The War on Drugs is nothing but a legal restructuring of Jim Crow, a far-reaching injustice inflicted on People of Color.
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“Weldon Angelos will spend the rest of his life in prison for three marijuana sales. Angelos, a twenty four year old record producer, possessed a weapon, which he did not use or threaten to use at the time of the sales. Under federal sentencing guidelines, the sentencing judge was obligated to impose a fifty-five year mandatory minimum sentence. Upon doing so, the judge noted his reluctance to send the young man away for life for three marijuana sales. He said from the bench, ‘The Court believes that to sentence Mr. Angelos to prison for the rest of his life is unjust, cruel, and even irrational.'”
This is one casualty of the War on Drugs. There are millions more, and the resulting under caste represents a restructuring of racial control that begin with slavery 300 years ago, according Michelle Alexander’s, The New Jim Crow.
Initially, indentured servitude of blacks and whites was the economic model, but when the Bacon Rebellion aligned each against the planter class in 1675, the original “racial bribe” was issued.
Planters opting for full-fledged African Slavery, poor whites received just enough privilege to give them a stake in the new paradigm and racial politics were born in the U.S.A.
1865 required the next legal restructuring, Reconstruction’s end revealed Jim Crow as its successor. As in the Bacon Rebellion, the populist movements of the 1890’s resulted in another brief cross-racial alignment, but raised the specter of white supremacy through the K.K.K. that reinforced Jim Crow for decades to come.
Scrambling to find a new model in 1964, conservative elements began to tie civil rights unrest to crime. This coincided with the actual rise in crime, which was attributed mostly to the sheer numbers of the baby boom generation – with young males always committing the most crime.
The racial discourse needed to be coded, and Nixon’s rhetoric of “Cracking down on crime” sufficed. While not resulting in policy changes, the “Southern Strategy” appealed to poor whites that opposed the Civil Rights agenda. The racial divide began once again.
Reagan then seized on Nixon’s initiative. “Welfare queens,” “criminal predators” and colorblind rhetoric on taxes and state’s rights spoke directly to the demographic Republicans were after. Kicking off his campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi, where three civil rights activists were murdered in 1964, Reagan hammered home the message. “I believe in state’s rights,” he coded.
In 1982 the drug war began at a time when only 2% of the population thought drugs were the number one issue. Law enforcement funding skyrocketed, while funding for education and treatment plummeted. The administration then launched a media blitz to sensationalize the emergence of crack.
DEA agent Robert Stuntman remembered his role.
“The media was only too willing to cooperate because as far as they were concerned, crack was the hottest combat reporting story since Vietnam.”
Falsehoods, such as “epidemic” and “instantly addictive,” highlighted the headlines. As such, the Washington Post admitted the 1565 crack stories run in 1988 showed that the paper had lost “all sense of proportion.”
This coincided with the collapse of the manufacturing sector – escalating the incentive to sell drugs. Alexander wrote,
“Joblessness and crack swept the inner city precisely at the moment that a fierce backlash against the civil rights movement was manifesting itself through the drug war.”
By 1991, the House appropriated $2 Billion to fight the war. The public fully complying, 64% deemed drugs the number one issue but with no discernible rise in drug use.
The penalties followed in kind with five-year mandatory minimum sentences for first time possession of crack, and the prison population exploded.
Clinton exasperated the situation, angling to appear even tougher on crime with three strikes laws and a doubling down of the drug war to capture white swing voters. Clinton implemented Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, which imposed a lifetime ban on welfare or food stamps for a felony drug offense, which included marijuana possession.
The erosion of Fourth Amendment rights paved the way from the groundwork laid in 1968. The court ruled that if an officer observes “unusual conduct” in someone believed to pose a threat, a search is warranted. Known as the “stop and frisk rule,” only Justice Douglas dissented.
“To give the police greater power than a magistrate is to take a long step down the totalitarian path. Perhaps such a step is desirable to cope with modern forms of lawlessness. But if it is taken, it should be the deliberate choice of the people through a constitutional amendment.”
Still, people must consent to a search – not realizing they are allowed to refuse. In fact, the court acknowledged in Schneckloth vs. Bustamonte that the practice would likely end if those being targeted were aware of their rights.
Traffic violations then provide additional fodder for the current system of control. Given that it is nearly impossible to cover any distance without violating something, police discretion is the main criteria. Based on the racial makeup of our prison population, the target is obvious.
Finally, almost no cases go to trial, and prosecutors can dismiss or “overcharge” at their leisure. That leaves defendants compelled to plead guilty to lesser felonies in the face of mandatory minimum sentences – even if they are innocent.
Still facing multiple years, 80% cannot afford representation and public defenders aren’t much help. The result: prison population has risen from 350,000 in 1980 to 2.3 million by 2008.
And then it begins – the New Jim Crow. Today 5.1 million felons are denied public housing or assistance, discriminated by landlords and are required to list felonies on job applications.
“In this system of control, failing to cope well with one’s exile status is treated like a crime,” says Alexander.
35% of all prison admissions are parole violations (compared to 1% in 1980). Two thirds of those cases were for technical violations such as missing a parole appointment or failing to remain drug free or employed.
In the face of that, many opt for the drug trade, where three strikes mean life. More than a failure, the War on Drugs is simply a crime against humanity and needs to end.
Please sign the Petition to Pardon Weldon Angelo, and please sign this petition as well.
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