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How the Crack Era Waged War on Drug-Addicted Mothers
Stanley Nelson’s Netflix documentary opened my eyes to how much Black and Hispanic women were preyed on by the American government
If you haven’t seen Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy on Netflix, you’re missing out on the most powerful documentary of this new year. Stanley Nelson’s film does a masterful job of contextualizing the crack era of the ’80s by highlighting both its roots and branches — from the White House to inner-city street corners. Much of the information Nelson doles out isn’t new. It’s widely known that the crack-cocaine epidemic was the brainchild of then-President Ronald Reagan to keep alive some ego-driven loyalty to Nicaraguan drug dealers. I knew it was supported by both Republicans and Democrats. And that Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign was a joke.
Where the documentary exposed my ignorance was the extent to which mothers were targeted within America’s war on narcotics, which essentially was a siege against poor minorities. I know all too well the perils of crack use. I saw it destroy families and futures, erode human beings. Little is sadder than a woman who can’t carry out her maternal role because she’s incarcerated by addiction. At the height of the crack epidemic, America put a hit out on both dealer and…
