The War on Drugs: Crash Course Black American History #42

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  • čas přidán 12. 07. 2022
  • The War on Drugs is a decades-long United States policy intended to curb illegal drug use and trafficking. Long story short: it has not worked to reduce drug use or trade, and the policy has had devastating effects, especially on communities of color. Today we'll talk about the history of the War on Drugs, what it was trying to accomplish, and how it contributed to the US as a carceral state and the nation that imprisons more of its population than any country in the world.
    Clint's book, How the Word is Passed is available now! bookshop.org/books/how-the-wo...
    VIDEO SOURCES
    Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (New York: New Press, 2010).
    Elizabeth Hinton, From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2016).
    Khalil Muhammad, The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2010).
    Beth Ritchie, Arrested Justice: Black Women, Violence, and America’s Prison Nation (New York: New York University Press, 2012).
    www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/...
    www.americanprogress.org/issu...
    Carly Hayden Foster, The Welfare Queen: Race, Gender, Class, and Public Opinion, 15 Race, Gender & Class 162-179 (2008).
    www.theatlantic.com/politics/...
    www.brennancenter.org/our-wor...
    Crash Course is on Patreon! You can support us directly by signing up at / crashcourse
    Thanks to the following patrons for their generous monthly contributions that help keep Crash Course free for everyone forever:
    Hilary Sturges, Austin Zielman, Tori Thomas, Justin Snyder, April Frazier, Dave Freeman, Hasan Jamal, DL Singfield, Amelia Ryczek, Ken Davidian, Stephen Akuffo, Toni Miles, Steve Segreto, Michael M. Varughese, Kyle & Katherine Callahan, Laurel Stevens, Michael Wang, Stacey Gillespie (Stacey J), Burt Humburg, Allyson Martin, Aziz Y, Shanta, DAVID MORTON HUDSON, Perry Joyce, Scott Harrison, Mark & Susan Billian, Junrong Eric Zhu, Alan Bridgeman, Rachel Creager, Breanna Bosso, Matt Curls, Tim Kwist, Jonathan Zbikowski, Jennifer Killen, Sarah & Nathan Catchings, team dorsey, Trevin Beattie, Divonne Holmes à Court, Eric Koslow, Jennifer Dineen, Indika Siriwardena, Khaled El Shalakany, Jason Rostoker, Siobhán, Nathan Taylor, Les Aker, William McGraw, ClareG, Rizwan Kassim, Constance Urist, Alex Hackman, Pineapples of Solidarity, Katie Dean, Avi Yashchin, NileMatotle, Wai Jack Sin, Ian Dundore, Justin, Mark, Caleb Weeks
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Komentáře • 106

  • @tizodd6
    @tizodd6 Před rokem +162

    This is one of those subjects people are very content to leave swept under the rug.

  • @damianrobbins4167
    @damianrobbins4167 Před rokem +518

    The fact we have the highest per capita incarceration rate in the world is disgraceful, and it's never stopped people from using. I speak from experience as a recovering heroin addict.

  • @Torlik11
    @Torlik11 Před rokem +330

    "Even if you don't explicitly mention race in a policy, you still may be making a policy about race"
    Why are those simple words so hard to understand for some?

  • @santanak7149
    @santanak7149 Před rokem +22

    Put THIS in the AP African American History syllabus!

  • @donaldwoods9219
    @donaldwoods9219 Před rokem +102

    Basically America's response to poverty is to build more prisons.

  • @Magic_beans_
    @Magic_beans_ Před rokem +20

    3:48 “Black families are deteriorating, so… let’s lock up half of the dads.”

  • @The10thManRules
    @The10thManRules Před rokem +27

    "I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually". James Baldwin

  • @falconclaw3952
    @falconclaw3952 Před rokem +37

    I almost didn’t wanna watch this because I knew how mad I would get learning more about it

  • @renzoojastro2147
    @renzoojastro2147 Před rokem +159

    Thank you for this very informative video, Clint! You handled a very serious subject delicately and carefully. I come from the Philippines, which is a country that has a complicated struggle with drug use and trade that still exists today. Our previous president, Rodrigo Duterte, declared a War on Drugs similar to that of the U.S. . This video shows that taboo issues, even though not frequently discussed openly and kept in the past, can still spread through how we unconsciously spread it in our behavior and actions. The War on Drugs persists today through police brutality targeted against minority groups throughout the world, and we must not ignore these violent events. We must take action and fight against implicitly racial policies to save millions of endangered groups.

  • @TheSuzberry
    @TheSuzberry Před rokem +139

    This was a war on African Americans and Vietnam war opponents. Nixon intended it to be.

  • @jhoughjr1
    @jhoughjr1 Před rokem +123

    The war on drugs was lost by all Americans. There are plenty of drugs that are horrible, but criminalization doesn't work. Legalized drugs would make it easier for people to get treatment when they have problems. It would also make research easier which would benefit everyone.

  • @zachariahwells8779
    @zachariahwells8779 Před rokem +73

    Man, your team is doing a fantastic job! It’s so important that people learn the facts about how systemic racism is in this country. Peace.

  • @ve4643
    @ve4643 Před rokem +59

    Thank you for this episode of Black American History. It's devastating to acknowledge these things but necessary to change our future.
    Thanks to Clint! Always brilliant and eloquent, I could hear your thoughts and nuance about every topic of your interest.

  • @kaldishelbryndjar
    @kaldishelbryndjar Před rokem +45

    Brilliant episode. Please keep going strong with these. This series has completely upended, reversed and pulled inside out my understanding of the past and present day issues faced by Blacks in the US.

  • @ValiantVicuna
    @ValiantVicuna Před rokem +25

    Thank you so much for your work. My 3-yr old sometimes joins me for these videos, and I've kept them on in the background while I work. This is so serious, and so unspoken in our community. This history is the missing undercurrent that explains why we are where we are. So glad that he will have your videos to educate him at such a young age. Wish I had had you as a resource growing up T.T

  • @camiamproducer
    @camiamproducer Před rokem +17

    One of my favorites from this series!

  • @metabeard3788
    @metabeard3788 Před rokem +5

    bookmarking this episode to share in arguments for years to come

  • @vaughnharris6404
    @vaughnharris6404 Před rokem +19

    he was very kind in this presentation...our govts actions were heinous

  • @denh0006
    @denh0006 Před rokem +4

    That was by far one of the best episodes of Crash Course I have ever watched

  • @IEATCHAIR
    @IEATCHAIR Před rokem +78

    We would like to congratulate drugs for winning the war on drugs.

  • @NOYB700
    @NOYB700 Před rokem +6

    Thank you! this series has changed my life!

  • @kairyumina6407
    @kairyumina6407 Před rokem +5

    This is such a good series, I keep being impressed. Such a good balance of narrative, primary sources and quotes, and connections to the present.

  • @lilikatz1221
    @lilikatz1221 Před rokem +10

    Thank you you making this video and shedding light on one of the biggest flaws of our criminal justice system.

  • @azdajajeanne
    @azdajajeanne Před 11 měsíci

    Thank you so much for putting your sources in the description! I only own one of those books, so I look forward to being able to read more. The efforts of those working on this channel are very much appreciated!

  • @ivyteacherwilson
    @ivyteacherwilson Před rokem +21

    Thank you for another great lesson! 💯⚜️

  • @sepehrkamahi4087
    @sepehrkamahi4087 Před rokem +12

    great video
    hey crash course
    I want this man to teach more courses
    he is really good at this

  • @perryegolson833
    @perryegolson833 Před rokem +4

    Clint, an absolutely fantastic video. Thanks so much!

  • @hayleyxyz
    @hayleyxyz Před rokem +60

    We need decrimilzation now. It's sickening how people are serving life for weed due to the three-strikes law.

  • @Wineclaw
    @Wineclaw Před rokem +8

    If anyone watching this finds themselves in Philadelphia, I highly recommend visiting the Eastern State Penitentiary. It'll drive home how bad the carceral state has become.

  • @ancientswordrage
    @ancientswordrage Před rokem +3

    This is a great, if harrowing, video! Thank you for continuing with this series

  • @Seraphus87
    @Seraphus87 Před rokem +7

    The cruelty is not a bug, it is a feature.

  • @siddakid4777
    @siddakid4777 Před rokem +8

    I’ve been waiting on this episode!

  • @smokingjoe9864
    @smokingjoe9864 Před rokem +12

    It is tough to beat generational poverty.
    The state trade schools and colleges were to be extended beyond high school to cure generational poverty.
    The moral majority decided to build prisons.

  • @Sentientsword
    @Sentientsword Před rokem +11

    Thank you for this video!

  • @Davlavi
    @Davlavi Před rokem +3

    Informative as always.

  • @NotoriousSRG
    @NotoriousSRG Před rokem +11

    Extremely important video!

  • @sdmugabe
    @sdmugabe Před rokem +3

    Thanks for the great lesson!

  • @dcwashingtonpresident5938

    Awesome channel 💯.....Thank you!

  • @benzehn1
    @benzehn1 Před rokem +9

    Thx for the video

  • @alanfike
    @alanfike Před rokem +1

    Thank you for making this.

  • @Xosidhe
    @Xosidhe Před rokem +4

    I watched the whole playlist in 4 days. I’m looking forward to hearing about current events like police brutality and Black Lives Matter.

  • @Izzy0614
    @Izzy0614 Před rokem

    I love this!! Thank you Crash Course

  • @localblackman427
    @localblackman427 Před rokem +25

    Thank you for making this video. Sharing it with everyone I know

  • @daddyquon4800
    @daddyquon4800 Před měsícem +1

    Bro talkin fax I fw him 💯

  • @Just2gofoods
    @Just2gofoods Před rokem

    Great video. Thank you so much!

  • @jamalpetty5370
    @jamalpetty5370 Před rokem +1

    Great work

  • @CaptainTimo
    @CaptainTimo Před rokem

    Thank you so much for sharing this info

  • @chukc2012
    @chukc2012 Před rokem +2

    That was a powerful 13 minutes!!!!

  • @marciamartins1992
    @marciamartins1992 Před rokem +6

    While Reagan was setting up the drug modus operandi, Nancy was saying, "just say no". Lol you can't make it up.

  • @zein9742
    @zein9742 Před rokem +1

    Thanks!

  • @phoenixwhitcher156
    @phoenixwhitcher156 Před rokem +2

    I love free education, thank you CC.

  • @notbenh
    @notbenh Před rokem

    Thank you

  • @MananJindal123
    @MananJindal123 Před rokem +2

    Another great video

  • @cbrindle91
    @cbrindle91 Před rokem +8

    "It's not a war on drugs, it's a war on personal freedoms."

  • @ForgottenPerspective
    @ForgottenPerspective Před rokem +9

    Question: I don't know if there are still people who are incarcerated due to the third strike rule for cannabis possession (for personal use), but shouldn't the justice system look into the cases where they got life sentences since the law now is changed and legal in some states?

  • @00Linares00
    @00Linares00 Před rokem +5

    Considering global impact, the war on drugs is one if not the worst thing out there.

  • @korg47237
    @korg47237 Před rokem +5

    this series should be mandatory in US schools.

  • @bryonwatkins1432
    @bryonwatkins1432 Před rokem +1

    GREAT facts 👏👏👏👏!!!!

  • @moety2
    @moety2 Před rokem +1

    If anyone wants a detailed accounting of all of this, read The New Jim Crow.

  • @blackice3395
    @blackice3395 Před rokem +4

    Reagan, Clinton and Nixon was some of the worst things that ever happened in the United States!

  • @dougc7947
    @dougc7947 Před 10 měsíci +1

    Fyi 3:04 to 3:18 is a map of the Rome, Italy (the Centro Storico). Great video and series but not sure why that was used as a template.

  • @sonnyliew
    @sonnyliew Před 10 měsíci +1

    Recently came across "Locked In: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration―and How to Achieve Real Reform" by John Pfaff - was wondering what you make of his arguments and data, Mr Smith.

  • @jonathanrogel7101
    @jonathanrogel7101 Před rokem +2

    Very eye opening

  • @mopnem
    @mopnem Před rokem +3

    Don’t know how this guy keeps his cool doing these lol. Tho it’s important to teach

  • @historyking9984
    @historyking9984 Před rokem +4

    This was a great video. Though I wish you compared more to the opioid crisis and how that is treated today

  • @KB-ru2rk
    @KB-ru2rk Před rokem

    PREACH ❤️

  • @VashdaCrash
    @VashdaCrash Před rokem +1

    This is more about contemporary events than history, and I'm all for that.

  • @milesloden75
    @milesloden75 Před rokem +2

    the only thing to make the crash course better would be to add the history of every continent as well.

  • @hasseemabdul-jalil8836
    @hasseemabdul-jalil8836 Před 4 měsíci

    B1 NC! Awesomeness!

  • @trevorames889
    @trevorames889 Před rokem

    Another excellent and informative video. Thank you.
    One note, awful was misspelled on the case file.

  • @markfrank5937
    @markfrank5937 Před rokem +3

    Iran-Contra Affair. 😒.....

  • @tylishaqueenoceanriver1676

    Can you please talk about the highly controversial case surrounding the Central Park five in 1989

  • @brave9307
    @brave9307 Před rokem +3

    A great video, thank you. I would love to see something as clear and succinct as this that includes the pre-Nixon history of drug criminalisation. Those laws, spearheaded by the US and then 'exported' internationally, were specifically and overtly racist - members of US congress spoke on the record about eliminating the "yellow menace" when criminalising opium (which had been used for hundreds of years by westerners - and thousands of years in other cultures); laws that were used to then target all minorities, most famously Billie Holiday. The same happened with the criminalisation of cannabis, with the word 'marijuana' being expressly utilised by Harry Anslinger (the prosecutor and persecutor of Billie Holiday) to characterise cannabis as something foreign and to associate it with Spanish-speaking people in order to ensure that racist stigma accompanied the legislation.
    The more the general public knows about this disgusting history the easier it will be for them to accept the inevitable end of the 'drug war' and, hopefully, the end of the needless deaths both in the US and everywhere else, that have been the result.

  • @bbrev106
    @bbrev106 Před rokem

    🔥

  • @NotAMuse
    @NotAMuse Před rokem +1

    I sat my ignorant butt down and cleared 13 minutes of my schedule to get edumacated.

  • @erikvoitus7488
    @erikvoitus7488 Před rokem +2

    Are the amounts of money the amounts of money that it was then or have you already corrected it for inflation

  • @blanenoel4231
    @blanenoel4231 Před 8 měsíci +1

    ????????? On Camera all of it !

  • @hazzah5572
    @hazzah5572 Před rokem +4

    Who else is white and following this great series?
    Show of hands?

  • @abbyhelms8056
    @abbyhelms8056 Před rokem +10

    Great video! First comment!

  • @XanderShiller
    @XanderShiller Před rokem +1

    It's not a war bc wars end.

  • @wefans-xf4vc
    @wefans-xf4vc Před 9 měsíci

    Nixon lol

  • @TheLaly37
    @TheLaly37 Před rokem

    How can policy maker still sleep at night and ask for re-election after such failures!

  • @kellyjohns6612
    @kellyjohns6612 Před rokem +2

    If Feb is black history month, what month is set aside for the First Nations People (the aboriginal natives of North America)?

  • @davidgaskin5417
    @davidgaskin5417 Před rokem +1

    If you take out any supposed claims of racism, and the impracticalities of fighting drug usage. What is the inherent problem with trying to stop people using drugs for recreational purposes?

    • @jliller
      @jliller Před rokem +10

      It depends on whether you think the government should legislate morality.

  • @lucascurio8345
    @lucascurio8345 Před rokem +1

    Thank you so much

  • @chrismoon2961
    @chrismoon2961 Před rokem +1

    Thank you for this video!

  • @jamelchislom1365
    @jamelchislom1365 Před rokem

    Thank you

  • @DCityJorge
    @DCityJorge Před rokem

    Thanks!