Two Inappropriate Responses To The War On Drugs

During the last week several sources have referred to the John McWhorter column at theroot.com, calling for African Americans to demand the end of the war on drugs. According to McWhorter,

"Every time I see one of these marches or forums covered as significant, what occurs to me is that there is one thing we should all be focused on instead. It is, of all things, the War on Drugs. The most meaningfully pro-black policy today would be a white-hot commitment to ending its idiocy.

The massive number of black men in prison, described on The Root site here, stands as a rebuke to all calls to “get past racism,” exhibit initiative or stress optimism. And the primary reason for this massive number of black men in jail is the War on Drugs.

The War on Drugs destroys black families. It has become a norm for black children to grow up with their fathers in prison and barely knowing them...."

The above segment of the article is actually quoted from Ilya Solmin at the Volokh Conspiracy blog. Neither McWhorter nor Solmin connects with the idea that it is not the War on Drugs that decimates blacks and their families, it is the entrapment of blacks in a culture of irresponsible behavior that is enabled by the Leftist omnibenevolent wing of the federal government.

Blacks – some blacks - need to be liberated all right. They need liberation from their own leaders, the sellers of easy money for votes, the dealers in sustainable poverty in return for perpetual power.

In another venue, this time the Sunday op-ed column, Bill O’Reilly lists the statistics of the War On Drugs as compared to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan:

Iraq: 4,421 American deaths.
Afghanistan: 1,141 American deaths.
Mexico: 28,000 drug related deaths since 1996.
In the USA, 70% of crimes are drug related.

These numbers, O’Reilly claims, justifies American military intervention in Mexico just as we intervened in Panama to remove Manuel Noriega.

All of these arguments are in error. The War on Drugs needs to be stopped, not escalated, certainly not by invading Mexico. But it should be stopped, not for the reasons of racism that are mistakenly dragged into the argument. The incarceration due to drug-related crimes happens not just to blacks, but to anyone who opts for highs, brain deadening, and easy money through crime and illegal contraband, and that happens to apply unequally to a race that is captive to the victimology of the Left. The only racial input to this equation is the use of race by the Left to maintain its dominance in the lives of certain segments of blacks, which the Left maintains in economic slavery. Government slavery and racism should end just as surely as the War on Drugs.

The War on Drugs must end because it is not a solution to the destruction of humans and their families, not to mention thousands of victims in importer nations.

The War on Drugs must end in order to offer the correct way out of chemical dependence to the victims who are addicts, and to force the importers to find other employment.

The War on Drugs must end because it is a drain on the USA and its neighbors.

The War on Drugs must end because it is inhumane.

The War on Drugs must end. Government economic slavery of blacks must end. Blacks and anyone who is trapped in these two evils should be helped toward their own responsible independence. That’s the path to real personal self esteem, and away from these two government mandated traps.