Drugs, Law And Race - 2079 Words

Drugs, Law and Race in American â€Å"We have defeated Jim Crow, but now we have to deal with his son, James Crow Jr., esquire.† (Whitaker) Those words by the reverend Al Sharpton summarize the feelings of many people about the modern face of racism in America. Unlike the Jim Crow laws of the 1890’s which created culture of overt discrimination enforced through fear. Modern day racism does not use blunt force, the fear of the lynch mob, or even outright separate but equal laws. It is more covert and sophisticated using the current laws and justice system to entrap many African Americans in the prison system. A 2008 report by the civil rights organization Human Rights Watch documented major racial disparities in the†¦show more content†¦He used a political rhetorical technique known as the Southern Strategy. By using racially coded rhetoric on issues of crime, he was able to tap into poor and working-class whites’, particularly in the South, deeply held beliefs about African Americans and their links to drug use and other criminal behavior. According to mass communications scholar William Elwood, Such rhetoric allows presidents to appear as strong leaders who are tough on crime and concerned about domestic issues and is strategically ambiguous to portray urban minorities as responsible for problems related to the drug war and for resolving such problems. (Nunn, 391) On June 19, 1986, University of Maryland basketball star and number two pick in the NBA draft by the reigning champions at the time the Boston Celtics, Len Bias died of a cocaine overdose. Bias’s death shocked the nation and started a media frenzy centered mistakenly on crack cocaine instead of powered cocaine which was the drug responsible for Bias’s death. He became the poster child for Nancy Reagan’s â€Å"Just Say No† anti-drug campaign. Congress responding to an outpouring of grief and fear over the young man death quickly passed the he Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. On October 27, 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, which appropriated $1.7