Read on Twitter
So I see 30plus Twitter has committed itself to lying and acting like the 94 crime bill was a necessary response to crack use and street violence and that all Black people at the time supported it.
First and foremost most of these people are sensationalizing tf out of the so-called “crack epidemic.” They taking their shit straight from media reports and pop culture. I even saw one woman say New Jack City was a true story lmao.
Then there this idea that all, if not most, Black people supported the crime bill. Again another lie. In fact the NAACP called it “a crime against the American people” at the time.
Did Black folks want the drug abuse and violence (specifically murder) to stop? Absolutely, but many folks knew that simply locking people up wasn’t the answer. They called jobs, rehab programs, better education, etc but instead they just got draconian laws and more policing.
Legislators (and the media) elevated the calls among Black people for stricter drug enforcement and policing and suppressed the calls for address material inequality and injustice. A process called selective hearing https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2016/04/13/opinion/did-blacks-really-endorse-the-1994-crime-bill.amp.html
Let’s not also forget the media coverage. We know the purpose of the mainstream media isn’t to inform people, it’s to grab attention, sell ad space to companies, and ultimately affirm ruling class narrative. Do you think the covered the crack era without sensationalism?
A lot of what you’re hearing this past day or so from gen z and older millienials about how wild the crack era is reflective on this sensationalism. Were things bad? Yes. Were they exactly as wild as the tv shows and mainstream media made it out to be? Absolutely not
Mainstream media (in cooperation with the police) often attached any and every incident that happened in poor Black neighborhoods to crack. Somebody got robbed? Had to be crack. Someone got in a fight? Definitely crack. Someone shot someone else? Yep you guessed it, crack!
The mainstream media helped turn crack use into a moral panic. This helped the ruling class garner support. Creating a moral panic along with selective hearing, allowed the ruling class to frame things such as the 94 crime bill as a sensible response to a “real” problem.
