War On Drugs In To Kill A Mockingbird

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Atticus states, “Don 't fool yourself--it’s all adding up and one of these days we 're going to pay the bill for it. I hope it 's not in you children 's time” (Lee 233). This novel takes place in Alabama in the 1930’s, a time of racial segregation between whites and blacks. During this time, Tom Robinson, a black man, was convicted of rape. Even though he was innocent, he was found guilty by the jury. While all races are equal under law today, it does not always seem such. For example, race riots still occur in our modern-day society, affecting both blacks and whites alike. As well, the War on Drugs affects many blacks, creating unhealthy relations between them and cops. Further, there is

Another way we are still paying the bill is through the War on Drugs. The War on Drugs affects many blacks today. It is a flawed system - one that sends cops into black neighborhoods in order to enforce the prohibition of drugs. However, “So many feel so oppressed because of a sense of cops as more likely to kill them for thin or nonexistent reasons. (McWhorter) This shows how the War on Drugs is affecting blacks, as sending police into black neighborhoods can create a paranoid situation. This may, in turn, cause blacks and police to be more aggressive towards each other, meaning cops may be more likely to shoot blacks. As well as this, “Black boys grow up with fathers locked up and seek validation elsewhere. With drugs illegal, they sell for a markup that provides an ever tempting alternative to legal work for black men underserved by poor schools.”(McWhorter) This demonstrates how blacks are affected by the War on Drugs, since many blacks chose to go down this path. Past discrimination has led many black people to this lifestyle, since it caused them to have a disadvantage. Many blacks were discriminated against before, and made them live in considerably less advantageous conditions compared to whites. This led many black people to live in poverty, making the business much more appealing for the money it can provide. Since police are actively fighting in the War on Drugs, they are more likely to encounter blacks, and arrest them. Also, “The poisonous relationship between black men and police forces is the key to why we never really get past race.”(McWhorter) Past relationships between blacks and law enforcement are still the same today, poisonous and discriminatory. This further illustrates how the War on Drugs is affected black lives, stating how it is causing violence between blacks and police. All of this demonstrates how we are still paying the bill, because there is still a War on Drugs going on, which affects the relations between blacks and the