Donna Murch Crack In Los Angeles Summary

In “Crack in Los Angeles: Crisis, Militarization, and Black Response to the Late Twentieth Century War on Drugs” by Donna Murch, she discusses the war on drugs and the subsequent responses and actions, specifically by the black community, to it. Back in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, when the war on drugs was at its peak, many took the government's word regarding their actions in trying to prevent the spread of drugs within the United States. Many people thought the government was doing a noble thing by trying to save its citizens and get drugs off the streets. There were, of course, those opposed, but they were in the minority. However, as time has advanced, more information has come forth about the government's involvement and methods in the war

One example of evidence she uses is newspapers and other documents that were written throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. For example, she cites Ronald Reagan’s 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which imposed harsh sentences for drug-related offenses. Murch says that this act was one of the catalysts that led to the ”disproportionate incarceration of large numbers of African American offenders.” (Murch 2) Murch is using this evidence to show that the war on drugs was more of an attack against black communities than it was an attack on the drugs themselves. These arrests and charges made it harder and harder for black people to get jobs or an education, which in turn caused them to turn to other ways to make money, including drug dealing. This led to a continuous cycle, which made it hard to escape poverty and start anew. So when the next generation of kids is born and grows up in the same poverty- and drug-stricken communities their parents grew up in, they come to the awful realization that it’s hard to make it out. So they do exactly what the people before them did, find ways to make money to get out, like, once again, drug dealing. And so this cycle goes on and on and on, continuously pushing African Americans further down the hole, making it harder and harder to climb out. Murch, citing the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act, helped support her

This memo was sent in order to create tension and hostility between the Blackstone Rangers and the Black Panthers. The second primary source that will support the article written by Murch is a letter from 1969. This letter detailed a raid that happened at Fred Hampton’s apartment, who was the current leader of the Black Panther Party in Chicago. The information included in the letter was a floor plan of Hampton’s apartment, an inventory of the weapons in the apartment, and the identities of Black Panther Party members. This information was provided by FBI informant William O’Neal. Both of these primary sources support the argument from Murch’s article in a pretty similar way; they both show that the government is willing to interfere with black people’s lives, even when nothing illegal is being done. According to the first source, the memo was sent because the FBI didn’t want the Blackstone Rangers and the Black Panther Party to be involved together in community work. The result of the second letter was the murder of Fred Hampton and another Black Panther Party member, along with the brutalization and arrests of the other members who were in the apartment at the time. The government has a history of unjust behavior and discrimination towards black people, as evidenced by the two primary