Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism
CT VIEWPOINTS -- opinions from around Connecticut

The war on drugs is a platform for racial inequality and unchecked police brutality

  • CT Viewpoints
  • by Sylvester L. Salcedo
  • June 5, 2020
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Dear Black America, Dear White America,

Sylvester Salcedo

Please, put an end to the War on Drugs in America.  Today.  Now.

The hand-written posters across the nation, seething with rage, anger and frustration, are terse and direct: I can’t breathe.  Stop Police Brutality.  Black Lives Matter.

America is burning, in the midst of a worldwide public health pandemic, from years of pent-up racial tension, anger and fear not experienced since the civil rights movement of the 1950’s and 60’s.

Everyone is talking, but no one is really listening to one another. Certainly, no one listens to me.

Everyone has an opinion about race and race relations in America, but to date, I have not heard one concrete, specific solution offered to the nation as a first step.  Nothing specific or actionable with a definite timeline has been offered by the usual line-up of well-known, smartly poised, expertly programmed cable news TV pundits, elected or appointed officials or so-called experts invited from the Left, the Right, the Centrists or the Independents to pontificate on unfolding “breaking news” events, coast to coast.  No one really knows what to do.  Only rethreaded political party playbook sound bites abound. And the burning goes on.

Certainly, no one listens to me.

Being neither black nor white in America, what could I possibly contribute to a discussion on race and race relations in America today or in a million years?  I’m just a Filipino-American.  Not black, not white, just a distant descendant of a President McKinley Little Brown Brother 120 years later.  By the fortunes of accelerated world travel since 1521, a world war and a survivor of the Death March of 1942, I am a non-black, non-white American by birth.  In black or white America, no one, generally speaking, seeks out voices like mine or inquires about life experiences like mine.   I am just an in-between black and white America kind of guy. Shades of gray is brown, I would guess.  Sometimes seen around, but never heard.

Certainly, no one listens to me.

But I want to say something.  And I say this:  Dear Black America, Dear White America, put an end to the our American war on drugs.  I implore you.  As a first step, it is actionable, achievable, measurable, desirable and most important for right now; this nation can eliminate instantly one of the main platforms for racial inequality and unchecked police brutality.

You know about Selma, Alabama in 1965, and you should know about Tulia, Texas in 1999.  The almost 50-year, Nixon-initiated American Drug War has perverted and overloaded the American justice system, militarized police department weltanschauung (budgets, tactics and self-measurement of community policing), marginalized the drug-addicted, exacerbated racism in American society and exploded the disproportionately minority jail-bound population.

The inequalities are felt.  Unfair treatment is well known.  These days the resulting blatant police abuses are captured, more and more, on ubiquitous cell phone cameras and instantly uploaded on social media.  Stop and frisk programs.  No knock drug raids, in daytime or nighttime.  Racial profiling.  Mass incarceration.  Buy and bust operations.  Tactical narcotics teams.  And yet, all political parties continue to fund and support blindly the American Drug War.

Certainly, no one listens to me.

The use and abuse of illicit drugs, like the corona virus, is a public health matter and emergency.  It should be addressed, evaluated and resolved by doctors and nurses, medical experts, supported by science-oriented researchers and statisticians, not by the police and soldiers, prosecutors and judges.

The use and abuse of illicit drugs is not a national security threat to be fought by the U.S. military forces or by the militarization of local, state or federal law enforcement agencies.  The War on Drugs is supposed to be a metaphor to save lives and to prevent drug addiction.  Just say No.  In fact, it is a public health issue that has lead America to the creation of the most senseless, wasteful, expensive, racist political narratives to enact draconian drug laws that have, in turn, harmed and jailed more individuals, disrupted more families and widen the nation’s racial divide more than ever.

The drug war is the American political and social policy cooking bowl in which to openly foment racism and to instill centuries old racist sentiments and policies.  In almost 50 years, America’s metaphorical War on Drugs has become a real war on its own people. It is a war on its poor, its sick and drug-dependent, its urban minority communities, and on now on its suburbs and rural districts racked by uncontrolled heroin/opioid addiction.

And no one listens to me.    I remain sincerely,

Your Little Brown Brother

Sylvester L. Salcedo of Orange is a retired naval officer who served from 1979 to 1999, including work in Department of Defense-Department of Justice counterdrug operations.

CTViewpoints welcomes rebuttal or opposing views to this and all its commentaries. Read our guidelines and submit your commentary here.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
The Board of Regents’ changes must not shortchange its students or faculty
by Carrie Andreoletti, PhD

As a university professor and a lifespan developmental psychologist, I tend to approach my work from a developmental perspective. This means I aim to foster a lifelong love of learning and to help others find a sense of meaning and purpose, as well as confidence in their ability to reach their goals. My approach to higher education is shaped by my desire to provide the best possible education for my students. This is why the recent Board of Regents’ proposed changes at the four state universities have me worried.

How to close schooling opportunity gaps created by the pandemic
by Carol Gale

We ask school district leaders to trust your public servants whose daily work life involves assessing student needs and planning or modifying instruction to meet those needs. Listen to their voices, as we have, and allocate precious resources on interventions that will offer increased opportunities for Hartford students to succeed.

A new guide for schools: How to work with families this spring
by Michael Arrington and Erika Haynes

With months of remote and hybrid learning to go, families and educators continue to adapt and innovate to meet the moment. Since August, we’ve spoken with hundreds of parents, caregivers, family support groups, educators, and students across Connecticut and the country about things things that have worked --strategies, big and small, that have made this time more manageable and helped children learn and stay connected with peers.

Housing is a human right
by Tenaya Taylor

Nonprofit Accountability Group is a queer- and trans-led group based in Hartford that is dedicated to creating racial equity by directing resources to Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) and disabled children and families. NAG was founded in 2020 as an organization with a transformative approach to implementing nonprofit accountability by creating relationships within the community, nonprofits, and their funders.

How do we show that we value teachers? By listening to them.
by Sana Shaikh

When I was graduating college, my friends’ futures were brimming with impressive labels: Google, Facebook, McKinsey, Bain, PhD, MD, Fulbrights – the list of professional excellence was seemingly never-ending. When I said that I was becoming a teacher, I got puzzled looks – “Why would you be a teacher?” “If you can’t do, teach,” I heard. The nonchalance about my professional trajectory was unsettling. What’s more? Nothing has changed in the last ten years.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion The Board of Regents’ changes must not shortchange its students or faculty
by Carrie Andreoletti, PhD

As a university professor and a lifespan developmental psychologist, I tend to approach my work from a developmental perspective. This means I aim to foster a lifelong love of learning and to help others find a sense of meaning and purpose, as well as confidence in their ability to reach their goals. My approach to higher education is shaped by my desire to provide the best possible education for my students. This is why the recent Board of Regents’ proposed changes at the four state universities have me worried.

Opinion How to close schooling opportunity gaps created by the pandemic
by Carol Gale

We ask school district leaders to trust your public servants whose daily work life involves assessing student needs and planning or modifying instruction to meet those needs. Listen to their voices, as we have, and allocate precious resources on interventions that will offer increased opportunities for Hartford students to succeed.

Opinion A new guide for schools: How to work with families this spring
by Michael Arrington and Erika Haynes

With months of remote and hybrid learning to go, families and educators continue to adapt and innovate to meet the moment. Since August, we’ve spoken with hundreds of parents, caregivers, family support groups, educators, and students across Connecticut and the country about things things that have worked --strategies, big and small, that have made this time more manageable and helped children learn and stay connected with peers.

Opinion Housing is a human right
by Tenaya Taylor

Nonprofit Accountability Group is a queer- and trans-led group based in Hartford that is dedicated to creating racial equity by directing resources to Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) and disabled children and families. NAG was founded in 2020 as an organization with a transformative approach to implementing nonprofit accountability by creating relationships within the community, nonprofits, and their funders.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO