Wake Up Black America
by Clifford Wallace Thornton, Jr.-
for Drugwar.com
photos unless otherwise noted-
Preston Peet
[Editor's note- Clifford Wallace Thornton is
a black man who has watched the War on Drugs escalate for over
30 years, and wants to know why black community leaders, politicians,
and religious figures are not speaking out against the destruction
perpetrated against other blacks, who are targeted much higher
percentages by anti-Drug Warriors than any other ethnic group
in the US. When the editor of Drugwar.com suggested there must
be one or two, Thornton replied, "Name one." The editor
couldn't.]
June 26, 2002
I travel all over the U.S., speaking and
organizing trying to change the mind set of the current "war
on drugs". Last year, I was in Cleveland to address the Unitarian
Universalist convention. While there, I also spoke at a luncheon
sponsored by City News, spoke at other civic functions, and appeared
on various radio, and TV programs.
All speakers look for that current hook to
bring one's subject into plain view. With the drug war it's not
hard to find. "A Cleveland Police detective while in a hand
to hand struggle with a drug suspect, discharges his weapon and
critically wounds a six year old boy several yards away"
appeared in Cleveland's Plain Dealer. This incident occurred while
I was in Cleveland. Every day, on average, in this country five
children age five to sixteen years die because of drug related
situations. This is called collateral damage. When are we as a
nation going to learn this is an unwinnable war? This is and will
always be a public health problem, not a law enforcement one.
Clifford and Margaret Thornton-
Founders of Efficacy-
photo Efficacy
Racism, classism, and the War on Drugs are
inextricably parts of one huge lie. One cannot address one part
effectively without addressing the other. This is not a war on
drugs but a war on poor people, primarily people of color. I can
talk about the race issue, which is well documented, and blacks
as usual are the perceived primary pariahs, but what I want to
talk about is the burgeoning class separation.
The religious community has always been
the backbone of the black community. We have seen this throughout
our history with slavery, segregation and the civil rights movement.
Why are they (black politicians, preachers and leaders) bemoaning
racial profiling and not the War on Drugs, when racial profiling
is a direct result of the Drug War? Why are they not talking about
AIDS and that the War on Drugs is the primary culprit for the
spread of this incurable disease? Why do they have this dumb look
on their faces when you mention that intravenous drug users, through
homosexual and heterosexual encounters, are the primary conveyers
of AIDS in prisons and our communities? Is it because the religious
community is tied to local, state and/or federal funding and the
authorities forbid discussion? Is it because they have become
employers and employees of the Drug War through rehabilitation
centers and drug counseling, etc. ? Is it because they have become
gate keepers where their prosperity depends on not solving the
drug problem but perpetuating it?
When one looks at the criminal justice system,
it's true that almost two thirds of the six and half million who
are on probation, parole, half way houses, jail or prison are
minorities. But there is one central theme: they are overwhelmingly
of the same socio-economic class, they are poor people. Ten percent
of the U.S. African American population is in the criminal justice
system. Forty percent of the six and half million are there for
possession or sale of drugs. When one looks at drug related crimes
these percentages jump to the high sixty percentile. Where are
the black churches and black America on this Drug War issue? According
to Rev Beatrice Walkout of Cleveland, "Black preachers have
to be educated on this issue. They are basically following what
the white establishment tells them to do and it is not to end
the Drug War" She went on to say, "what we need to do
is to study this at length." My question is, "HOW MUCH
TIME DOES ONE NEED?"
This drug war has been going on for over
thirty years at a cost of a trillion dollars, and we have had
almost nine decades of drug prohibition, yet there are more illegal
drugs at cheaper prices on our streets than ever before. When
considering alternatives for the drug war, all conversation has
to start with one question: Do you think that people are going
to stop using illegal drugs? The overwhelming response is NO.
Those that say yes are not of this planet. So the next question
is: How are we as society going to create an atmosphere that will
cause the least amount of harm to the people who use these drugs,
and secondly, the least amount of harm to society? Anyone that
says we should not, could not, would not, or that we would be
sending the wrong message to our children by legalizing, medicalizing
and decriminalizing these handful of illegal drugs simply does
not have a clue. All of the damage done is not by the drugs but
by the DRUG POLICIES.
There is no drug known to man which becomes
safer when the sale and distribution is turned over to criminals.
Our problem is not the drug dealers or drug cartels, they are
just opportunists. Our problem is the self-righteous legislators
in Washington and the apathetic non-voting public who create the
opportunity for the cartels and dealers. The people (black preachers,
politicians and leaders) who support the Drug War are directly
responsible for this rise in crime, drugs in our schools, AIDS
in our communities and creating enormous criminal empires.
Let us be realistic. Marijuana, cocaine and
heroin present no problem to me or to anyone else who chooses
not to use them, but the illegality of these drugs present a clear
and present danger to everyone. Just ask that six year old in
Cleveland who I'm told lost his life. Just ask the thousands of
parents who have lost their children to this Drug War who had
absolutely nothing to do with drugs. Legalization, medicalization
and decriminalization of these handful of drugs won't immediately
solve the problems of drug abuse or addiction, but it will confine
these problems to the people who choose to use these drugs. Perhaps
the more important question is: how do we as a society of reformers
create an exit strategy for the authorities?
Clifford Wallace Thornton, Jr
Efficacy
P O Box 1234
Hartford, CT 06143
860 285 8831
860 688 4677(fax)
efficacy@msn.com
www.efficacy-online.org
