The American Opiate Crisis and the Price of Blackness

Coleman, Ayriel

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January 2, 2024

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Coleman, Ayriel
- Affiliation: Institute of African American Research, Moore Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program (MURAP)

Abstract

Social science research has paid considerable analytical attention to white, blue-collar addicts affected by America’s opioid crisis and the economic and psychological devastation it has caused in rural white communities. We cannot say that a similarly high level of attention is being paid to black opioid users and the effects of this crisis on black communities. My research addresses the paucity of research surrounding the experiences, perceptions, and treatment of black opioid addicts. I argue that institutions of criminal punishment such as police and corrections operate differently based on race and social class as a means of social control and subjugation of black people. My argument is tested using quantitative and qualitative data to explore the variation of opium arrest rates and the untold histories of black addicts. Specifically, the quantitative dimension of my study explores the effects of both sociological factors (such as race, gender, and class) and political factors (such as black political power and racial resentment) on the decision to arrest individuals for opium abuse. The qualitative aspect of my research uses the analysis of journal articles, archival records and other academic material to historicize opium usage in the United States, particularly in black communities. This research is designed to humanize black opioid addicts, detailing their perceptions of opium addiction, drug-related incarceration, and overall perceptions of the justice system. This information is necessary to personalize and recast the black experience with opium as a coping mechanism similar to how white users of the drug are portrayed. All in all, I utilize disciplinary approaches from Political Science and History to create a comprehensive interrogation of the problem of structural racism and to minimize the bite of the anti-black rhetoric that permeates throughout society.

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