Crck Gender Inequality

The response to the epidemic was not only political but social as well. Local communities reacted to the epidemic with local programs and educational propaganda. An organization known as CRACK or Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity was started in the 1990’s specifically targeting female drug users (Paltrow). The program offered women $200 dollars to undergo sterilization. An overwhelming percentage of the population targeted were African American. Children were stigmatized as a result of the panic. From birth hordes of children, a disproportionate number being African American and Hispanic were predicted to struggle in school and face insurmountable obstacles in life. Some teachers believed that children who were exposed to crack would “hurt”
The United States holds an incarceration rate of 2.3 Million people, and over half a million of those imprisoned are due to drug charges (Anon). And while African American only make up 11% of the population, they make up 40% of those imprisoned. The U.S also incarcerates higher rates of women than anywhere else in the world. (Reynolds). Thousands of the women incarcerated with children under the age of 18. Due to the feminization of poverty, many minority women are likely to commit drug offenses for economic purposes and to support their family. Laws as a response to the crack cocaine epidemic enacted minimum requirement sentencing laws, with little differentiating between low-level dealers, users, and kingpins. Thousands are still serving decade old sentences
Over-exaggerated in the size and scope, the social and political response resulted in racial inequalities disproportionately impacting African American and Hispanic populations. Racial disparities existed in the construction of the myth, where crack use though less occurring among pregnant women, was the most publicized and embattled illicit drug in the 1980s and early 1990’s. Legislation towards the populations including increased incarceration that has led to record rates of imprisonment among African American’s, Women, and low socioeconomic populations. Media representation demonstrated a racial bias, which painted women of color in unforgiving lights and children as irredeemable. It created the myth of black failure in motherhood. The Crack Baby epidemic, racially charged and enduring sought to individualize drug abuse and place blame on induvial personal failings, ignoring the larger picture of economic and social inequality. Unfortunately, 20 years later the legacy of the myth is still seen, though much has been done to discredit