Pernicious Infusion: How Racism Pervades the Drug War, Both Foreign and Domes

 

Pernicious Infusion: How Racism Pervades the Drug War, Both Foreign and Domestic October 8, 2020 • 12:00PM - 1:30PM EDT • LIVE ONLINE

People cannot be incarcerated simply because of their race or ethnic origin. However, they can be incarcerated for possessing or using a substance that other people have associated with that race or ethnic origin.   Throughout Latin America, black and brown youth suffer disproportionately from the brutality of police, paramilitary forces, and drug cartels. In Brazil, over 75 percent of the people police kill are black. In Mexico and Central America, victims tend to be concentrated among people of indigenous ancestry. They make up the vast majority of the more than 60,000 people who have disappeared in Mexico due to the drug war. In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte likens himself to Adolf Hitler as he coordinates national police with vigilante death squads to slaughter tens of thousands of people who use illegal drugs—disproportionately people who are poor and minorities—while using the drug war as an excuse to arrest or execute his political enemies.   Does the war on drugs provide a cover to exercise social control and containment of minorities and marginalized communities? A panel of experts will explore this subject in depth and take questions from participants.   Featuring Deborah Small, Break the Chains; Radley Balko, Cato Institute; opinion writer, Washington Post; and author, Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces; Ted Galen Carpenter, Cato Institute, and author, Bad Neighbor Policy: Washington’s Futile War on Drugs in Latin America; moderated by Jeffrey A. Singer, Cato Institute.   During the event, submit questions on Twitter using #CatoDrugWar, Facebook Live, or in the comment box on the event page.

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