“Our focus is on the War on Drugs. The reason is simple: Convictions for drug offenses are the single most important cause of the explosion in incarceration rates in the United States. Drug offenses alone account for two-thirds of the rise in the federal inmate population and more than half of the rise in state prisoners between 1985 and 2000. Approximately a half-million people are in prison or jail for a drug offense today, compared to an estimated 41,100 in 1980—an increase of 1,100 percent. Drug arrests have tripled since 1980. As a result, more than 31 million people have been arrested for drug offenses since the drug war began. Nothing has contributed more to the systematic mass incarceration rate of people of color in the United States than the War on Drugs.” – Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. Jan 2012
Nothing has contributed more to the systematic mass incarceration rate of people of color in the United States than the War on Drugs.
I know that Black History Month is coming to an end, but for those of you looking for a book to help you better understand the current social and psychological conditions of Black America, particular Black men, The New Jim Crow is a great place to start. Michelle Alexander breaks the history of the prison industrial complex and it’s focus on Black and Hispanic men all the way down, from the laws and court cases enacted, to the processes behind racial profiling.
