System of oppression · 1971–now
Mass Incarceration
The explosive growth of the US prison population, concentrated among Black Americans.
On the timeline
- September 9, 1971The Attica prison uprising
Prisoners seize Attica demanding humane conditions; the state retakes it with deadly force.
- 1985The crack epidemic devastates Black cities
Cheap crack cocaine floods urban neighborhoods, met with mass arrests rather than treatment.
- October 27, 1986The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986
Mandatory minimums punish crack 100x more harshly than powder cocaine, devastating Black defendants.
- September 13, 1994· debatedThe 1994 Crime Bill
Sweeping legislation that accelerated incarceration and policing in Black communities.
Resources
Dramatization of the Central Park Five case.
Documentary tracing the 13th Amendment loophole to mass incarceration.
Mass incarceration as a system of racial control.
Nonprofit confronting mass incarceration, racial injustice, and the legacy of slavery.
The web
Connections to other moments, systems, and investigations — the links rarely drawn together.
- enabled (incoming)·ThreadThe War on Drugs
Drug-war enforcement is the primary engine of the prison boom.
- enabled (incoming)·EventThe Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986
The 100-to-1 crack/powder sentencing disparity funneled a generation of Black defendants into prison.
- enabled (incoming)·EventThe 1994 Crime Bill
The 1994 bill accelerated the prison boom.
- connects to (incoming)·EventRedlining is institutionalized
Disinvestment concentrated poverty that later policing and prisons targeted.