Inequality: Race and Drug Free Society

America has been thought to be the land of opportunity. Over the course of our country’s history we can see that this is not completely true. If America is the land opportunity that would mean everyone regardless of gender, race, or income would have the equal chance at having a better life. Throughout American history we can see this is not the case. The country is racially divided as it was hundreds of years ago, as well as the rich controlling the government. The texts “FROM SLAVERY TO PRISONS: A HISTORICAL DELINEATION OF THE CRIMINILIZATION OF AFRICAN AMERICANS” by Deborah Burris-Kitchen and Paul Burris and “Theres No Such Thing as a Natural Disaster” by Neil Smith elude to the race clash and gentrification of urban communities as examples of inequality in our modern day society. In Burris-Kitchen and Burris’ article they discuss the inequality of race and class distinctions. “According to Nixon: crime meant urban, urban meant black” (Burris-Kitchen and Burris, 12). This quote from former President Richard Nixon led to the ODALE. This was a special task force that was created to aid the war on drugs on a local level. The targets of this task force were black neighborhoods. He sold the idea to white America into believing that black people on social programs were lazy and ruining the economy, so this war on drugs was a must to eradicate them through incarceration. Having a drug free society for a better tomorrow is a good decision. Targeting specific races of people who are suspected to have drugs is a bad decision. A war on drugs should involve all races of people. If black people are allegedly selling drugs, who says a white person or someone of another race could not do the same thing. The extra manpower used to focus on specific black neighborhoods that may or may not be suspected to trafficking drugs also is a waste of tax payer dollars. To be fair to all races of people, ODALE should be established in not only black neighborhoods, but communities