For years, radical conservatives have described the drug problem in this country in terms of race. Minorities that used illegal drugs were considered less than human, unable to be productive members of society. Minorities lacked "family values" the conservatives said. Divorces, single mother led families, high crime rates, and joblessness were all the proof these conservatives needed to justify their racist beliefs.
Odd how now, nearly four decades into the "Reagan Revolution" and the near total collapse and destruction of the middle class, we are finding these same destructive social problems in white communities all across the midwest.
A news article today highlights the incredible drug overdose rate in West Virginia, of all places, a whiter state you'd have a hard time finding. With the advent of crystal meth, a cheap and powerful drug, deaths from drug overdoses are skyrocketing. A fund for aid to indigents funeral services has run out of cash because of the high rate of drug deaths. Funny, there is no talk of moral failings of these white communities that are now suffering from the same afflictions that minority communities have suffered from for decades.
Obviously, it is not and never has been a racial problem. It has always been a matter of economics. When minority families are oppressed by high rates of joblessness and suffer from the despair of no hope for better prospects, the very fabric of society frays and comes apart. Now that white communities across the country are facing the same conditions, the bonds of their communities are disintegrating and the results are remarkably similar. High divorce rates, poor education, joblessness and drug abuse are the scourge of whites, just as they have always been to minorities.
People are horrified when America is described as a racist society. Given what we've seen and now know to be true, it's time to accept the facts as they are.
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