"The House I live in" - Film Response

Write an initial post of around 150-300 words that explores the question: How do the drug trade and drug control policies intersect with, and impact upon, processes/acts of discrimination, social exclusion, racism, poverty, gendered experience, fear, and/or violence according to the film? (You don't have to address every one of those points, just post on something you found the most important in the film that relates to that question/prompt.) At the end of this first post pose a question to your discussion group (this can be your own discussion question, just a general question you have about classmates' reactions to a particular part of the film, a question that connects the film to other course themes, etc.). You will have to post first before you can see others' posts. -“ What drugs haven’t destroyed the war against drugs has. “ Drug arrest stats are growing too, police are rewarded for arresting and busting, they receive the money and the promotions Financial benefits built in the system guarantee that there will be low offense low violence arrests The impacts that these drug arrest and mistrust causes for the police system overall , especially for African Americans and other people of color Historically, drug laws impacted very clear immigrant/new populations Opium - Chinese workers Marijuana - Mexican workers Later - meth being applied to white poor people in trailer parks and gay populations (AIDS+), two populations they want to vilified Whenever a new drug comes to the streets of the US, anything can be said about it. The comparison between crack use under Regan and ideas about marijuana use in 1920s, killing people and selling everyone because you’re so addicted, Huge Disproportion between powder cocaine and crack cocaine different in sentencing. Crack cocaine is more commonly used by African Americans in public housing where powder is used by richer populations Despite evidence and information, Congress kept the crack and cocaine disparity in law, Supreme Court allows different judges to pass different amounts, but still the justice and judges at the circuit levels are trumped by congresses complex minimum sentencing Most crack defendants are AA, but in reality at 2017 they were only 17% using CC compared to white populations and other minorities Still only reduced to 18:1 under Obama from 100:1 Business around the private prison system, profits for more people. Convention in the film for prison construction and benefits, they’re invested in US mass incarceration and the drug war. The drug war is a success for private prisons, and police funding, and business, and employment. The drug war has been successful monetarily in the US. How do the drug trade and drug control policies intersect with, and impact upon, processes/acts of discrimination, social exclusion, racism, poverty, gendered experience, fear, and/or violence according to the film? --The theme of drug trade and control policies intersect with discrimination was prominent throughout the film. Historically speaking, drug criminality has been tied to different immigrant groups, like the Chinese populations in the early twenties and Mexican workers being the scapegoat for Marijuana and its illegalization in the forties. These different substances were tied with populations for external reasons such as “taking away jobs” from other “American” workers, in part leading to the substances becoming illegal. A clear example of racism interesting with drug policy is the difference in sentencing between powdered cocaine and crack cocaine. Crack cocaine had been associated more with African American arrests whereas narrowly, powder cocaine has been tied with an increase of more wealthy and white populations. The film examines how this is entirely a myth. Although most crack cocaine defendants are African American, in 2017 they only constituted 17% of use compared to white populations and other groups. Nonetheless, the US Congress for some time kept the disparity of sentencing between crack cocaine and powder cocaine at 1:100, only lowering during the Obama Administration from 1:18. The impacts of this discrepancy and racism in sentencing drug policy and arrests cause distrust for the police system overall for many people impacted by their policies, especially for African Americans, other people of color, and those in poverty. Poverty and class intersect with the drug trade and use throughout the film. Throughout the film, it is understood that police and private prisons benefit from an increase in arrests, seizures, and filled beds in prisons. The film made an interesting point with the rise in Methamphetamine in the mid-1980-1990s in the US, like crack cocaine in some aspects, the substance was tied with trailer parks and poverty, but this time especially with white populations. Portraying substances as problems of the “poor” is a common theme throughout the film in depicting the US government’s and public’s response. Discussion Question: At the end of the film, some interviewed begin to form the argument that the War on Drugs has been a “success” for capitalism, private prisons, police enterprise, and incarcerating those in society who could be viewed as no longer having a place, alienated by a loss of jobs and opportunities. - In what ways is this “success” harming, both past and present, not only those incarcerated/directly impacted but society as a whole?