June 21, 2011
Black Leaders Call for War on the 'War on Drugs'
By Hazel Trice Edney
Activists, who have long tried to correct the destructive fall out from the "war on drugs" were asked to stand.PHOTO: Roy Lewis
Rev. Jesse Jackson, president and CEO of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, tells audience that change in public policy is essential in the war against the "War on Drugs." PHOTO: Roy Lewis
Dr. Elsie Scott, president and CEO of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, tells standing-room-only audience what must be done legislatively to quell damages of "war on drugs." Behind her is Institution of the Black World 21st Century board Chairman Rick Adams and Dr. Ron. Daniels, IBW President and CEO. PHOTO: Roy Lewis
WASHINGTON (TriceEdneyWire.com) - A national forum aimed to declare war on the 40-year-long “war on drugs” has culminated into an enlistment of quasi soldiers to push Congress and the White House to end the campaign that – according to statistics - has wreaked havoc on and destroyed Black communities nationwide.
“This is a crime against humanity. War on drugs is a war on Black and Brown and must be challenged by the highest levels of our government in the war for justice,” said the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., keynote speaker at a forum commemorating the 40th anniversary of the “War on Drugs.”
“This is government-sponsored terrorism,” Jackson said to applause in the packed room at the National Press Club. “It raised the price on Black existence; it is an attack on the Black family; it has destroyed a generation. Those who are the least users have paid the most price because of race; those with money and attorneys have paid the least price. Those without attorneys remain behind bars today.”
More than 200 gathered at the forum, sponsored by the New York City-based Institute of the Black World – 21st Century, led by its president and CEO, Dr. Ron Daniels, a veteran human and civil rights activist. It was 40 years ago that President Richard M. Nixon began the “War on Drugs”.
It was said to be aimed at illegal importation as well as the street-level demand for illegal drugs. But, four decades later, the most visible results from a Black perspective have been intensified police focus in Black communities, resulting in astronomical rates of Black males in prisons; hundreds of thousands of Blacks and Latinos dead from gun violence; and police corruption, including profiling, brutality, and abuse of power.
From seasoned activists and organizational leaders to people formerly incarcerated on drug offenses, the outcry at the forum appeared to be the same: “The war on drugs is a war on us!” That was a phrase repeated several times during the three-hour forum, which was televised live on C-SPAN.
“I’m here to tell you that one of the most fundamental pillars of what we see going on in our communities, this combustible caldron of genocide and death, is this war on drugs,” says Daniels. “Why? It’s because it’s a racist war on drugs…I know many people are out there saying, ‘Why are you Negroes still talking about racism?’ That’s because we’ve been targeted for the police action – the war on drugs is a war on us.”
Among the statistics and study results quoted by a string of speakers and experts:
- African-Americans are 62 percent of drug offenders sent to state prisons, yet they represent only 12 percent of the U. S. population.
- Black men are sent to state prisons on drug charges at 13 times the rate of White men.
- Drug transactions among Blacks are easier for police to target because they more often happen in public than do drug transactions between Whites.
- The disparities are particularly tragic in individual states where Black men are sent to federal prison on drug charges at a rate 57 times greater than White men, according to Human Rights Watch.
- More than 25.4 million Americans have been arrested on drug charges since 1980; about one-third of them were Black.
- The Black populations in state prisons are majorly disproportionate: In Georgia, the Black population is 29 percent, the Black prison population is 54 percent; Arkansas 16 percent -52 percent; Louisiana 33 percent-76 percent; Mississippi 36 percent-75 percent; Alabama 26 percent -65 percent; Tennessee 16 percent -63 percent; Kentucky 7 percent-36 percent; South Carolina 30 percent-69 percent; North Carolina 22 percent-64 percent; and Virginia 20 percent-68 percent.
- According to the Global Commission on Drug Policy arresting and incarcerating people fills prisons and destroys lives but does not reduce the availability of illicit drugs or the power of criminal organizations.
- The average daily cost per state prison inmate per day in the U.S. is $67.55. State prisons held 253,300 inmates for drug offenses in 2007. That means states spent approximately $17 million per day to imprison drug offenders, or more than $6.2 billion per year.
Suggested solutions to end disparities and other injustices were plentiful:
“We should view this period when there is so much discussion about budget cutting and reducing the deficit as an opportunity for positive change in the incarceration rates,” said Dr. Elsie Scott, president and CEO of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. “Even some of the more reactionary legislators may be willing to engage in discussions about changes that reduce government spending. People who could not give a good care about inmates and the social impact of incarceration and the criminalization of social behavior may be willing to talking about reducing criminal justice expenditures.”
Other suggested solutions:
- Ask Congress to repeal mandatory sentences for all drug offenses.
- Ask Congress to create new and fully-funded drug treatment facilities rather than more prisons.
- Press local, state and federal law enforcers to eliminate police profiling as a tactic to deal with drug trafficking.
- Encourage and support religious leaders to assist incarcerated persons and providing community and moral leadership.
- Ask President Obama to create a commission on review, remedy and action for drug laws that lead to racially disparate impacts.
- Ask local, state and federal governments to invest in activities that can both prevent young people from taking drugs in the first place and prevent those who do use drugs from developing more serious problems.
U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), ranking member and former chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, agreed adamantly with Jackson that the answers are largely found in the change of public policy.
“Now, more than ever, we need to change the counterproductive drug strategies that the nation has pursued for decades,” said Conyers. “In a time when all levels of government are facing severe budget pressures, it is even more urgent that we stop the policies which harm our citizens and break our budgets. If we treat people with drug problems as patients instead of criminals, and implement programs that prevent people from taking drugs in the first place, we will accomplish the goals of stemming drug abuse, reducing violent crime, and saving money for our taxpayers.”
Daniels has posted an enlistment document on his organization’s website - www.IBW21.org - for people to sign up and post their contact information in order to begin community organizing to impact change. That is the ultimate strategy, he says.
“At the end of the day, this is really about our capacity to collaborate…What we at the Institute of the Black World – 21st Century want to do in declaring this war on drugs is we want to organize an army of advocates and organizers,” Daniels says. “We are asking people to sign the petition to become an advocate to end the war on drugs. We also need organizers in the trenches…If you step on us, we will fight back, non-violently, but we will fight back.”