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System of oppression · 1971–now

The War on Drugs

A federal campaign whose enforcement fell disproportionately on Black communities, fueling mass incarceration.

On the timeline

  1. June 17, 1971
    Nixon declares the War on Drugs

    A campaign later admitted by aides to have targeted Black communities and the antiwar left.

  2. October 27, 1986
    The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986

    Mandatory minimums punish crack 100x more harshly than powder cocaine, devastating Black defendants.

The web

Connections to other moments, systems, and investigations — the links rarely drawn together.

  • part of·Thread
    From Owned to Caste

    A race-neutral language that rebuilt racial control as legal segregation fell.

  • enabled·Thread
    Mass Incarceration

    Drug-war enforcement is the primary engine of the prison boom.

  • part of (incoming)·Event
    Nixon declares the War on Drugs

    Nixon's 1971 declaration launched the decades-long campaign.

  • led to (incoming)·Thread
    Greed — The Root

    The drug war fed an incarceration economy while devastating Black communities.