Politicians have exploited a tremendous political opportunity after the end of Jim Crow. Poor and working class Southern whites felt threatened by the gains of African Americans through the Civil Rights Movement. They had been told that blacks were below them, but now they were legally equal and competing for the same jobs. Overt racism now out of the question, the Reagan Administration initiated the War on Drugs that effectively targeted blacks. It was colorblind on its face, but white voters understood that it would keep blacks down. This policy, continued and strengthened by presidents of both parties, has devastated the black community, with a very high proportion of black makes in jail, on parole, or on probation, despite the fact that whites use drugs as much or more than blacks. All this has real power to hold blacks back economically, especially considering that drug convicts are ineligible for federal college loans and for many jobs.
I think I am sold. I was already skeptical of the drug war and this is a very compelling case for its harm. As for solving it, I suppose it would be difficult to undue policies that leaders have found tremendously politically valuable. But one easy thing is that unlike many big problems, a solution does not require huge expense. The government can save money by rolling back the drug war.
I do find one piece of the author's approach troubling. She argues that racism often hides behind colorblindness. A leader may be for law and order, when it is actually code language to whites that we will keep blacks in jail. I worry that we are getting to a place where it is becoming acceptable to accuse someone of racism without evidence. I certainly agree that people can do tricky things to support an effectively racist policy while attempting full deniability. But you are inevitably going to give people the power to destroy innocent people if we can brand people racist without evidence. If a politician claims to support law and order, perhaps the question to ask is whether they support a system of law and order that jails a much higher rate of blacks for drug crimes when their rate of drug use is actually lower than whites.
I also have to admit I didn't read this whole book. It is well written, but not exactly a page turner. I found a Bill Moyer's interview with the author more accessible. She seems to be especially eloquent live and in person.
