Slavery Reparations: Is it time?

[CaptainF]

The roots of drugs being made illegal are quite pointless in this day and age.

Far from it.

Marijuana is illegal today because Harry Anslinger thought Mexicans and Black jazz musicians were the scum of the Earth. Cocaine was made illegal because it supposedly made black men crave white women (much like marijuana was portrayed). Opium was made illegal because Chinese people smoked it.

Race had, and has, a lot to do with drugs and that can't be ignored.

Yes, drugs are better and cheaper, because the drug war is a failure, I'm not arguing against that... I'm arguing that it is a "racist" thing.

How can you argue that the drug war isn't racist when minorities are more likely (by a factor of 10 according to the sources I posted) to go to prison for drugs?

Seems like a rather pointless endeavor to me.

When you talk about drug use, also, you have to consider what drugs are being used, because they are not the same... it's way more important than race is in the equation.

Way more important than race in determining what exactly?

Anyhow, I don't think we disagree as much as you think we do... I'm just saying it isn't institutional racism that makes illegal drugs illegal today.

Institutional racism made drugs illegal yesterday, so to speak.

Today, the reasons for keeping them illegal may have less to do with race (bogus concerns about "public health" for example), but the Drug War is still very racist because it comes down hardest on racial minorities.

 

[Tahuti]

Today, the reasons for keeping them illegal may have less to do with race (bogus concerns about "public health" for example), but the Drug War is still very racist because it comes down hardest on racial minorities.

I don't think proponents of the war on drugs actually think "Let's suppress those blacks, war on drugs ftw!" I don't deny that the war on drugs leads to vicious cycles that hit minorities hard, but I don't think it's the goal either.

In fact, the war on drugs doesn't have any goal. Politicians just get lobbied to keep it that way, because there are a great many influential parties who benefit from the war on drugs; the drug traders themselves for instance.

 

[Tarquelne]

In fact, the war on drugs doesn't have any goal.

Historically Americans were seen as a bunch of boring farmers and boorish nouveau riche. The war on drugs was designed to give the US a charmingly wicked demi-monde that'd help attract tourists.

We're still fine-tuning. The closest we came was Prohibition. So close and yet so far...

 

[Camikaze]

Moderator Action: If you want to discuss the 'war on drugs', create a thread for it.