41 min listen
Strange Fruit #202: Race And Racism In Covering The Drug Crisis
FromStrange Fruit
ratings:
Length:
34 minutes
Released:
Jul 14, 2017
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
There's no shortage of profiles and think pieces putting a human face on the Opioid crisis. Coverage focuses on addicts' struggling families and childhood traumas, framing addiction as an illness you suffer from — not a crime you perpetrate. Much of this media attention is centered on white drug users and their families. When the drug crisis was largely in black communities, drug use was linked to depravity and a proclivity for crime. The response was a "war" on drugs that focused on punishment, not treatment. This week we reflect on how race and racism play into the way we talk about addiction and drug use.
Released:
Jul 14, 2017
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
Strange Fruit #44: Some of My Best Friends...: Interracial Friendship in America: How multi-racial is your circle of friends? Are any of your close friends of a different race than yours? Not the lady who works down the hall from your office or the dad you chat with while waiting for your kid to get out of school. Someone who's been to your house or invited you over for dinner. A [recent poll by Reuters](http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/08/us-usa-poll-race-idUSBRE97704320130808) found that the many white people - 40% - have no friends outside their race. We on Strange Fruit figure this is probably no surprise to black folks. Among people of color, 25% of respondents said they didn't have friends outside their race. We wanted to talk more about the reasons why this might be the case, and what historical and demographic factors created the situation. So we spoke to Tanner Colby, author of [Some of My Best Friends Are Black: The Strange Story of Integration in America](http://www.ta by Strange Fruit