The Effect of the Drug War on Latinx communities in Brooklyn, New York (1990-2000)
Abstract: The war on drugs could easily be classified as a war on race. I will be analyzing the effects of the drug war on Latinx and African American communities in Brooklyn, New York during the 1990’s through the 2000’s. Not only are Latinx people targeted, they are incarcerated, including African Americans in large numbers. The war on drugs is more of a method of mass incarceration for minorities. It is a problem that not only affects men, but also women. This issue tears families apart. Mass incarceration is directly connected to the affected of the drug war, essentially Latinx and African Americans. The effects of the war on drugs on Latinx …show more content…
This source is vital to my research topic considering it discusses the race differences in the prisons of the United States. “Blacks in 1991 made up 12 percent of America’s population but 48 percent of both prison and jail inmates.” This quote represents that although Blacks made up 12 percent of America’s population, there were 48 percent of Blacks which means more than half the population was incarcerated. There is a clear disproportion of race in the United States prisons. Races are not treated the same in prisons and that is a state as well as a national problem. When more than half of the population is in prison, that is a problem. As well as when races do not receive the same amount of time for the same …show more content…
Nearly all of the offenses were drug offenses. At a rate of 150 prisoners per 100,000 adults in the United States. In table one on page 22, the table illustrates the major differences between women and minorities and men and whites. Women and minorities are being imprisoned at larger rates than man and whites. The percent increase for Hispanics from 1980-1996 was 554 percent, for Blacks it was 261 percent. Compared to 185 percent increase for whites. The male population had a 252 percent with an alarming comparison for females at 465 percent. These statistics are vital for my paper being they depict the differences between gender and race in the rate of imprisonment. This table indicates that Latinx were among the fastest growing people that were imprisoned during those years. Analyzing institutions such as prisons within the United States is an effective way of visually recognizing the issue. That minorities are the ones in prison, growing at a faster rate than those of