Mr. Yankah, Perhaps the middle aged, white woman crossed the street to get to the market over there. To assume that she crossed the street because you had 'short dreadlocks' alone is ridiculous.
Maybe she had a very good reason to cross the street. Recently robbed? Raped? You don't know this person or her history. Maybe she has a good, solid reason. Ever think of that? None the less, many woman who happen to be alone and isolated when walking in the city, cross the street when ANY many is approaching. It's called street smarts.
Maybe she had a very good reason to cross the street. Recently robbed? Raped? You don't know this person or her history. Maybe she has a good, solid reason. Ever think of that? None the less, many woman who happen to be alone and isolated when walking in the city, cross the street when ANY many is approaching. It's called street smarts.
25
Great Article!
4
Stop already with all the articles about racism, racism here there and everywhere. THis obsession with seeing racism in everything is unhealthy, and it's fatiguing.
14
Maybe articles about racism will end when racism stops. Until the unequal treatment ends, people will comment on it and call out whatever bias it represents - racism, sexism, ageism, or any other term that fits.
2
Oh, sweet, dear Oakbranch. Racism is not an obsession; racism is real. Racism is here, there and sometimes everywhere. Racism is unhealthy, and it is fatiguing. Step One is admitting there is a problem.
1
Saying that drug addiction affects people no matter your race would not be divisive enough so you wont read that here! Its all about how harsh the law was on minorities selling crack and how soft and caring they are now for junkies....makes for a nice article but its not that way in real life!
11
So . . . you missed the point entirely--i.e., that drug addiction affects all races (like you said), so why were (and are) black people punished for it disproportionately? And meanwhile, the federal sentencing guidelines for crack still prescribe a sentence that's a multiple of plain ol' cocaine.
Now let's talk about "real life," rather than a whitewashed version of it.
Now let's talk about "real life," rather than a whitewashed version of it.
2
"And always those desperate, cracked lips." Huh? Crack is not associated with "cracked lips." The product is referred to as "crack" because of the cracking noise it makes when it is broken from a sheet of hard material to smaller pieces for sale.
7
The author is likely referring to the cracks that develop in the lips of long term users as a result of a poor nutrition, dehydration and poor hygiene. I doubt he is arguing that cracked lips are the origin of the term "crack".
1
Nah, it's for the crackling sound it makes when it is smoked.
Facts no longer matter at the race obsessed Times. It is only important how people feel. Mr. Yankah, tells us how black people feel. He doesn't tell us how he knows how they feel. Scientific polling, on-line surveys, did he personally interview a cross-section of the African American community, talk with friends and neighbors, read the complete works of Ta-Nehisi Coates or just look at his computer screen yesterday and decide he knew how black America felt, they felt the same way he did.
He certainly knows how to ignore any history or fact that gets in the way of his feelings, that's for sure. But facts don't matter anymore do they. Call it Liberal truthiness.
He certainly knows how to ignore any history or fact that gets in the way of his feelings, that's for sure. But facts don't matter anymore do they. Call it Liberal truthiness.
12
It is indeed sad that the NYT has become the media outlet for the regressive left. This is a movement that begins with a politically correct conclusion and "reasons" backward in supposed and tortured justification. Depressing that all these highly intelligent young people have been conscripted into an American Red Guard.
1
You will never understand black people who live and exp. this by analyzing a poll. I can say because I'm from where polls don't come. Nobody cares about a poll. People need jobs and education. But first we have to instill hope. Because we see no regard for our plight nor any recognition for it. And yet we overcome every obstacle only to hear someone tell you no because of your past behavior.
1
“Addictions,” is not a Black and/or White issue! Nor is it new.
It’s about people who have names; not just labels or diagnoses. It’s about families, neighbors, neighborhoods and communities. It’s about US; our WE-THEY toxic, myopic beliefs and behaviors.
It’s about the reality of wordless, uncertainties and unpredictabilities as selected “drugs” are empowered and selected peoples of all colors, shapes, sizes and BEINGS are disempowered. Not all. Some. “Addictions,” is about unasked questions and stakeholder answers of unhelpful certitudes. “Addictions,” is about enabling both many barriers to exist, as well as much fewer bridges,for needed, changes; locally to globally. “Addictions,” can be about opportunities taken, as well as created, by each of US, separately and together, to create, as best as PEOPLE can, “making a difference.”
Not politicized words. Not academic concepts. WORDS are inadequate to describe and to express interacting, mutually-helping and caring people, in our various daily roles, who choose to make and to maintain much needed changes in our inner as well as outer social selves. Our families, social networks, communities; to our inner and outer worlds.
WE, as an inclusive US, need to go beyond words, and run-on-sentences. .“Crack” was just a “crevice” when “addiction” immigrated to the USA.
“Addictions,” is not a Black and White issue!
It’s about people who have names; not just labels or diagnoses. It’s about families, neighbors, neighborhoods and communities. It’s about US; our WE-THEY toxic, myopic beliefs and behaviors.
It’s about the reality of wordless, uncertainties and unpredictabilities as selected “drugs” are empowered and selected peoples of all colors, shapes, sizes and BEINGS are disempowered. Not all. Some. “Addictions,” is about unasked questions and stakeholder answers of unhelpful certitudes. “Addictions,” is about enabling both many barriers to exist, as well as much fewer bridges,for needed, changes; locally to globally. “Addictions,” can be about opportunities taken, as well as created, by each of US, separately and together, to create, as best as PEOPLE can, “making a difference.”
Not politicized words. Not academic concepts. WORDS are inadequate to describe and to express interacting, mutually-helping and caring people, in our various daily roles, who choose to make and to maintain much needed changes in our inner as well as outer social selves. Our families, social networks, communities; to our inner and outer worlds.
WE, as an inclusive US, need to go beyond words, and run-on-sentences. .“Crack” was just a “crevice” when “addiction” immigrated to the USA.
“Addictions,” is not a Black and White issue!
5
Why does the NYT’s continue to publish articles and opinion pieces that are so openly divisive.
I remember the “crack” years in the 1980’s when I was working in Brooklyn. It wasn’t about people ignoring those dying from overdoses. It was about a homicide count of over 2,000 per year. It was about young men in the drug trade killing each other with high powered weapons. Is that the problem we are talking about today in the so called “white” community?
I remember being in Montana on vacation over 15 years ago. Reading the local paper, you read about the meth epidemic which was claiming “white” lives. This problem of addiction has been going on in white rural America for a very long time. It is only when the media decided to start covering the heroin problem in relatively well off areas, like Long Island, that the story became national news.
To spend so much time painting issues as “black” and “white”, you lose a good part of your audience who just sees you pushing your own racist agenda.
I remember the “crack” years in the 1980’s when I was working in Brooklyn. It wasn’t about people ignoring those dying from overdoses. It was about a homicide count of over 2,000 per year. It was about young men in the drug trade killing each other with high powered weapons. Is that the problem we are talking about today in the so called “white” community?
I remember being in Montana on vacation over 15 years ago. Reading the local paper, you read about the meth epidemic which was claiming “white” lives. This problem of addiction has been going on in white rural America for a very long time. It is only when the media decided to start covering the heroin problem in relatively well off areas, like Long Island, that the story became national news.
To spend so much time painting issues as “black” and “white”, you lose a good part of your audience who just sees you pushing your own racist agenda.
25
YES! Finally someone in the media is talking about this! I have been shocked over the treatment of white addicts in this country over the last several years. If this was the black community - wow - would it be a whole different ball game. Thank you NYT!
5
@Kate - do you know any addicts - of any race?
I'm just curious because IMO the people who opine about how well white addicts are being treated as opposed to non-white addicts, usually don't have any first-hand experience with them at all.
I'm just curious because IMO the people who opine about how well white addicts are being treated as opposed to non-white addicts, usually don't have any first-hand experience with them at all.
1
Until the “Crack Epidemic” of the 1980s and 1990s, drug addiction had a “white face.” In 1955, Frank Sinatra played a heroin-addicted jazz drummer in “The Man with the Golden Arm.” Marijuana was the drug of choice for Captain American (Peter Fonda) and Billy (Dennis Hopper, the hippie bikers of 1968’s “Easy Rider,” but the film starts out with the two selling a couple of kilos of cocaine they have smuggled from Mexico to Los Angeles. In 1971’s critically acclaimed “The Panic in Needle Park,” Al Pacino played a heroin addict who addicts his girlfriend and then persuades her to work as a prostitute to support their habit. The face of drug addiction didn’t turn black until black civic leaders complained, whit good cause, that police were ignoring drug trafficking in black neighborhoods, so police began cracking down on drug trafficking in black neighborhoods. But of course, it has never been against the law to be a drug addict. It is against the law to traffic or possess drugs, but federal data show that the vast majority (99.8 percent) of Federal prisoners sentenced for drug offenses were incarcerated for drug trafficking,” not for possession.
12
Thank you, Professor Yankah.
I am astounded (but not really) at the one dimensional thinking and complete blindness that so many readers exhibit in their comments. Has it ever occurred to any of them that all these issues are connected? That institutionalized racism could connect substance abuse AND violence AND poverty AND substandard housing AND poor education AND health disparities AND the list could go on and on?
"Stop whining, it happened to us too!" is also not a compelling argument. For once, please listen. Please attempt to hear a side that you may never experience or fully understand. Stop being defensive. Stop minimizing. Stop finger pointing. Just listen.
I am astounded (but not really) at the one dimensional thinking and complete blindness that so many readers exhibit in their comments. Has it ever occurred to any of them that all these issues are connected? That institutionalized racism could connect substance abuse AND violence AND poverty AND substandard housing AND poor education AND health disparities AND the list could go on and on?
"Stop whining, it happened to us too!" is also not a compelling argument. For once, please listen. Please attempt to hear a side that you may never experience or fully understand. Stop being defensive. Stop minimizing. Stop finger pointing. Just listen.
7
Stop whining - everything is NOT about race!
3
Well said! Thank you.
Although it is a problem, Heroine; Was not directly / aggressively pushed into white communities as Crack Cocaine was targeted to Black communities. (CIA ) ( Gary Webb )Penalties and policing have not gotten to the stages that were placed on Black communities.
Actually there have been some documentaries about OxyContin that suggest the exact opposite of your comment, that there opiates were aggressively promoted by Purdu Pharma and manufacturers in areas where they were assured of a good market for them - like working class municipalities where alot of the population performed manual labor.
1
You're sadly mistaken. I've worked in emergency medicine since the mid-80s, and all of these drug epidemics were around long before it became fashionable to write about them, wring hands about them, declare war on them. Drug addiction has been a scourge in our country since the sixties; if you want to blame anyone, blame my generation who popularized recreational drugs back then.
The current mantras about treatment and regarding drug addiction as a disease instead of a criminal problem aren't new; they are more popular now, as the terrible numbers stare us in the face, but they are not new. The idea that we could imprison our way out of the drug problem was stupid, naive, and wrong altogether, but it is less about racism than it is about stupidity.
I see more patients addicted to opiates than I do addicted to cocaine and amphetamines, but all of those addictions are still thriving- as are the ones to tobacco, alcohol, and benzodiazepines. They are all out there, they all get everybody, and they will be with us long after I am gone from medicine and this mortal coil as well. The solution lies in getting people NOT to try them at all in the first place; that, and in trying to salvage those enslaved by addiction. Those people come in all colors, genders, and political persuasions.
Any GOP presidential candidate who appears sympathetic to addicts now will change his or her tune once elected to the Oval Office. It will be "tough on crime time" again. Just watch.
The current mantras about treatment and regarding drug addiction as a disease instead of a criminal problem aren't new; they are more popular now, as the terrible numbers stare us in the face, but they are not new. The idea that we could imprison our way out of the drug problem was stupid, naive, and wrong altogether, but it is less about racism than it is about stupidity.
I see more patients addicted to opiates than I do addicted to cocaine and amphetamines, but all of those addictions are still thriving- as are the ones to tobacco, alcohol, and benzodiazepines. They are all out there, they all get everybody, and they will be with us long after I am gone from medicine and this mortal coil as well. The solution lies in getting people NOT to try them at all in the first place; that, and in trying to salvage those enslaved by addiction. Those people come in all colors, genders, and political persuasions.
Any GOP presidential candidate who appears sympathetic to addicts now will change his or her tune once elected to the Oval Office. It will be "tough on crime time" again. Just watch.
10
"Jack," a contributor to this comments thread, provides a sanctimonious critique of Yankah as just another liberal academic revisionist preaching from an ivory tower. To support his critique "Jack" cites African American Charles Rangel's support for harsh policies as evidence that black communities wanted to be occupied by militarized police and have vast numbers of young people imprisoned. "Jack" describes these policies as "harsh sentencing for drug dealers." What "Jack" either ignores or is unaware of is the critical distinction in drug policy between "dealers" and "users." While many would support stiff sentences for dealers, many law enforcement officials and public health professionals recommend that users possessing tiny amounts of drugs or just paraphernalia should receive therapy, not 10-year prison sentences. This did not happen during the crack epidemic. Law makers treated all crack users as one dangerous group to be incarcerated for long periods of time and nothing else. "Jack" also ignores larger economic and political forces that perpetuated and benefited from the epidemic such as the private prison industry. Swelling arrest rolls and long sentences created a growing demand for prison development. Prison contractors were only too eager to take public money to make private profits by building more prisons and employing lobbyists to ensure that prisons and punishment remained to goals of most anti-drug policies.
4
Aligning opioid addiction disease and crime is the problem - and the modern-day paradigm shift. As the professor rightly writes, opioid addiction is an"ill-defined disease" that medicine continues to explore and expand definitions and medical treatments.
Rather than excoriating them, we should be congratulating our police leaders for recognizing that addiction is a CHRONIC disease triggered by adverse chemical reactions. Throwing sick people into jail doesn't treat the problem; it only moves it to a grossly inappropriate and ineffective venue that harms patients and costs taxpayers.
But, here's where we are continuing to fail. Rather than having the courage to understand the chronic nature of addiction disease, we call patients "addicts" and we believe (crazily, it turns out) that patients can be "cured" of their disease by one-time stints in "rehab." Who in their right mind thinks we can "cure" diabetes or hypertension with a single intervention? It is a lifelong commitment to disease management, and everyone in the family should understand its incurable nature and support consistent medical treatment.
Let's change the way we talk about addiction disease. Instead of addicts, they are patients. Instead of in recovery, they're in remission. Instead of rehab, they receive treatment and medical care. Not properly altering our language is creating confusion about how to best deal with drug-induced disease. By calling addiction disease what it is, we can control it.
Rather than excoriating them, we should be congratulating our police leaders for recognizing that addiction is a CHRONIC disease triggered by adverse chemical reactions. Throwing sick people into jail doesn't treat the problem; it only moves it to a grossly inappropriate and ineffective venue that harms patients and costs taxpayers.
But, here's where we are continuing to fail. Rather than having the courage to understand the chronic nature of addiction disease, we call patients "addicts" and we believe (crazily, it turns out) that patients can be "cured" of their disease by one-time stints in "rehab." Who in their right mind thinks we can "cure" diabetes or hypertension with a single intervention? It is a lifelong commitment to disease management, and everyone in the family should understand its incurable nature and support consistent medical treatment.
Let's change the way we talk about addiction disease. Instead of addicts, they are patients. Instead of in recovery, they're in remission. Instead of rehab, they receive treatment and medical care. Not properly altering our language is creating confusion about how to best deal with drug-induced disease. By calling addiction disease what it is, we can control it.
2
The pharmaceutical companies are the creators of addicts. They are the ones who introduced America to dope. They sell the most dope now. They sell crack too. Just a different name in diff. form. They are addicted to the revenue. So no mercy for the invisible consumers. If you can control pharma we can control drug disease.
1
I'm not surprised at the level of denial many of these comments. This article simply points out what everyone already knows; drug addiction in the black community was treated as a pathology of crime and personal irresponsibility. Drug addiction in the white community is now properly addressed as a public health crisis.
There are rems of data that support this simple observation. So why is it so hard to accept the fact that we as a society have shaped public policy toward similarly situated people in such a dissimilar way? When you control for other factors the inescapable conclusion is that race shaped our war on drugs and it shapes our new more enlightened response to heroin addiction.
There are numerous studies that show that unconscious racial bias affects us all--black, white and other. But the data also shows that the degree to which we're affected and the degree to which our behavior changes because of bias is greater among whites than blacks. This is what the science tells us and it explains at least in part why we have just racially differentiated policies toward addiction.
But the question is what do we do with this knowledge of who we are? The science also says that with greater awareness one can overcome unconscious racial bias and gradually ween its impact from our behavior. But from the tone of some comments there seems to be great resistance to even an open mind and acceptance of science to explain the impact of race on public policy. I hope that I'm wrong.
There are rems of data that support this simple observation. So why is it so hard to accept the fact that we as a society have shaped public policy toward similarly situated people in such a dissimilar way? When you control for other factors the inescapable conclusion is that race shaped our war on drugs and it shapes our new more enlightened response to heroin addiction.
There are numerous studies that show that unconscious racial bias affects us all--black, white and other. But the data also shows that the degree to which we're affected and the degree to which our behavior changes because of bias is greater among whites than blacks. This is what the science tells us and it explains at least in part why we have just racially differentiated policies toward addiction.
But the question is what do we do with this knowledge of who we are? The science also says that with greater awareness one can overcome unconscious racial bias and gradually ween its impact from our behavior. But from the tone of some comments there seems to be great resistance to even an open mind and acceptance of science to explain the impact of race on public policy. I hope that I'm wrong.
89
I hope so too, but based on what I'm reading we as a nation still have a long, long way to go before we admit black Americans as equal citizens of equal worth.
1
As usual, the critical race theory types have found the bogeyman of racism and oppression, and the whining chorus has begun.
The drug epidemic wrecking our nation has taken another unfortunate turn, this time introducing weak, pill-addicted whites into the death spiral of heroin addiction. Our society is not welcoming this development, nor are we excusing it because many of the new addicts are white. Rather, two unacceptable streams in social policy are coming together to produce a softening on drug sentencing.
On the one hand, despite the way drug use has devastated black communities, Black politicians advocate drug decriminalization as a way of keeping more black Americans eligible to vote for them. They argue that strict drug sentencing is a sinister plot to disenfranchise the black community. On the other hand, conservative whites have simply grown weary of the costs of prosecuting and jailing such large populations. These costs are rising exponentially as liberal judges order states to make education, healthcare, and recreation part of the prison experience.
The unanswered question in all of this is what our communities will look like once we empty the jails of drug criminals and promise newly un-incarcerated addicts a punishment-free life of treatment and economic support. It is doubtful that these people -- white or black -- will be model citizens, and all of this will become just another cost the productive part of our society must shoulder. Sounds Great!
The drug epidemic wrecking our nation has taken another unfortunate turn, this time introducing weak, pill-addicted whites into the death spiral of heroin addiction. Our society is not welcoming this development, nor are we excusing it because many of the new addicts are white. Rather, two unacceptable streams in social policy are coming together to produce a softening on drug sentencing.
On the one hand, despite the way drug use has devastated black communities, Black politicians advocate drug decriminalization as a way of keeping more black Americans eligible to vote for them. They argue that strict drug sentencing is a sinister plot to disenfranchise the black community. On the other hand, conservative whites have simply grown weary of the costs of prosecuting and jailing such large populations. These costs are rising exponentially as liberal judges order states to make education, healthcare, and recreation part of the prison experience.
The unanswered question in all of this is what our communities will look like once we empty the jails of drug criminals and promise newly un-incarcerated addicts a punishment-free life of treatment and economic support. It is doubtful that these people -- white or black -- will be model citizens, and all of this will become just another cost the productive part of our society must shoulder. Sounds Great!
5
I grew up in NYC, during the 1980s and 1990s, and i never forgot the Iran Contra drugs for arms and North speaking before Congress. Our Government was bring cocaine into America, and just about that time, coincidentally crack cocaine explode in the black community. I remember the Rockefeller drug laws and mandatory sentencing where many Blacks and Hispanics were sent away for most of their lives. I remember many minority parents losing their kids instead of getting treatment. Now we have the same epidemic in the White community, we have become compassionate. SMH
6
Addiction is not a racial issue. I suggest the author investigate what meth has done to rural, small-town, mostly white America in the past 20 years. The addicts suffer many of the same symptoms; the major difference is the manner in which those around them suffer as well. Concentration of population brings about more exposure to the craziness and criminality that goes with addiction, while rural families are often isolated from the surrounding community, who knows there is a problem and leaves it to fester on its own.
The cure is with the addicts. Each one must make the decision to live their life clean and sober. Whether meth, heroin, alcohol, nicotine, or whatever . . . they are individually the masters of their fate. As a society we need to take care of those around them, especially the children.
The cure is with the addicts. Each one must make the decision to live their life clean and sober. Whether meth, heroin, alcohol, nicotine, or whatever . . . they are individually the masters of their fate. As a society we need to take care of those around them, especially the children.
9
I live in Cincinnati/Northern Ky. The heroin epidemic here has reached a crisis level. You never heard of crackheads driving around in cars with their children and OD'ing but that is precisely what occurs here almost on a daily basis. Invariably, white mother or father with kids in the back seat, OD's and wrecks on the expressways knowing that if they survive the crash they will be revived using the Naloxone. It's getting so bad it is not safe on the roads anymore.
7
How different would "America's" response to the 1980's crack addiction have been, had our politicians and police reflected our demographics? That is, if there had been a proportional and significant number of black pols and cops. The systemic racism - in hiring, voter suppression, etc. - that led and still leads to that gross underrepresentation is a driving factor in the criminal heartlessness of the 'other' rather than 'ours' mentality laid plain in this article.
18
Many of the comments I've seen so far go on about the historical portion of the column. What I want to know is how we are treating addicts now, whether we are treating addicts the same regardless of race, color, ethnicity, family connections, etc. If we don't apply the more humane approach to addiction across the board but instead only apply it to whites or to people we identify with or people we like, then we have a new damaging behavior unfolding before our eyes -- I hope we don't go down that road, but I would rather we focus on that present concern than deploy our attention and energy on arguing about the past. Most situations have multiple contributing factors anyway.
We need to reform our treatment system, have enough inpatient rehab beds, make them more easily accessible and affordable, and have adequate discharge plans and outpatient support. The hoops addicts have to jump through to get treatment are unrealistic -- lengthy waiting lists, needing to figure out the right sequence of using, detoxing, and applying for rehab that makes applying to college seem like a walk in the park, for example. If the unfortunate expansion of addiction into communities that thought they were immune leads to an improvement in services for all, that will be one thing; if it just leads to improvement of services for this new group, it will indicate to me that we don't want to learn.
We need to reform our treatment system, have enough inpatient rehab beds, make them more easily accessible and affordable, and have adequate discharge plans and outpatient support. The hoops addicts have to jump through to get treatment are unrealistic -- lengthy waiting lists, needing to figure out the right sequence of using, detoxing, and applying for rehab that makes applying to college seem like a walk in the park, for example. If the unfortunate expansion of addiction into communities that thought they were immune leads to an improvement in services for all, that will be one thing; if it just leads to improvement of services for this new group, it will indicate to me that we don't want to learn.
1
I agree. Some states are mandating inpatient drug treatment instead of incarceration. It is as cost effective as incarceration, and has been shown to reduce relapse and recidivism. In my state, the government has begun hiring and training ex addicts to work as peer supports.....similar to the AA idea. Treatment programs are changing. Research and experience will always lag behind the problem.
Please go to YouTube and watch William F Buckley debate Charles Rangel on punishment for drug addiction. The white conservative versus the black liberal. Then tell me who is the compassionate one. Many, many blacks supported tough crack laws. Let's not rewrite history. It was a mistake. Let us ALL admit it and move on.
22
I'm white and a Vietnam veteran. But I remember how Vietnam veterans were treated by civilians when heroin addiction became an epidemic among the troops serving in country and a big story in the MSMS. There was a particularly humiliating incident I had after my discharge when I went back to work at the local steel mill. There were four or five of guys in our shorts being examined by the company physician in his office. When it came to my turn to be physically examined by him, he looked closely at the veins in my arms and then spread my toes and again looked down closely at the spaces between them. After he was finished, I asked him why he did this procedure only to me. He replied he had received a company memo to be alert to the signs of heroin addiction on all Vietnam veterans seeking a job with the company. And what made it worse was he said this loudly so all the other guys in the room could hear him. Then he smiled and laughed at my shock and embarrassment. It was one of the most humiliating experiences I have had as a Vietnam veteran. It is probably socially inappropriate to admit this here, but I feel schadenfreude reading this op-ed about how heroin addiction has a white face in our country.
70
Reply to George Hoffman Stow, Ohio - Your tale does not have the ring of truth, as doctors don't examine people within earshot of one another, to say nothing of directly visually in front of one another. Further, you seem to be presuming that Vietnam vets were by default white-skinned. Last of all it does not follow logically from your story that you should now feel pleasure at the misfortune of others.
1
The criminal justice system needs deep reform, not least because of what it's done to black and brown men guilty only of non-violent drug offenses. But the comparison on which this article hinges is facile and highly flawed. The crack epidemic attended -- and, indeed, directly participated in -- one of the strongest violent crime waves in American history. People react to corpses in their streets: this is why so many working and middle class blacks not only went along with but *vigorously advocated* for draconian drug and crime policies (see Fortner, Black Silent Majority).
The current narcotics epidemic has so far had a limited relationship with countrywide violent crime, which we've seen drop to multiple-decade lows. This matters (and perhaps it will change: if violent crime is indeed ticking up and it's discovered that white drug offenders are or appear to be a driving factor, expect the compassion to be replaced with anger). It is understandable that Mr. Yankah fails to make this obvious point vis-a-vis his central comparison: many authors would rather make reductive arguments than full-but-materially-weakened ones. Still, it's disappointing.
The current narcotics epidemic has so far had a limited relationship with countrywide violent crime, which we've seen drop to multiple-decade lows. This matters (and perhaps it will change: if violent crime is indeed ticking up and it's discovered that white drug offenders are or appear to be a driving factor, expect the compassion to be replaced with anger). It is understandable that Mr. Yankah fails to make this obvious point vis-a-vis his central comparison: many authors would rather make reductive arguments than full-but-materially-weakened ones. Still, it's disappointing.
5
As a neuroscientist , it is notable that to a large degree the change in the way addiction is approached these days is due to the work of the science and medical community revealing that addiction is not a moral or character failure, but biochemical and consequent physiologic changes. Yes, there is much blame all around for the unenlightened view of years ago. And the rather better treatment now that nonminorities are greatly burdened, is not all due to science, but much is. For those of us in the sciences, the changes we see represent much work and a much better understanding. It seems to follow the data, much to my relief.
6
I was struck with the anger and bitterness of the author. These are the feelings of my African American friends, who fear for their grandbabies being harmed by police while driving while black.
It is my belief that unless white folks get to know black folks, and visit each others' neighborhoods and homes, and become friends, the racial divide will continue. This will require people reaching out to each other, at work, in community groups, and extending invitations. From these seeds of real friendship, not political correctness, will change be born.
During the crack heyday, I hung out with friends in Compton, and was the only white person there. These friendships gave me a deeper insight into black lives than any newspaper article.
Some of my friends were rich, some upper middle class, a couple on welfare, one a hopeless drug addict. The streets of Compton were largely quiet and not the stuff of nightmares. People were nice. None of my friends were ever unfairly treated by the police, however, each told stories of racism from their pasts.
Growing up, I had black friends at school, but was never invited to their houses, or asked them over. (My family was a bit of a nightmare and I did not want anyone to meet them.)
But I am convinced that by extending a hand of friendship, even if scared and reticent, inroads can be made. As long as white culture thinks of people of color as "other", instead of like them in the values that count, society will not change.
It is my belief that unless white folks get to know black folks, and visit each others' neighborhoods and homes, and become friends, the racial divide will continue. This will require people reaching out to each other, at work, in community groups, and extending invitations. From these seeds of real friendship, not political correctness, will change be born.
During the crack heyday, I hung out with friends in Compton, and was the only white person there. These friendships gave me a deeper insight into black lives than any newspaper article.
Some of my friends were rich, some upper middle class, a couple on welfare, one a hopeless drug addict. The streets of Compton were largely quiet and not the stuff of nightmares. People were nice. None of my friends were ever unfairly treated by the police, however, each told stories of racism from their pasts.
Growing up, I had black friends at school, but was never invited to their houses, or asked them over. (My family was a bit of a nightmare and I did not want anyone to meet them.)
But I am convinced that by extending a hand of friendship, even if scared and reticent, inroads can be made. As long as white culture thinks of people of color as "other", instead of like them in the values that count, society will not change.
7
(Not Mark) It's not just white culture, it's all cultures. I grew up in the most racially and ethnically diverse society in America, probably the world, I'm a military brat. There is no 'us or them', just us. That's the way it ought to be.
1
Yeah, I was a Navy brat, and I think it really helped introduce me to other ethnicities, more so than a white person who stays, marries and settles in the same primarily white town for their lives.
Given that around 13% of the population is African American, a lot of reaching out has to be done, from both sides, to get to know each other's positive aspects.
Given that around 13% of the population is African American, a lot of reaching out has to be done, from both sides, to get to know each other's positive aspects.
I'm not sure I agree with the author (Yankah) here. I guess his general argument is that because many white people are having serious drug problems today (especially heroin) changes in view with respect to drugs and addiction are occurring which sadly did not occur with respect to black people on crack in the '80's, and he attributes this to racism, that the view with respect to drugs and addiction is more punitive the less white people are involved in drugs and addiction, and more forgiving if white people are involved.
But from my limited understanding, all the laws with respect to drugs were born long ago, back when whites were clearly in the majority and in power in society and when probably (check me on this) it was mostly white people suffering from addiction to opiates, cocaine, etc. Which is to say the harsh, punitive, "addiction from being a weak unmoral person", etc. view was born long before it could be described as aiming at primarily blacks, and the new view, the less harsh one that is now being favored with white people on heroin has been a long time coming and that in the intervening years (say between early part of last century to today) plenty of people period in America suffered under harsh, punitive, unforgiving laws. Probably all people in America today will be better off under a new and better and medical understanding of drugs and addiction.
But from my limited understanding, all the laws with respect to drugs were born long ago, back when whites were clearly in the majority and in power in society and when probably (check me on this) it was mostly white people suffering from addiction to opiates, cocaine, etc. Which is to say the harsh, punitive, "addiction from being a weak unmoral person", etc. view was born long before it could be described as aiming at primarily blacks, and the new view, the less harsh one that is now being favored with white people on heroin has been a long time coming and that in the intervening years (say between early part of last century to today) plenty of people period in America suffered under harsh, punitive, unforgiving laws. Probably all people in America today will be better off under a new and better and medical understanding of drugs and addiction.
8
Daniel's historical perspective is spot on. You can see old advertisements on the Internet touting heroin as a 'cure' for morphine addiction. When the Harrison Act was passed in 1914, there were approximately 800,000 morphine addicts in the U.S. Most of them were white women in their 40s or older who were being treated for the "vapours" or menopause as it known today. Opiates were inexpensive, of pharmaceutical grade, and there was no real stigma attached to them.
As with Prohibition several years later, the Harrison Act overnight created a new class of 'criminals', prices shot up, and the whole problem was no longer treated as a medical condition. That worked out as well as did
Prohibition thereafter. Making victimless behavior a criminal offense has never worked well and has led to rampant corruption in the process.
As with Prohibition several years later, the Harrison Act overnight created a new class of 'criminals', prices shot up, and the whole problem was no longer treated as a medical condition. That worked out as well as did
Prohibition thereafter. Making victimless behavior a criminal offense has never worked well and has led to rampant corruption in the process.
2
He overlooks the violent crime that went along with it. Meth was a scourge, not least because of the addiction, but also because of the behavior that accompanied it. I don't recall people wanting to be soft on meth heads.
2
The reaction to the crack epidemic in the 80's did not focus on the cause of selling and using crack in urban areas: joblessness, proverty, and poor educational opportunities. The dealers and users, who were overwhelmingly black and brown, were met with militarization by law enforcement and severe prison sentences. I don't condone the violence and the black community suffered but the establishment's response was a smoke and mirrors game.
The billions of dollars spent on the military industrial complex to remove, marginalize and make black and brown people second class citizens could have been used to address joblessness, education and thus poverty in the urban areas. Those dollars did not enrich urban communities but created more white wealth. The epidemic of heroin users in the white community results from the same scourges that have long held sway over black and brown people: joblessness and lack of present and future opportunities. The nationalistic/nativist policies that used to sustain whites is no longer there for them. But the response by the establishment is that they are human beings and there is a need to address the underlying root causes of their addiction. Using violence as the core reason for the different response is again smoke and mirrors. They're not engaging in violence but they're waging war at the ballot box because they are ,for now ,the majority in this country.
The billions of dollars spent on the military industrial complex to remove, marginalize and make black and brown people second class citizens could have been used to address joblessness, education and thus poverty in the urban areas. Those dollars did not enrich urban communities but created more white wealth. The epidemic of heroin users in the white community results from the same scourges that have long held sway over black and brown people: joblessness and lack of present and future opportunities. The nationalistic/nativist policies that used to sustain whites is no longer there for them. But the response by the establishment is that they are human beings and there is a need to address the underlying root causes of their addiction. Using violence as the core reason for the different response is again smoke and mirrors. They're not engaging in violence but they're waging war at the ballot box because they are ,for now ,the majority in this country.
2
I think we are all growing and evolving on this and other issues. There is suffering in growth and we all suffered. Let's acknowledge that and say, look progress is being made lets keep it going. to make a different comparison, look at sports. Athletes are bigger, faster and stronger and continue to evolve. It's not fair to compare an athlete from the 80's to an athlete today. The athlete of the 80's did not have the knowledge gained in the past 30 years through trial and error, research and discovery. What this article does for me more than anything is attempt to keep us stuck in the past when evolution has occurred, and for everyone. We can focus on what we haven't accomplished or encourage more of what we have. One keeps us stuck and the other propels us forward. Isn't it just as much an issue of feeling fear and crossing a street as being feared? Aren't both people victims in that scenario? And isn't it progress for both to eliminate that? Fighting violence with violence and using suppression and incarceration did not eliminate anything but that had to be a step in the process. I see progress throughout my life in rights for all people and sexes and persuasions and religions. The way my son and daughter and their friends think about and accept whites, blacks, gays, men and women is very different than me and my peers did only a generation ago. Can we write articles that continue to encourage that? That way lays sanity and progress.
4
I agree with the premise that familiarity breeds compassion, but I think the racial aspect perceived in this article is a symptom of chronology. The general populace is much more aware than they once were that addiction is addiction, whether it's to opiates, cocaine and its derivatives, or good old alcohol. This growing awareness also extends to police, politicians, judges, the medical community, and so on. Once that connection is made, there is hope for some sanity from the public and those charged with the public interest. We remain totally unequipped to understand the causes of addiction and treatment can be agonizing for concerned persons as well as the addict, but we have seen people around us recover and at the end of the day that's what we truly desire.
5
Though no doubt written by a highly erudite professor, yet again eloquently cataloging the endless racist crimes of white people, this piece really just repeats the same old mantras. It ignores 50 some years of Great Society programs, including welfare, education and housing focused on the poor black community, which weakened it. The crack epidemic, combined with the strong police action desired by everyone, tore this weakened community even further apart.
A few things were learned from this and are now being applied. Today's urban police forces are multi-cultural, a result of programs to make the police more representative of the communities they police.
More and more folks of all political persuasions are calling for drug problems, as opposed to street crime, to be treated as a disease.
But, he offers no solutions, only criticism of whites and further historical dialectics of black against white hatred.
In regards to crime enforcement, if and when the white heroin epidemic turns into an accompanying crime problem, with street violence resembling that seen in the black community, rest assured that "white" police enforcement will be there, both causing and solving problems as it has in the black community. Criminals deserve punishment no matter their race.
Sadly, this piece offers no solutions, only accusations and bitterness.
A few things were learned from this and are now being applied. Today's urban police forces are multi-cultural, a result of programs to make the police more representative of the communities they police.
More and more folks of all political persuasions are calling for drug problems, as opposed to street crime, to be treated as a disease.
But, he offers no solutions, only criticism of whites and further historical dialectics of black against white hatred.
In regards to crime enforcement, if and when the white heroin epidemic turns into an accompanying crime problem, with street violence resembling that seen in the black community, rest assured that "white" police enforcement will be there, both causing and solving problems as it has in the black community. Criminals deserve punishment no matter their race.
Sadly, this piece offers no solutions, only accusations and bitterness.
11
I reject the good professors opening statements that the faces of crack addicts in the 1980's were "always" black. Crack was certainly a more common drug found in poor neighborhoods and clearly that meant there were a higher percentage of black lives being ruined by the drug. But without that table setting by the professor his argument that it is the increasing prevalence of white addicts that produced today's softer tone about drug addiction can't stand on it's own. I prefer to take a much higher road. I believe we are at a very significant turning point as it relates to race as well as remorse over mandatory and lengthy jail sentences for non violent drug offenders. Certainly these issues are linked but I also believe the more we continue to look to race as the reason we take the positions we take, the longer we prolong the racial divide. And we fail in seeing the very real progress in the hearts of many Americans.
5
The "war on drugs" is an abject failure and people do not belong in jail for non-violent offenses associated with drugs -- whether use, possession or low level sales. Reforming criminal law is essential to ending disparate application of drug laws based on race. But I also think the author missed a nuance in recent efforts to find solutions for addicts that do not involve incarceration. This reaction is happening in places that are almost entirely white -- Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Western Massachusetts figure prominently in these stories, as does rural Upstate New York. The potent, distorting factor of race is absent as an easy explanation, and thus does not muddle the thinking of the officials involved as to what is going on. Nor is race available as a way of driving a wedge through potential voters to leverage the issue for political gain, even if it does nothing to solve the problem. Race was and is a significant factor in shaping the current policies towards drugs and drug abusers but it's not just because prior addicts all had dark skin. They didn't. But in societies with diverse populations, it was easy to blame Black drug dealers seeking to escape poverty. Now that explanation is not available in lily white places like Vermont, they actually have to grapple with the problem more honestly. Let's hope the reaction takes hold and helps people in places where official judgment has been clouded by race for a long time.
I don't believe the difference in how we are handling these two drug epidemics can be explained exclusively by racism (although it was certainly a component). There is a second crucial component, one that the author initially mentions but then doesn't revisit; an explosion of violent crime and gang warfare. While the crack epidemic was brutal for the victims, it seems the militant response to it was more of a reaction to the accompanying violence and crime than to the addiction itself. No such corresponding violence and murder wave exists in places like rural New Hampshire, hence the very difference response. If violent gangs were roaming the streets of Concord and Manchester, engaged in shootouts and drive-bys, there likely would be a more militant response. Having said that, this stark contrast does present a great opportunity to reform our justice system to eliminate disparities in sentencing and reduce the imprisonment of nonviolent offenders. But to simply cry racism is a oversimplification of the two situations.
10
I agree with you, but one of the features of the response was to really nail lower level participants in this war -- typically users or friends and family members -- in order to leverage information to go after those perceived to be more significant. The fall out for African American families was severe, and there are many people whose involvement in the "trade" was peripheral or even unwilling who are serving long sentences in jail. Meanwhile, the "higher ups" who had real information often escaped with relatively short sentences (for a drug dealer) because they had more leverage. This is almost certainly why someone like Marco Rubio's brother in law served only 12 years in prison. Many people whose participation was far less consequential are serving 30 years or even life in jail.
1
Anyone who has seen American Gangster or read about Frank Lucas knows that this is not the U.S.' first heroin epidemic. The United States had a previous heroin epidemic when many of the U.S. soldiers who had become addicted to opiates during and post Vietnam and not so shockingly, those drugs began to flow into inner city neighborhood in many big cities. Of course, many of those soldiers coming home had Black and Brown faces. Consideration for many Vets coming home from Vietnam seemed to be in short supply in the first place and with lack of support and some already had an addiction problem, quickly fell into self destructive habits and yes. During the post Vietnam period, the use of war terminology leeched into domestic policy, hence the War on Drugs, but who was the government declaring war on? The addiction and the heroin was not just contained within the Veterans in inner city neighborhoods but spread throughout their communities. There wasn't much regard for those people then.
U.S. drug addiction hasn't changed but U.S. policy clearly has.
By the way, I'm still waiting on an explanation on how Lucas was able to ship drugs from Vietnam using U.S. military body bags being transported on U.S military planes-without compliance from higher ups. I'll wait for that explanation.
U.S. drug addiction hasn't changed but U.S. policy clearly has.
By the way, I'm still waiting on an explanation on how Lucas was able to ship drugs from Vietnam using U.S. military body bags being transported on U.S military planes-without compliance from higher ups. I'll wait for that explanation.
5
I don't deny that there is a strong contrast between the way black addicts in the 80s and white addicts currently are being treated. The treatment of black addicts in the 2000s regardless of the drug should mirror the current treatment of white addicts.
It is important to note--some comments have already mentioned it--that the drugs that are most common with young people in rehab today are prescription pills, such as Ritalin, Xanax, and Vicodin. Considering the way these drugs are dealt is in a much less violent manner (by a doctor in some cases) the response will certainly be less intense than gang related drug dealing.
An additional thought, and I'm not sure how factual this observation is, but I feel like the disease model of addiction is a relatively "new" concept and possibly was not identified, or embraced, in the 80s. The addicts of the 80s were not fully responsible for the violence of the drug dealer's. It could even be argued that violent actions of addicts in the 80s cannot fairly be attributed to that person--his or her brain was corrupted by the drugs--taking away the ability to act as he/she would without experiencing intense withdrawal. No one chooses to be an addict, and behavior while addicted to drugs is often beyond that person's control.
It is important to note--some comments have already mentioned it--that the drugs that are most common with young people in rehab today are prescription pills, such as Ritalin, Xanax, and Vicodin. Considering the way these drugs are dealt is in a much less violent manner (by a doctor in some cases) the response will certainly be less intense than gang related drug dealing.
An additional thought, and I'm not sure how factual this observation is, but I feel like the disease model of addiction is a relatively "new" concept and possibly was not identified, or embraced, in the 80s. The addicts of the 80s were not fully responsible for the violence of the drug dealer's. It could even be argued that violent actions of addicts in the 80s cannot fairly be attributed to that person--his or her brain was corrupted by the drugs--taking away the ability to act as he/she would without experiencing intense withdrawal. No one chooses to be an addict, and behavior while addicted to drugs is often beyond that person's control.
3
You should not put Xanax in the same group as Ritalin (some people actually need both these drugs) or ..well, Vicodin, which is in a completely different category of prescribed use and need. I was really saddened by the Times piece on the young white adult male that survived his heroin overdose, but would be dependent on his mother for the rest of his life. His mother worried what would happen to him when she died. I would not have felt any less sad if the young man and mother had been black. I think we as a society are awakening to helping addicted people regardless of color and the dangers of heroin in young people who want to experience the high of their lives.
Mr Yankah, The USA drug addiction immeasurably changed when one didnt need needles to get high. Rx pills that Dr's give out and that you pick up at CVS -- drugs created and by giant Rx corporations -- and hyper potently strong. If you want to be mad, be mad at drug corporations.
I see your point but the CURRENT drugs are nothing like the messy needle-based crack from the 80s. Different altogether.
I see your point but the CURRENT drugs are nothing like the messy needle-based crack from the 80s. Different altogether.
10
Crack is smoked. NO NEEDLES. Speak of what you actually know about.
Needle based crack? What are you talking about? Poor argument and a clear lack of understanding of both the spirit of the piece and the details behind it.
1
Are you saying that addicts who use needles should be thrown in jail and addicts who pop pills should go to rehab? Why?
2
My visibly white bother, who was addicted to Heroin, told of how a guard at Rikers island beat him because the convulsions of withdrawal made it impossible for him to stand neatly in line.
I don't remember much sympathy for white crack addicts back then, either.
What I *do* remember is a massive crime wave that destroyed communities, disproportionately black ones, and even entire cities. Of parents, mostly poor and African American, who put their children to sleep in the bathtub for protection against the shots that rang out as drug dealers fought turf wars.
In these articles, no distinction is ever drawn between the drug dealers, who were mostly young black men and violent, and their victims, who were too wasted to be much of a threat. The question of responsibility is swept under carpet.
Also, no mention was made of the fact that those from poorer communities are more often forced to steal to maintain their habits.
It is certainly true and unfortunate that middle class people show more compassion for middle class people caught in crime. This is likely true of race as well. But the door swings both ways - look at the black reaction to OJ Simpson, or the knee-jerk reaction and lying witnesses who burned down Ferguson
A more balanced treatment would have been more convincing.
I don't remember much sympathy for white crack addicts back then, either.
What I *do* remember is a massive crime wave that destroyed communities, disproportionately black ones, and even entire cities. Of parents, mostly poor and African American, who put their children to sleep in the bathtub for protection against the shots that rang out as drug dealers fought turf wars.
In these articles, no distinction is ever drawn between the drug dealers, who were mostly young black men and violent, and their victims, who were too wasted to be much of a threat. The question of responsibility is swept under carpet.
Also, no mention was made of the fact that those from poorer communities are more often forced to steal to maintain their habits.
It is certainly true and unfortunate that middle class people show more compassion for middle class people caught in crime. This is likely true of race as well. But the door swings both ways - look at the black reaction to OJ Simpson, or the knee-jerk reaction and lying witnesses who burned down Ferguson
A more balanced treatment would have been more convincing.
94
Yes your point is well taken about the dealers but it needs to be taken further. Those black drug dealers were just a part of the supply chain. They did not have the infrastructure to bring those drugs to the United States. Those major distributors were not black. They were wealthy people capable of getting past customs and capable of transporting the drugs from foreign countries to the US. If we are going to be balanced let's include their culpability as well.
3
I'm a Psych RN working D&A and psych for longer than I care to admit.
Worked this problem on the streets and in hospitals.
I'm also an old white male rural veteran and flaming liberal.
A few thoughts on the issue.
Mr. Yankah is correct, but for longer than he mentions.
Going back to the 1920's-30's blacks were usually portrayed as the heroin and marijuana users and dealers waiting to snag and seduce 'innocent and upstanding' white youth (Gasp, our white daughters!) in those 'demon' jazz clubs.
Because everyone knows nice white people in the suburbs don't do drugs, right?
Then the enforcement approach of:
Trayvon Black gets busted and goes to jail.
Trevor White gets busted and goes to rehab.
The current opioid and other drugs epidemic is a bit different in that much of it started at a physician's office.
Pain? OxyContin.
Poor grades? Methamphetamine.
And instead of the 19-y/o kid, now the junkie next door is just as likely to be a 53-y/o truckdriver, or nursing home LPN with a bad back.
Granma and Granpa are the new junkies.
Worked this problem on the streets and in hospitals.
I'm also an old white male rural veteran and flaming liberal.
A few thoughts on the issue.
Mr. Yankah is correct, but for longer than he mentions.
Going back to the 1920's-30's blacks were usually portrayed as the heroin and marijuana users and dealers waiting to snag and seduce 'innocent and upstanding' white youth (Gasp, our white daughters!) in those 'demon' jazz clubs.
Because everyone knows nice white people in the suburbs don't do drugs, right?
Then the enforcement approach of:
Trayvon Black gets busted and goes to jail.
Trevor White gets busted and goes to rehab.
The current opioid and other drugs epidemic is a bit different in that much of it started at a physician's office.
Pain? OxyContin.
Poor grades? Methamphetamine.
And instead of the 19-y/o kid, now the junkie next door is just as likely to be a 53-y/o truckdriver, or nursing home LPN with a bad back.
Granma and Granpa are the new junkies.
268
I agree with the article and its premise. The only thing I will like to add is that it is false to insinuate that physicians are somehow responsible for this current epidemic. We have used pain medicines to treat humans for years and we will continue to do so. As an anesthesiologist I see this category of patients come in and insist on getting as much pain medicines as possible sometimes beyond what is safe to administer. I see the "physician is responsible" narrative as another attempt to insulate this current addicts from blame. As the author concludes so should we, all addicts should be treated with humanity and we should find a way to right the wrongs of the past, like criminal justice reform.
1
Also, the pills are sold by dealers outside and independently from the Dr's office; often they are imported from overseas in impure and unverified dosage, and taken in combination with other medications, marijuana and/or alcohol by "recreational" "casual" users , a percentage of whom will likely graduate to dependency, heavier use and harder drugs.
I have also worked as an RN in D&A. In my experience, there is no medical treatment for crack or cocaine, and therefore no rehab treatment, at least not in-hospital. Also, as debilitating as crack is and was, it was not as fatal as heroin. My present county in MA leads in heroin overdoses.
I do agree that there is a racial component in societal responses to the waves of drug use, but there is more to it than race alone.
I do agree that there is a racial component in societal responses to the waves of drug use, but there is more to it than race alone.
1
Focusing on African Americans as representative of heroin addiction and dealing is related to the image that many young Blacks present to the rest of society. They may be perfectly fine people, but as long as they present the "gangsta" image, the image of drugs and dealing go right along with it.
Instead of stalking streets looking mean and scary, what if young people of all races painted, cleaned up alleys, block by block and the like and generally made things a wee bit friendlier?
Anybody laughing at this? My point exactly.
Instead of stalking streets looking mean and scary, what if young people of all races painted, cleaned up alleys, block by block and the like and generally made things a wee bit friendlier?
Anybody laughing at this? My point exactly.
47
Why do you see young blacks as "mean and scary" ? What about young Hispanics,Asians, or Whites ? Are they mean and scary looking as well ?
2
How many black people have you talked to today? Sounds like you are just regurgitating Fox News talking points.
2
All youth of every color all around the world and across history has had its rebellious expressive behaviors. This has often generated consternation in the older generations and society in general, but the kind of violent reaction against young blacks in this country is quite astonishing.
1
The crack epidemic of the 1980s was accompanied by a hellish violent crime spree by its users, and all of those up and down the crack food chain. Is the same happening now with the neo-heroin surge? If not, then that may, in part, explain the different reaction. Race is only one of several prisms that instruct us.
88
The crime here may be the social ills such as broken families, neglected children, elderly parents who end up raising grandchildren, babies born with special needs because of the parents' drug use, theft, car accidents when they are driving under the influence. This is not a cleaner version of drug use. It's being reported differently but the damage is just as great.
3
I don't dispute your observations of the fallout from the current epidemic of heroin abuse. But the crack epidemic of the 1980s ravaged society in a far more profound way, in wrecking cities and terrorizing peoples lives that had nothing to do with crack abuse, and had no role in the pathologic community structure within which it took place. Obviously there is fallout from the terrible decay of heroin abuse. But are these heroin addicts running around terrorizing people, pimping out women, and committing drive-by shootings? I don't see it. That was my point. That perhaps the reaction today is different because the effects at large are different. Regardless of color.
2
Please consider two items - the dramatic increase in violent crime that accompanied crack ( do we see the same w heroin? Is there a functioning treatment with crack - or meth, a similar horror in poor white coomunities- as there is with opiates?). Second, note the main sponsors of tougher sentencing were leading members of the Congressional Black Caucus.. They saw what was happening in their communities and tried to respond.
82
Main sponsors but not the main voters - you cannot possibly try and sit there and logically explain to us how a minority of the Congressional make-up was able to somehow overpower the entire house and vote for tougher crime sentences. I would think they were merely echoing what the white majority in Congress was already harping about.
The current heroin epidemic is NOT solely a problem in poor white neighborhoods. In fact, it is a suburban problem. Many wealthy neighborhoods are suffering big time. This has helped shape the reform.
The deplorable statistics Professor Yankah casts aside not only point institutionalized race control by cops, but institutionalized gang control of black neighborhoods. What exactly is your solution to violent criminals who kill 10 young black men for every 1 shot by the police?
36
I think the ratio is more like 1/10,000.
Oh, please, here we go again with the "we only care about the drug problem when it's white people" theme. It's too mentally exhausting to examine a multi-faceted problem, so let's just over-simplify things and blame racism, right? The truth is that the original harsh drug laws (a correct response, in my opinion) were enacted at the behest of black politicians who were seeing their communities ravaged by drugs. And it doesn't matter if you're black or white, you put a crack pipe in your mouth, or you stick a needle in your arm, you are an idiot and to some extent deserve your fate. Also, let's at least mention the fact that the left's refusal to secure the southern border lets these drugs in to begin with.
42
R.P. You are so right. It's also amazing that the current so called leaders, no matter what race, want the drug laws changed but now say it's only being done because it affects whites. These articles are nott worth the paper they are written on. The authors of this drivel can find a big deal about nothing no matter where they go.
25
Actually, having witnessed first hand the devastation of Meth, I would be completely on board with death penalty for the manufacture and distribution of meth, as well as any other hard addictive substance, such as heroin and opiates and cocaine products. I would also sanction the complete legalization of recreational marijuana and psychotropics which grow in the wild. Humans needs substances, whether that is chocolate or weed. Sometimes they need vision quests, via cacti or fungi. I don't but they do. Let them have it, and put away the people destroying entire communities, black or white.
11
The left's refusal to secure the southern border? We had Republican presidents from 1981-92 and 2001-8.
1
For clarity on the racism of the time, compare the penalties for crack to the penalties for cocaine. The same drug, where the formulation, correlated with race, determined the charge and the sentence.
44
I find it interesting that we correlate the drug charge and sentence only to race. Statistics look much different when we compare the co-occurring charges, like assault and other forms of violence, with race.
1
Crack is far more addicting than cocaine. That's why people using cocaine do not behave the same as people using crack. They hold down jobs, they can appear completely normal on the outside. People on crack abandon everything in their lives in the pursuit of more crack - their families, their jobs, everything. The two things may come from the same source, but it's not the same drug.
I think Michelle Alexander's book, "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness," should be mandatory reading for all Americans. As someone who works with those who have experienced trauma which has often led to various addictions, I am relieved to see the sentiment changing toward those who suffer the effects of addiction. However, let us not forget that those with black or brown skin continue to be locked up and locked out of society in staggering numbers. We must acknowledge that current laws, policies, and practices enable the selective and ongoing destruction of lives across generations. We must demand to change those laws, policies, and practices in order ensure the same hope and reintegration into communities is available to all members of our society.
31
Read that book! Professor Alexander documents that the "War on Drugs" began before the crack use epidemic. Her thesis is that mass incarceration of blacks (and consequent exclusion from civil society and economic participation) was the goal and not merely the result of the "War on Drugs". This was part of the latest system of racial control, following slavery and the original Jim Crow. Her arguments are certainly thought-provoking and necessary to a complete understanding of where the "War on Drugs" originated and why.
1
These notions fail to account for one extremely important factor.....social support. There is no policy or law we could change that would make up for the fact that many many minorities will return to communities that have high ratess of crime and drug use. That's just reality. When your entire social circle and experience involves crime and drugs, it will be extremely difficult to get away from that lifestyle. Until the community changes, relapse and recidivism rates will remain high.
1
Pardon those imprisoned for non-violent crimes and return them to their communities with enough money to get a decent start and to contribute to local early childhood programs - all collected from unserved jail time.
I have not finished the last chapter, but agree "New Jim Crow" should be mandatory reading.
I have not finished the last chapter, but agree "New Jim Crow" should be mandatory reading.
Why must every topic be discussed from the point-of-view of race? Drug addiction is drug addiction; it does not strike racially. Drug addiction fills the emptiness suffered by some people, white or black. People take drugs to mask the pain felt from an empty soul.
68
It's because society and laws and institutions and government may respond to drug abuse in different ways depending on who is affected, geographically and demographically; and also because our understanding of the issue and the efforts to address it have to be deliberately conducted so that we address it united as a nation, apply the remedies for all our citizens and to protect our American human capital of all races: today's children.
Drug abuse is a threat to our society and our children, no matter who we are.
Inhumane treatment of mentally people (up to 1/3 of US jail population) and a high incarceration rate as a response to drug abuse does not put us up as a model of "human rights" best practices and leadership as a developed country.
Drug abuse is a threat to our society and our children, no matter who we are.
Inhumane treatment of mentally people (up to 1/3 of US jail population) and a high incarceration rate as a response to drug abuse does not put us up as a model of "human rights" best practices and leadership as a developed country.
3
Because race in America has always been about power and control using any means necessary. The typical American race relationship has legalized one group in particular exerting extremes of power and control over Black, Brown, Red and Yellow people. You can deny this fact all you want but you cannot change the truth of it with your denial.
32
We aren't discussing the origin of addiction. The conversation at hand is the disparity in punishments meted out to the different races. Anyone who does not even want to look at the racial implications of the legal consequences of drug abuse is clearly afraid that by examining these implications more deeply, one might find them to actually be true.
3
I do not understand. We are letting crack dealers out of prison because their sentences were too harsh. And all across America there is a call for lenient drug sentences or none at all.
So why the fuss?
So why the fuss?
3
Because the damage that has been done continues to reverberate through these communities that were disparately impacted. Letting dealers, who are also often addicts, out of jail after unfair sentencing does not erase the wrong, nor the havoc it wreaked on families and communities.
There is a call for lenient drug sentences, but people of color are more likely to be sentenced harshly for a crime that a White person would get probation or treatment for.
That's why the fuss.
There is a call for lenient drug sentences, but people of color are more likely to be sentenced harshly for a crime that a White person would get probation or treatment for.
That's why the fuss.
29
Ms. the most successful dealers are not addicted at all, they are business people selling a devastating product and profiting from war.
Absolutely no question about the veracity of these points. Not only did societal response to drug problems change as the demographic of the users changed but, prior to the onset of widespread white suburban opioid use, sentencing guidelines for possession of crack cocaine (seen as the "ghetto version" of cocaine) were far more harsh than for the powder version of the same substance (seen as used by far more whites). As the opioid epidemic spread across more layers of society, both the historical and the current responses were laid bare as undeniable evidence of racism.
23
I share the belief that there is plenty of racism in policing and incarceration used as the first response for young men of color. I also know from experience that there were "crack" babies being born to suburban moms back then == and generally not recognized. But this is a little slick - and I don't know if there is evidence for everything that was happening then -- there were devastated lives in white users as well. Businesses went under, breadwinners lost jobs, savings were wiped out, marriages foundered, kids ended up with grandparents. Kids in families with parent users were often horribly neglected or abused: like lead poisoning this usually sets up lifelong problems.
But the impact of this on a population with higher incomes and more stable home situations - and sometimes jobs with benefits that supported rehab - at least once around was less devastating than it is on families who were living paycheck to paycheck to start with.
Whatever direction we go with this new wave, if it improves, lets all be happy. But part of this is "the economy, stupid:"the middle has been gouged out, there is hopelessness and lack of direction among more young people, and lack of purposeful activity which leaves more and more open to the escape of drugs. Personally, even if there are hundreds of rehab centers opened ( and aside from evidence about effectiveness) - without the possibility of a better life I think we will loose more to addiction.
But the impact of this on a population with higher incomes and more stable home situations - and sometimes jobs with benefits that supported rehab - at least once around was less devastating than it is on families who were living paycheck to paycheck to start with.
Whatever direction we go with this new wave, if it improves, lets all be happy. But part of this is "the economy, stupid:"the middle has been gouged out, there is hopelessness and lack of direction among more young people, and lack of purposeful activity which leaves more and more open to the escape of drugs. Personally, even if there are hundreds of rehab centers opened ( and aside from evidence about effectiveness) - without the possibility of a better life I think we will loose more to addiction.
16
On this point, I saw my once middle class uncle, undermined by the young coke dealers who bought a house next door to him. They fed this middle class citizen free coke, and then they fed it to him for a cost, until he had completely mortgaged his paid for house. He died a broken man in a VA hospital. Cocaine addiction.
In my 1950s Bushwick Brooklyn neighborhood we had lots of junkies, White, Black and Hispanic. Whenever they disappeared from their usual spot of nodding out on the stoop we knew they were at Kings County Hospital mostly because the police had picked them up for some crime.
There were no racial or ethnic lines. They were Italian, Irish, Black and Puerto Rican and all were treated the same.
There were no racial or ethnic lines. They were Italian, Irish, Black and Puerto Rican and all were treated the same.
1
Does the author really believe the change in attitude toward addicts is about white people? Few people actually give a *&%* about white heroin addicts, just as they haven't sympathized with white meth-heads of the last 20 or 30 years. But we know mass incarceration is costly and doesn't work. The "three strikes and your out" system has been being dismantled for years amid a plethora of research showing its futility - and its unfairness, as it mostly victimized blacks. We were already moving on to something else as the heroin epidemic spiked in the past few years.
24
This opinion reflects an assumption that is a new matra, repeated over and over again, but where is the support for it? The new view toward addiction does not appear to me to be triggered by white people 'suddenly' becoming addicted. Heroin addiction by white people has been epidemic for decades in rural areas and small cities. I should know. I lived in such a town almost 20 years ago and read about the arrests and shootings and stabbings and overdoses, related to drugs and drug dealing. Where was this new attitude then?
17
"Heroin addiction by white people has been epidemic for decades in rural areas and small cities. "
Even so, the number of overdose deaths has skyrocketed in recent years, and that's the basis of the new attitude.
Even so, the number of overdose deaths has skyrocketed in recent years, and that's the basis of the new attitude.
Why is race the issue in everything today in 2016?
44
I'm gonna guess you're white.
6
Because those who enjoy power and control have refused to acknowledge the extremes and disproportionately negative effects of their thoughts, behaviors and system wide scope of their implicit biases and outright bigotry on those they have targeted for over 300 years. Until there is an end to race motivated negative inequities, there will not be an end to targeted people's exercising the only constitutional right that has ever set the oppressed free: the freedom to speak up, to speak loudly and speak for however long it takes for bigotry to stop.
2
It's been an issue every day throughout America's entire history. I live in the South, and the extreme levels of cognitive dissonance needed to bury one's head in the sand has been turned into "southern culture". New Orleans itself is still hyper-segregated, as is every large city in the United States.
Race will never leave the discussion because it's in our country's DNA.
Race will never leave the discussion because it's in our country's DNA.
2
Professor Yankah gets this completely wrong in providing the PC revisionist account from the faculty lounge. In the mid-1980s, when crack arrived in the US, it caused alarm in our inner cities. The media overplayed the danger, suggesting a single dose could addict one forever. Along the East River Drive in Harlem a big sign warned that NYC was a crack-free zone. Charles Rangel, a congressman from Harlem's 13th CD, was chairman of the House Select Committee on Narcotics, a powerful voice in drug control policy. Rangel passionately argued for enhanced sentencing for crack dealers, claiming it to be the only way to save people from the perils of crack in his district. We listened to him. So did the sentencing commission, a bipartisan group of judges and policymakers chartered by Congress to come up with fair sentencing guidelines. The Commission gave Rangel what he wanted, namely enhanced sentencing for crack violations. Now, let's fast-forward about 20-25 years. The current rage among forgetful black leaders and revisionist historians like Professor Yankah is to decry the disparate treatment afforded black defendants convicted of crack violations. They would do better, in my opinion, if they spent a little time reading their own history. This month would be a good time for that.
220
I believe that the argument some have is that there is a distinct difference between a "dealer" and a "user". And, yes, crime comitted on another person is a crime that should be punished. However, the disparity in the "drug war" has often times been to lock up the user - which was until this latest wave of addicts a disparity between crack and and cocaine. The inner cities have been devastated by drugs brought in and distributed by the cartels.
1
Jack gets this completely wrong in providing the retrograde and racist account from the bar at his local chapter of The John Birch Society. First of all Jack, mandatory drug sentencing laws gathered steam in the white America of the late 1960's, and were made law in various states in the mid seventies--not in response to any numerically demonstrable rise in crime or indeed crack, but rather the racially motivated fears of the white middle class majority. When they were passed by New York State in 1973, they were known as "The Rockefeller Drug Laws." It is absolutely correct that some black leaders and indeed certain sections of the black population were among the most vocal supporters of these measures. The point being though, is if you did more than consider this only "their own history", but rather, like a decent patriot of this great nation, took this to be "our history", you might have taken the time to understand that within the black community--especially in New York--there was extensive and vigorous debate of the issue. Fast forward 20-25 years. The current rage amongst Palinite simpletons and latently racist online commenters like Jack, is to insist on a racially reductive understanding of representative democracy in order to preserve their own understanding of themselves as different from their white hooded ancestors; but if they care a lick about preserving justice, fairness, and democracy in this land, in my opinion, they ought to take a hard look at themselves.
6
In Robinson v. California, the US Supreme Court in 1962 decided "status crimes" to be unconstitutional. Thus, being a vagrant, prostitute, alcoholic, or drug addict is not a crime in the US. Possession of drugs and distribution of drugs are crimes but simply being an addict is not. You are not alone in misunderstanding this difference. Most politicians get it wrong, too.
2
Ah yes, another White Privilege piece. Try this on. Maybe the response is different because we don't see the violence that was so rampant back in the "crack days". Remember the nightly news with scenes of Black bodies in the streets? Remember the so called Black leaders and Preachers screaming for more Police? Remember the record breaking murder rate in every large city that had a large Black population? Remember?
72
Have you considered those stories and images could have been propaganda to ensure the War on Drugs received attention and funding by generating fear?
16
Steve, with respect, there are multiple variables at play. I'd suspect and suggest that the difference in violence has more to do with social status/income/money availability than with race. I think that today's heroin problem in the white suburbs is accompanied by easy money. There is no need to carjack someone to get a fix, just take the cash from Mom's purse, or the neighbor's home, or Dad's medicine cabinet.
3
Those murder rates were propaganda?
1
That was 20 years ago. Viewpoints toward everything have dramatically changed in the last 20 years. For the last 10 years we have been hearing that the war on drugs and drug policy is a failure. It is not a slight to African American culture that this drug epidemic is being viewed differently. It is the natural evolution of a culture trying to better itself. The crack epidemic of the 80's and 90's was quite possibly our nation's first wide spread drug/substance abuse issue; the chance of that being handled correctly with no previous experience is slim. It should be considered a positive that in only 20 years we have seen the mistakes of our past and began reconsidering our approach to these type of public health problems.
5
The answer to both racism and addiction, like almost every other issue facing our society was provided to us by the nation's founders. The self evident truths of human equality (under the law, not of ability, earning potential or outcomes), natural inalienable individual rights and liberty (limited government) are all that is needed.
The War on Drugs with all of its horrors, violence and abuses has to be the worst idea ever conceived by a once free people.
Unfortunately, leftist progressive liberal Marxist Democrats stubbornly vote to expand government in an absent-minded quest to solve problems of others, which only leads to less liberty, more misery, less opportunity, less economy, more cronyism, more drug use, more addiction and more racism.
Free market capitalism is what happens when free people work to serve each other. Free market capitalism and limited government is the answer to racism and drug addiction.
The War on Drugs with all of its horrors, violence and abuses has to be the worst idea ever conceived by a once free people.
Unfortunately, leftist progressive liberal Marxist Democrats stubbornly vote to expand government in an absent-minded quest to solve problems of others, which only leads to less liberty, more misery, less opportunity, less economy, more cronyism, more drug use, more addiction and more racism.
Free market capitalism is what happens when free people work to serve each other. Free market capitalism and limited government is the answer to racism and drug addiction.
5
Great article - Thank you!
10
I've watched the TV specials about heroin use among working class and middle class whites. Much heroin use in rural areas (white areas) just as much meth use in rural areas can be linked to lack of jobs and lack of meaningful activities. Why are we not the most well educated, well informed society on this planet? Follow the money or the lack thereof.
18
"Just say no" is certainly ham-handed, thick-headed and just plain wrong. It didn't work with alcohol. Why wasn't alcohol included with drugs? "Just say no" was part of the general hard approach to the less well-to-do (don't worry white collar criminals, you are still safe).
Regardless,we as a nation need to aggressively and objectively address substance abuse. Just say yes to this:
(1) Conflate* illicit drugs, alcohol, and tobacco and treat them all the same (alcohol and nicotine are every bit as damaging as illicit drugs and deserve the same treatment)
(2) Legalize (take the drug trade, cartels and gangs out of it),
(3) Regulate them like medications (make it a health care issue),
(4) Create measured delivery meds that can be prescribed (thus minimizing overdoses),
(5) Release non-violent prisoners with drug convictions who were exclusively users (guide them, train them, and treat them as those with a health care disability),
(6) Invest money in addiction prevention and treatment (take the money from spending on prisons, drug-related law enforcement, and drug-related prosecution), and
(7) Educate--educate--educate on the problems of drug use (use social media and advertising without being hampered by the alcohol, tobacco, and drug industries). Alcohol and tobacco distributed with greater regulation complemented by health care advertising similar to that in Australia.
*Note: Illicit drugs, alcohol and tobacco are all hazardous substances because they are toxic.
Regardless,we as a nation need to aggressively and objectively address substance abuse. Just say yes to this:
(1) Conflate* illicit drugs, alcohol, and tobacco and treat them all the same (alcohol and nicotine are every bit as damaging as illicit drugs and deserve the same treatment)
(2) Legalize (take the drug trade, cartels and gangs out of it),
(3) Regulate them like medications (make it a health care issue),
(4) Create measured delivery meds that can be prescribed (thus minimizing overdoses),
(5) Release non-violent prisoners with drug convictions who were exclusively users (guide them, train them, and treat them as those with a health care disability),
(6) Invest money in addiction prevention and treatment (take the money from spending on prisons, drug-related law enforcement, and drug-related prosecution), and
(7) Educate--educate--educate on the problems of drug use (use social media and advertising without being hampered by the alcohol, tobacco, and drug industries). Alcohol and tobacco distributed with greater regulation complemented by health care advertising similar to that in Australia.
*Note: Illicit drugs, alcohol and tobacco are all hazardous substances because they are toxic.
10
If you expected compassion, you should have been born white.
10
Simple, yet very accurate point.
Remember that the majority of black congressional representatives, led by Charles Rangel then head of the House Select Subcommittee on Narcotics Abuse and Control, were instrumental in pushing for the crack cocaine sentencing laws. That was in 1986.
Why did black legislators push so hard for draconian laws and sentencing for crack offenders? Because crack cocaine, for whatever chemistry reason, invoked much more violent behavior on the part of the user than any other drug known at the time. Cheap, powerful and available, crack fueled violence.
Those of us who lived in urban areas during the 1980s and 1990s had zero empathy for crack abusers or the gangs that supplied crack to the neighborhoods. We still don't. Too many memories of too many confrontations from too many thugs, most of whom were young black men. Sorry, but that is a reality check. Call it what you will.
Mr Yankah believes that the white response to violent black behavior has been to rig the justice system to unleash racist cops on innocent black citizens. Like other apologists for the absurdly high violent crime rates in the black community, he insinuates that whites, through their police force, used arrests for harmless pot in a drive to mass incarceration.
The data says otherwise. If you freed all the black men imprisoned for drugs alone, with no other offenses on their record, the black incarceration rate might drop ~2 percentage points. Look it up.
Why did black legislators push so hard for draconian laws and sentencing for crack offenders? Because crack cocaine, for whatever chemistry reason, invoked much more violent behavior on the part of the user than any other drug known at the time. Cheap, powerful and available, crack fueled violence.
Those of us who lived in urban areas during the 1980s and 1990s had zero empathy for crack abusers or the gangs that supplied crack to the neighborhoods. We still don't. Too many memories of too many confrontations from too many thugs, most of whom were young black men. Sorry, but that is a reality check. Call it what you will.
Mr Yankah believes that the white response to violent black behavior has been to rig the justice system to unleash racist cops on innocent black citizens. Like other apologists for the absurdly high violent crime rates in the black community, he insinuates that whites, through their police force, used arrests for harmless pot in a drive to mass incarceration.
The data says otherwise. If you freed all the black men imprisoned for drugs alone, with no other offenses on their record, the black incarceration rate might drop ~2 percentage points. Look it up.
18
Maybe society learned from the missteps in dealing with addiction in the 80's? Maybe this is why drug selling felons have been released recently? Maybe not. The push to create a new set of guns laws will undoubtedly incarcerate the same set of young black and latino men that were similarly jailed for selling crack. The opportunity to not punish society for the ills of the few is once again upon us. It seems that the learning of the past (harsh sentences for blacks and latinos for petty drug crimes) will most likely be duplicated. Who will be blamed then?
5
There were plenty of young white heroin addicts in the 1970s and 80s. Somehow they managed to escape arrest and prison. I wonder why.
5
So how should 'white America' have responded to the inner city violence associated with crack? Because as you eloquently describe, it wasn't so much the addiction as it what the crime and complete takeover of communities that was so horrendous.
Should the police have gone into those communities with with a heavy hand? That isn't exactly winning hearts and minds in this era. Should they have flooded the streets and put those communities into some sort of Belfastian lockdown, replete with patrols, informers, raids, and all the other heavy responses to criminality?
If a more progressive and treatment oriented approach was preferable, should entire communities have been extracted and detoxed, sent to 30 day rehab, and then returned to their communities (which is basically all that the kinder/gentler modern approach does)?
Yes, the response is different now, but the problem isn't quite the same. Many heroin addicts now got into their habits via prescription meds, then discovered that heroin is cheaper and more readily available. They aren't just the poor, concentrated in inner city areas, but rural and suburban poor and what remains of a fragmenting middle class. And I'm not hearing about the violence that was associated with the crack scourge.
So I'd be curious on your take of how things could have been handled differently an that time, based on the way that society was constructed.
Should the police have gone into those communities with with a heavy hand? That isn't exactly winning hearts and minds in this era. Should they have flooded the streets and put those communities into some sort of Belfastian lockdown, replete with patrols, informers, raids, and all the other heavy responses to criminality?
If a more progressive and treatment oriented approach was preferable, should entire communities have been extracted and detoxed, sent to 30 day rehab, and then returned to their communities (which is basically all that the kinder/gentler modern approach does)?
Yes, the response is different now, but the problem isn't quite the same. Many heroin addicts now got into their habits via prescription meds, then discovered that heroin is cheaper and more readily available. They aren't just the poor, concentrated in inner city areas, but rural and suburban poor and what remains of a fragmenting middle class. And I'm not hearing about the violence that was associated with the crack scourge.
So I'd be curious on your take of how things could have been handled differently an that time, based on the way that society was constructed.
10
I'm so glad to read this piece of bitter sweet honesty. People who still believe that crack was an African-American problem should read "Dark Alliance" by Gary Weber. Criminalizing drug use was never about public health or safety. It was about political power and acquiring it through demonization of a powerless minority. If any of the current professional politicians see potential to aggrandize power through demonizing heroin addicts, you can be sure we'll go back to "tough love".
5
The sexual factor is always ignored in substance connection.. a dual enlightenment captures some young with the high and the orgasm selling them in deep and strong... Peer aspect and image complete the façade..... the universal use and availability of oxycontin set the floor in place for subbing
"cheaper" herion.... fentanyl lacing of street goods is blanking them out presently... It might be a good idea to monitor heroin outflow from Afghanistan... there is truth in this piece ... but the end play is the same
regardless of race... white punks on dope?????
"cheaper" herion.... fentanyl lacing of street goods is blanking them out presently... It might be a good idea to monitor heroin outflow from Afghanistan... there is truth in this piece ... but the end play is the same
regardless of race... white punks on dope?????
Let us not forget that it was black Congressmen, representing inner-city neighborhoods plagued with crack addiction and crack-related crimes, who led the way for stiffer sentences for crack versus powder cocaine crimes. Let us not forget that they did this with the whole-hearted support of their black constituents.
Back then blacks were quite willing to see their children, and their neighbors' children locked away for long periods of time. But now, we criticize whites who are not willing to take the same approach with their children and their neighbors' children. Perhaps, instead of crying "racism," blacks should look in the mirror and face up to their own mistakes.
Back then blacks were quite willing to see their children, and their neighbors' children locked away for long periods of time. But now, we criticize whites who are not willing to take the same approach with their children and their neighbors' children. Perhaps, instead of crying "racism," blacks should look in the mirror and face up to their own mistakes.
12
It would be easy to think that the "drug war" was just an inevitable result of the prejudices felt by individual white Americans. Far from it. Let us not forget one important fact: the cultivation and nurturing of systemic racism, and its magical potential for electoral manipulation, was a deliberately-chosen and vile strategy of the Republican party, beginning after WWII when moves toward a fairer and more racially just society were in their infancy.
The GOP's "Southern Strategy" planted the seed in every white person's subconscious mind - "Life not going how you want? Things changing? Blame those people. They're not like you. They're dangerous. They cause all your problems. And vote for us, not the Democrats who talk about justice and fairness - you know you need our iron fist to keep em down." I grew up in that, living as a white person in both the North and South, and it was like a poison seeping out of the TV.
The Drug War was like a miracle political weapon to the GOP. And you'll see, they still trot it out like a Pavlovian reaction whenever threatened.
The GOP's "Southern Strategy" planted the seed in every white person's subconscious mind - "Life not going how you want? Things changing? Blame those people. They're not like you. They're dangerous. They cause all your problems. And vote for us, not the Democrats who talk about justice and fairness - you know you need our iron fist to keep em down." I grew up in that, living as a white person in both the North and South, and it was like a poison seeping out of the TV.
The Drug War was like a miracle political weapon to the GOP. And you'll see, they still trot it out like a Pavlovian reaction whenever threatened.
17
Heroin was always around when I was growing up. I wonder who was using it back then? This article says a lot more about human nature. People only take something serious when it's happening to people like them or are affected by their own. And that attitude helps explains police violence against blacks as we see in Chicago and in other cities around the nation.
There a still...thousands(?)...of people in prison for possessing a crack pipe...people whose lives have been ruined by the judgers of the 80's and 90's, and now, I can't get on FB without seeing some post from rural white middle class Moms about how we need to save our (white) children from the scourge of heroin that is after them.
I don't know if my befuddlement is legit or not. I don't know how to rid myself of the lack of sympathy that I feel (I'm not proud of it) But, I do know a double standard when I see one. And it feels really really ugly.
I don't know if my befuddlement is legit or not. I don't know how to rid myself of the lack of sympathy that I feel (I'm not proud of it) But, I do know a double standard when I see one. And it feels really really ugly.
186
Are there? Or are there thousands in prison for *selling* this awful drug?
The crack addicts I knew were sometimes arrested, but they were not imprisoned unless they had committed a serious crime.
Oh, and I know lots of white guys who ended up in jail or even prison for Heroin, when they were reduced to committing crimes to feed their habits.
The crack addicts I knew were sometimes arrested, but they were not imprisoned unless they had committed a serious crime.
Oh, and I know lots of white guys who ended up in jail or even prison for Heroin, when they were reduced to committing crimes to feed their habits.
4
One major difference is that when crack was the scourge in the 1980s, we had Republicans in the White House. "Just Say No" was a mantra of the Reagan administration, together with its withdrawal of financial and moral support for cities. From 1980-1992, we had national leadership that disavowed the poor and that embraced hard-line law enforcement. And in the 1990s, New York City had Rudy Giuliani as its mayor, who prided himself on being "tough on crime". He sought and got a lot of press attention for that, in one of the media capitals of the world. Crack also seemed to result in more outright violence than heroin, both by its users and by the gangs that controlled its distribution.
Heroin, in contrast, is resurfacing in an era where the White House is occupied by a Democrat whose administration may be taking a more merciful and science-driven view of addiction. New York is led by Mayor DeBlasio, whose views on addiction are more enlightened than Giuliani's. Marijuana has been legalized in a number of states and this generation of leaders grew up viewing it as socially acceptable. And heroin, destructive as it is, does not seem to generate as much frighteningly violent crime as crack. It appears to be more self-destructive than dangerous to public safety, though that could be a misperception. These factors, together with unconscious racial bias, may also explain some of the different reactions.
Heroin, in contrast, is resurfacing in an era where the White House is occupied by a Democrat whose administration may be taking a more merciful and science-driven view of addiction. New York is led by Mayor DeBlasio, whose views on addiction are more enlightened than Giuliani's. Marijuana has been legalized in a number of states and this generation of leaders grew up viewing it as socially acceptable. And heroin, destructive as it is, does not seem to generate as much frighteningly violent crime as crack. It appears to be more self-destructive than dangerous to public safety, though that could be a misperception. These factors, together with unconscious racial bias, may also explain some of the different reactions.
6
It is striking now that it is white faces how attitudes have changed. Unless something directly affects someone, like addiction in their own family, they ignore the need of others. The lack of compassion for all is a national disgrace.
8
Ekow must have loved Beyoncé's message at halftime during Super Bowl 50.
3
I live in the suburbs just outside of Baltimore. I can recall when the whole issue of dope was thrown over to law enforcement because the drug addicts were Black. About a decade ago I noticed that amongst the transient populations in this area there was now a growing population of young white adults.I took the time to talk to some of them and discovered that many were from middle class families. One beautiful 19 year old girl I encountered actually was the daughter of a prominent attorney.Her family had become frustrated and put her out. I see so many of these young people now mostly white who look like they belong in College or even High school. They sleep in doorways. They eat out of dumpsters. They need to get high or they will die. If our country had dealt with the problem when it was contained to mostly Black areas then this heroin epidemic would not have spread. What is needed is a massive plan to attack the problem with intensive and yes expensive treatment. This treatment MUST be made available to every addict regardless of race or class.It is not to late. Racism is the great shame of America.We cannot allow an entire generation of vibrant young people to be flushed down the toilet. Spend the resources and help them ALL. Black,White,Rich or Poor.
4
I totally agree with this assessment, and as a white man I feel deeply saddened by the absolute hypocrisy of the completely different response of white America to white addiction. Of course, this is nothing new as the historic different sentencing approach to crack cocaine prevalent in black communities from powder cocaine prevalent in white communities demonstrates. I don't think drug use should be criminalized for anyone, but to see the white majority and particularly Republican politicians and police only embracing this only when whites are the addicts is sickening. Thanks for stating the obvious head-on.
207
IStephen, I have known many people who used powdered cocaine and many people who used crack and there was NO COMPARISON between the effects on the user and on society.
The PC belief that powdered cocaine and crack being somehow equivalent is dangerous to those who use powdered cocaine and may be tempted to try freebasing it. And it is a perfect example of how political correctness overrides all truth, all honesty, all sanity.
Powdered cocaine use was in fact pretty ubiquitous in the 1980's, and it did not destroy lives and communities as the crack epidemic did. I saw people go from one to another and change overnight from high functioning people to creatures out of the Lord of the Rings.
There just isn't any comparison.
The PC belief that powdered cocaine and crack being somehow equivalent is dangerous to those who use powdered cocaine and may be tempted to try freebasing it. And it is a perfect example of how political correctness overrides all truth, all honesty, all sanity.
Powdered cocaine use was in fact pretty ubiquitous in the 1980's, and it did not destroy lives and communities as the crack epidemic did. I saw people go from one to another and change overnight from high functioning people to creatures out of the Lord of the Rings.
There just isn't any comparison.
8
At some point white addiction becomes an issue because it threatens the birth rate. The fact that crack affected black birth rates and infant mortality was a deliberate consequence of its introduction to black communities.
1
Josh, everything you're saying may be true, but why the massive difference in PUNITIVE measures for the more addictive form? It's not about being PC, it's about recognizing that drug addicts are human beings whose lives matter.
2
Surely, the move to move people into rehab versus prison has been precipitated by the move to remove African-Americans from prison. This is not a "whites only" movement.
9
If you think that by pointing to the contrast, America will start treating black addicts in the same way as America treats white addicts, you are more optimistic than I am. Mr. Yankah, in America, it is illegal to be black for practical purposes - as you and the entire Black community well know from personal experiences.
A data point: cops are killing blacks in broad daylight and on camera, and getting away with it clean. That ought to tell you that white America could not care less.
Another data point: one of the most intelligent, respected, amazing ladies in America, Oprah, opened a school in South Africa rather than doing so in Inner City America. If she gave up trying to make a difference to the basic ingredient of socioeconomic success . . . The problem is more complex than anyone currently imagines. Which means, every solution currently imagined is not the real solution either. It will take the harnessing and deployment of collective intelligence over time - the likes of which has had no precedence.
There are a million or more data points that ought to identify the boundaries within which the solution must emerge. I suspect it will emerge there, because it will not emerge elsewhere: i.e., within the Black community.
Kalidan
A data point: cops are killing blacks in broad daylight and on camera, and getting away with it clean. That ought to tell you that white America could not care less.
Another data point: one of the most intelligent, respected, amazing ladies in America, Oprah, opened a school in South Africa rather than doing so in Inner City America. If she gave up trying to make a difference to the basic ingredient of socioeconomic success . . . The problem is more complex than anyone currently imagines. Which means, every solution currently imagined is not the real solution either. It will take the harnessing and deployment of collective intelligence over time - the likes of which has had no precedence.
There are a million or more data points that ought to identify the boundaries within which the solution must emerge. I suspect it will emerge there, because it will not emerge elsewhere: i.e., within the Black community.
Kalidan
This isn't about race. It's about fairness. While I am very saddened that an entire generation of people had to be devastated in order for society to wake up and stop demonizing those who suffer from addiction, the problem is what can be done to help those who were demonized for 30 years? You can't just take a person in his 20s, throw him in jail for years, require that person to throw away any life they may have had, then say "We've decided to be more understanding now. Go - have you life back!" as though that person were still a 20-something with his whole life ahead of him. It's good that we as a society are finally waking up, but enlightenment doesn't turn back the clock and reset the world.
97
I think the point is that we don't become "enlightened" in this country until things affect whites. Take for example, the justification for police brutality. When blacks are killed, it is justified by implying that they brought it on themselves.
For now, police have two labels for the same situation, one is called "resisting arrest" and the other a "standoff." You are less likely to get killed when it's called a standoff. Think of the last time "resisting arrest" was used to describe a white perpetrator. When police crossover (and they will) to indiscriminately shooting whites, it will then be a crisis.
For now, police have two labels for the same situation, one is called "resisting arrest" and the other a "standoff." You are less likely to get killed when it's called a standoff. Think of the last time "resisting arrest" was used to describe a white perpetrator. When police crossover (and they will) to indiscriminately shooting whites, it will then be a crisis.
6
If it's not about race, then why don't you see white communities torn apart by the same drug or the same war on it? White schools got drug counselors while black schools got closed down. Why aren't there urban neighborhoods filled with white crack babies? If it's not about race, then why was the drug intoduced to the very communities struggling to gain racial equality in a contry where racism was and is sanctioned by law?
3
Heroin uptick in use is because the Mexican drug cartel is losing money on marijuana via the legalization process, as well as the loosening of Afghanistan.
So yes this President could care less about more white people being hooked.
What's troubling is the New YorkTimes endless bashing of white america even down to the super bowl halftime music review yesterday. Beyoncé and Mars need to thank Mr.James Brown their every waking moment. No melody or harmony.Just a modern. Version of "up with people"
So yes this President could care less about more white people being hooked.
What's troubling is the New YorkTimes endless bashing of white america even down to the super bowl halftime music review yesterday. Beyoncé and Mars need to thank Mr.James Brown their every waking moment. No melody or harmony.Just a modern. Version of "up with people"
4
Racism is surely at work here. But so is the fact that, unlike crack, heroin can be neutralized by methadone. Millions of heroin addicts, both white and black, have been treated with methadone since the 70's because it is widely viewed as cheaper and better than incarceration.
4
You are absolutely correct. I felt the same way when the Republicans candidates started stepping up to the microphones, one after another, to tell their sad stories of familial drug addiction, which by the grace of forgiving cops and good health insurance might have remained a family secret forever. Have these people no self-awareness?!
7
Schadenfreude, and flatly false. Thousands of "white" drug addicts have gone to prison. Treatment is still a minor part of the system, across the board.
11
I wish the author could have been with me during my tenure as a criminal prosecutor in Bronx County from 1987-1992. I wish he could have visited the families of victims of violence related to the crack epidemic. I wish he could have heard their anguished pleas as the bodies of the crack wars piled up. I wish he could have heard the communities complain that "the police aren't doing enough!" "They know who the criminals are and they turn a blind eye." I wish he could have been with me when I heard the news that a friend of mine who was a prosecutor (after having served his country in the military and then worked with mother teresa in calcuta) was mudered in a crack related drive by shooting across the street from the courthouse whilst buying a donut and a cup of coffee. I wish he could have been with me when I held crying mothers in my arms as they pleaded with our office and with the police to "DO SOMETHING!" Oh how I wish this law professor was there for that...
217
Your rant probably has a point but I'll be darned if I know what it is. It certainly isn't what the article is about: how differently white addiction is being treated than black addiction is or was.
11
Thank you. It is nothing less than amazing to me that people are now re-writing history to fit some kind of politically correct vision of what actually happened.
6
Didn't seem at all like a "rant" to me. The writer is just trying to say that the two "epidemics" are very comparable. Are you just being obtuse?
5
Yes, racist. But recall Lenny Bruce the white 60's comedian, who was crucified for a heroin addiction, put in jail, lost his career, and died an ugly overdose.
6
He's only one person.
3
As a criminologist, I must say, this is a great piece! I agree 100%! Kudos to the writer!
15
As a public health practitioner, I also want to laud this piece. Thank you, Prof. Yankah, for pointing out the hypocrisy in how most Americans respond to crises. We tend to react more when the impact is on people who are most like ourselves. And when only a minority is impacted, and - importantly - it's not a "contagious" disease, it's just too easy to dismiss something awful as "it won't happen to me or my loved ones."
Addiction is a disease, whether it be from crack or heroin. It can be measured by the neurological changes in the brain. Addiction is blind to race, creed, or gender.
Addiction is a disease, whether it be from crack or heroin. It can be measured by the neurological changes in the brain. Addiction is blind to race, creed, or gender.
10
Let's also think about the state of our psychological system. 1980 brought in the new DSM, which almost doubled the number of diagnoses. Addiction was not considered a disease. There are so many differences between then and now. Maybe instead of trying to insist that there has been a sudden change in opinion because drug addiction is now affecting people that are white, maybe one could look at the history and think that maybe it was the crack epidemic in the 80's that led to changes that have slowly brought us to where we are today.
Interesting thing that I realized while reading this article is that while growing up in the 80's and being inundated with DARE and "just say no" campaigns, I was always given the image of white people addicted to drugs. Also, in my mind the crack babies were always white. So, either I was incredibly sheltered, or the images portrayed were not as biased towards blacks as this article suggests.
Interesting thing that I realized while reading this article is that while growing up in the 80's and being inundated with DARE and "just say no" campaigns, I was always given the image of white people addicted to drugs. Also, in my mind the crack babies were always white. So, either I was incredibly sheltered, or the images portrayed were not as biased towards blacks as this article suggests.
4
I feel for you. But I think you are pandering to the times, looking for sypathy, when it's not deserved. First, what was the reaction from the African American communities at the height of the crack craze? Gun and physical violence were par for the course. Parts of NY, LA and Chicago were things of legend.
Today, while addiction is rampant for white folk, which some seem to write about with almost glee. The level of violence is far lower, if non existent relative to the crack epidemic. You can try and blame your "condition", but apparently that isn't entirely accurate. Further, one learns from its lessons. There are countless things society did in the past that we do differently today. In the end, I think you are off base in your analysis and claim of injustice in this case. Might I ask, if there was injustice as you suggest, what do you want as a result?
Today, while addiction is rampant for white folk, which some seem to write about with almost glee. The level of violence is far lower, if non existent relative to the crack epidemic. You can try and blame your "condition", but apparently that isn't entirely accurate. Further, one learns from its lessons. There are countless things society did in the past that we do differently today. In the end, I think you are off base in your analysis and claim of injustice in this case. Might I ask, if there was injustice as you suggest, what do you want as a result?
11
'But mostly, crack meant shocking violence, terrifying gangs and hollowed-out inner cities.'
And that is the difference. Those neighborhoods were literally war zones. Nothing could be done to help anyone; addict or even victim much of time, until the violence subsided.
Those communities were too weak and vulnerable to help themselves.
Even with policing and harsher sentencing, the violence was so pervasive and on going, it was barely controllable and in the end had to burn itself out.
That was a terrible time that I hope never returns but the difference is how communities take care of themselves too.
And that is the difference. Those neighborhoods were literally war zones. Nothing could be done to help anyone; addict or even victim much of time, until the violence subsided.
Those communities were too weak and vulnerable to help themselves.
Even with policing and harsher sentencing, the violence was so pervasive and on going, it was barely controllable and in the end had to burn itself out.
That was a terrible time that I hope never returns but the difference is how communities take care of themselves too.
105
Some people did fight back in the hard hit areas, but their stories are largely unknown and often they were unreported entirely. One such person in D.C. was a grandmother by the name of Loree Grand who banned together with other women in their neighborhood, not far from the U.S. Capitol Building, to drive the drug dealers out. She took on some of the most violent street thugs in America and risked her life in the process. Ms. Grand now has a modern, high rise apartment building at 3rd and L Streets, N.E. named in her honor by a builder who wanted to thank her directly for helping to clean up the neighborhood and make new development possible. I suspect there are hundreds of such stories across America, but because we do not know these stories, because we are subjected to repeated negative images without counterbalance, we just assume the worst.
4
The current response to the heroin resurgence makes clear that something can be done, could have been done, should have been done and wasn't done.
The author's point was that punitive measures didn't work and were only utilized because of race.
The narrow confines of CT do not reveal the violent ravages of rural meth labs and neglected white infants. It's a jungle in the sticks too, the population density masquerades it.
The author's point was that punitive measures didn't work and were only utilized because of race.
The narrow confines of CT do not reveal the violent ravages of rural meth labs and neglected white infants. It's a jungle in the sticks too, the population density masquerades it.
4
There is another huge difference: the current epidemic is rooted in the overprescribing of opiates by doctors. The system that was supposed to help vulnerable people is directly responsible for addicting them. This is an institutional, structural irony which, rightly or wrongly, makes the system more sympathetic to the addicted.
Excellent column. I totally empathize with the double standard applied to addiction in the black community vs that in the white. And as a long time recovering drinker myself, I understand all too well the pull of substance abuse and the medical assessment of addiction as a disease.
It seems to me however that the disease concept is also part of the problem, with interracial double standards. I don't think I have ever read about drug addiction in the black community as a disease, but I routinely read articles today about heroin addiction in Massachusetts and New Hampshire where is freely acknowledged that any form of substance abuse represents a medical problem which the AMA first recognized in 1955 in its statement on alcoholism as a disease.
The biggest issue for me, as I'm sure it is for you, is to ensure that the same standards of treatment and approach are equally applied across races. It would be nice to think that if drug addiction in white communities is suddenly a crisis, there might be some acknowledgement of how long it has been a crisis in black urban environments. That is probably a pipe dream.
But if the double standard continues, it will be a serious blight on the moral character of Americans in general, and proof that we have a long way to go to stamp out racism when even a disease can't be democratically acknowledged.
It seems to me however that the disease concept is also part of the problem, with interracial double standards. I don't think I have ever read about drug addiction in the black community as a disease, but I routinely read articles today about heroin addiction in Massachusetts and New Hampshire where is freely acknowledged that any form of substance abuse represents a medical problem which the AMA first recognized in 1955 in its statement on alcoholism as a disease.
The biggest issue for me, as I'm sure it is for you, is to ensure that the same standards of treatment and approach are equally applied across races. It would be nice to think that if drug addiction in white communities is suddenly a crisis, there might be some acknowledgement of how long it has been a crisis in black urban environments. That is probably a pipe dream.
But if the double standard continues, it will be a serious blight on the moral character of Americans in general, and proof that we have a long way to go to stamp out racism when even a disease can't be democratically acknowledged.
60
I've been thinking about the "war on drugs" for years. Long ago I came to the conclusion that we've been approaching this in the wrong way. People who are addicted need help. It may take quit a few "slips" before they actually are able to get well. But it can and does happen. We've managed to jail thousands of our black citizens, waste millions if not billions of dollars and, this is what I'm also concerned about, managed to corrupt many police departments who have found an easy source of money from RICO. Its time to approach this in a more logical and yes, humane way.
2
So when the young people across all segments of our entire society have adopted hip-hop music and fashion 30 years after the beginning of the crack epidemic, then what? Ignoring the effect of drugs and fashion, neither of which remain confined to a cultural ghetto, is just as bad as abusing the substances. Many college-educated white boys and girls of all professions and age groups also smoked, and continue to toke on, rocks of crack cocaine despite every warning and stigma. The heroin we see permeating our suburbs and areas of relative economic privilege is being snorted and shot because across all social strata, Americans are increasingly hopeless and want an escape, even heroin. The cartels who profit inordinately from its consumption are the beneficiaries of Americans' mealy-mouthed political correctness that forbids the United States from making any statement to the effect that our southern neighbor has declared a war on this country, to be won with opioids.
20
So it's now both hip hop and Mexico's fault that white America has a drug problem? Anything to deflect the blame from looking inward I guess.
As I understand it, the current heroin epidemic is likely the result of the previous prescription opiate addiction crisis, especially the Oxycontin epidemic. As Oxy became more expensive, or less readily available, heroin moved in as a cheap alternative.
Like you said, people are hopeless and want an escape. People often find a variety of substances to do this and have always. But now that white American is finally the face of addiction(though white addiction is not new in any way), people are suddenly clamoring for humane solutions. The should receive them of course, but let's please acknowledge the hypocrisy here.
As I understand it, the current heroin epidemic is likely the result of the previous prescription opiate addiction crisis, especially the Oxycontin epidemic. As Oxy became more expensive, or less readily available, heroin moved in as a cheap alternative.
Like you said, people are hopeless and want an escape. People often find a variety of substances to do this and have always. But now that white American is finally the face of addiction(though white addiction is not new in any way), people are suddenly clamoring for humane solutions. The should receive them of course, but let's please acknowledge the hypocrisy here.
8
Your last sentence is absolutely outrageous. In fact it is America, by its hunger for drugs combined with its Puritan determination to forbid them, that has in effect declared war on Mexico, by making gangsterism by far its biggest industry.
9
Yes, it's Mexico's fault. They create the demand? Political correctness? You and Trump build your wall and have a plaque on the wall with both your faces emblazoned on it.
7
Face it, it was not African American usage of drugs that suggested Narcan (Naloxone) be available for wide use to first responders and the public on the streets. This is a medication used to reverse the effects of opioids, especially in overdose.
Not until the white populous has gotten the press of late was this recommended and put to use. Narcan had been used for a long time in ER's previous to this forefront of "white addiction" as we may put it.
After Phillip Seymour Hoffman's death we saw the recommendations come forth and then availability for "public use" so to speak.
We think about how many African American lives could have been saved as easily previous to the newer Narcan guidelines and usage.
Not until the white populous has gotten the press of late was this recommended and put to use. Narcan had been used for a long time in ER's previous to this forefront of "white addiction" as we may put it.
After Phillip Seymour Hoffman's death we saw the recommendations come forth and then availability for "public use" so to speak.
We think about how many African American lives could have been saved as easily previous to the newer Narcan guidelines and usage.
41
The same could be said for all races in regard to aspirin use for stroke and heart attacks. You do a great disservice to the men and women in ERs across this country to assume that they treat people differently based on race. I've seen surgeons work tirelessly, pumping in unit after unit of blood in an effort to save a black thug who had a shootout in the street. I've seen nurses and doctors alike with tears of sorrow and frustration because they could not save someone's child/mother/father...of any color.....from self inflicted trauma. To suggest that emergency responders only become interested when the lives are white is insulting.
3
Having grown up in West Harlem NYC in the 50's and early 60's, having seen the devastating effects of drug addiction upon both black and white lower class families, having had a mother who with black neighbors sought the help of the Rev Obadiah Dempsey at a 125th Street church to get some action to end the criminal enterprises around drugs in our tenement, having seen the vacuous and bigoted responses of local police and politicians, after all that at 70 years old I have no sympathy nor empathy for those now moaning and groaning about their white children falling victim to drug addiction. The white establishment response back then makes it easy for me to say today, "put them into jail" and "to hell with them."
The author would hope that the white community shows some better humanity towards the disenfranchised, the poor, the non-white, etc. I look for it in the current Presidential debates. I don't see it too much of it on the Republican side. I look for it in general society and I don't see much of it at all.
My conclusion is that the white community has reaped what it has sown. And I have become hardened in my attitudes about drug takers of any kind as a result. Op ED pieces like this are not potent enough to change my attitudes.
The author would hope that the white community shows some better humanity towards the disenfranchised, the poor, the non-white, etc. I look for it in the current Presidential debates. I don't see it too much of it on the Republican side. I look for it in general society and I don't see much of it at all.
My conclusion is that the white community has reaped what it has sown. And I have become hardened in my attitudes about drug takers of any kind as a result. Op ED pieces like this are not potent enough to change my attitudes.
170
I totally agree with you. Being about the same age as you I saw what was happening in the black community during the crack wars. I also was a
substance abuse counselor in the early 90's. Most of the people in rehab
were white. They were also doing crack and numerous other drugs. Having
seen so much injustice over my life time, I have no empathy for the current white heroin abuse epidemic just as they had no empathy for my black brothers and sisters back then.
substance abuse counselor in the early 90's. Most of the people in rehab
were white. They were also doing crack and numerous other drugs. Having
seen so much injustice over my life time, I have no empathy for the current white heroin abuse epidemic just as they had no empathy for my black brothers and sisters back then.
12
I grew up in East Harlem in the 70’s and 80’s and still live there, my era trumps yours for drug addiction and violence. The reason society lashed back so strongly in the 80’s and 90’s was the rampant violence. President Bill Clinton signed all those draconian laws. The murder rate in NYC was 2,500 per year. Muggings and other thefts were totally out of control. Everyone I know was beaten and robbed by crack heads. People were fleeing and the City was breaking down on every level. Race had nothing to do with it. The violence and crime crossed all lines. A murder in the neighborhood was an ordinary occurrence. Today’s epidemic is quieter; the junkies are around but mellower. Quality of life policing gets rid of them, at least for a while, quickly. If the level of violence we had in the 80’s and 90’s comes back, you can bet that all those people paying a million dollars for an apartment on 96th street are going to get the same draconian laws passed and real quick.
133
That's it exactly.
I don't doubt for a second that race is involved in the disparate treatment of the heroin problem of today versus the crack problem of the 1980s, but one would have to be blind to not see the pervasive role of violence as critical in the reaction to the crack wards of yesteryear. No one--black or white--had much sympathy for the crack heads of the day; the just had fear.
I don't doubt for a second that race is involved in the disparate treatment of the heroin problem of today versus the crack problem of the 1980s, but one would have to be blind to not see the pervasive role of violence as critical in the reaction to the crack wards of yesteryear. No one--black or white--had much sympathy for the crack heads of the day; the just had fear.
31
So when Marco Rubio says "This is a president who is trying to change this country" we should understand the code. And when Rubio brandishes his religion we need to see it for what it is. An act.
55
As a NYC police officer during the "crack bomb" in NYC I can tell you the images were not "always" black victim images. Thousands of poor Hispanics and whites were impacted just the same as were their communities in the Bronx and Queens. The liberal media gets to write their distortions from their comfortable offices but they cannot distort the true facts from the people who were on those streets at 3am staring into the eyes of emaciated mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters from every background.
163
I appreciate your comment, Officer Matthew. These types of articles which our liberal press spews forth relentlessly are divisive rather than helpful. As usual, they are assigning suffering quotients. We must be united in seeking a solution.
6
Ummm, not so sure about this. Not what you've seen, but how it was treated. Can't remember a single white person being referred to as a "thug." Can't remember a single white person held up as a "welfare queen." Can't remember Narcan or anything else but prison offered in response to minority drug use. Even Congress got in on the action, making penalties for crack ten times longer than for powder cocaine.
You can't deny history: Google the articles about drug use and drug arrests back then . . . you'll find precious few references to addicts being people with lives who need help. That didn't start to happen until the addicts who are dying became primarily white.
You can't deny history: Google the articles about drug use and drug arrests back then . . . you'll find precious few references to addicts being people with lives who need help. That didn't start to happen until the addicts who are dying became primarily white.
162
And if we're being honest with ourselves, heroin addicts who got into it because they were over-prescribed pain medication by a trusted licensed professional are significantly more sympathetic than crack or meth addicts. To most people the thought process required to get into a drug like crack or meth is inconceivable. Getting into heroin through legal prescription gateway drugs like vicodin seems a lot more plausible to most folks, and thus more sympathetic.