There have been several cases of teens overdosing in the USA over the past few years. The various derivatives of opium-based drugs has permeated US society on all levels. Poor African American junkies are not the only people overdosing on drugs. There are white middle- and upper- class teens consuming various drugs and overdosing. The last few years the US began stating there is an opioid problem in the country. White people are beginning to understand how it feels to have their community bombarded with drugs. Welcome to the world African Americans have lived in since the 1940’s.
I was recently talking to a Caucasian female about an incident that involved some teens overdosing at a school. This woman was asking how could this happen? I told her, “Welcome to the world Black people have lived in for decades.” The woman was puzzled. I asked her, “How could all these illegal drugs get into the African American community?” The woman just looked at me. I nodded at her look and continued, “The majority of black people did/do not have access to jets to fly to South America for the cocaine or to Central Asia for opium. Yet, for decades there has been an influx of illegal addictive drugs in African American communities. How is this possible?” By this time the woman was staring at me which led to a smile from me. This woman reaffirmed what I already knew. White people do not get it or refuse to accept the atrocities that white society has perpetrated on African Americans.
Some people will say white ignorance comes from the banning of Critical Race Theory. This may be true in the future. This woman was at least in her fifties. The concept that became Critical Race Theory was created in the 1980’s. This woman had probably graduated from high school before the concept was formed. She simply represents the majority of white people in the USA. The issues that faced African Americans did not concern her. So what if African Americans were dying over crack cocaine in the ghetto, that had nothing to do with her. Heroin junkies overdosing in poor neighborhoods meant nothing to her. To her, like to many white Americans, this was a snippet on the TV news that showed the savageness of African Americans. What did this crack/drug epidemic have to do with her white life? Nothing.
Fast forward to the 2020’s. Fentanyl is on the scene. Fentanyl seems to have no boundaries and has found a path to the suburbs. In all truth, there have always been drugs in white suburbs. There has never been one like Fentanyl. Fentanyl used mixed cocaine or heroin can cause the average person to overdose very quickly. White people are dying from these overdoses. The number of overdoses has skyrocketed in the USA. Many of this increased number are white people. Now the US has a problem; white people are dying. Now people like this sheltered white woman have to pay attention because it may be their relative who overdoses. Welcome to the world white society has created for African Americans.
In all honesty, you can’t blame the average white person for not understanding the fact that the drug problem they face is one they created. The average white person lives in a world created via TV and media which forms a protective bubble around them. The school system re-enforces this protective bubble via exaggerations about how great white people are. The average white person will never understand that you can’t keep pumping drugs in one area and not have them spread to another. White people will never understand the fact that the reason their lives can be whatever they dream is because their people have created a nightmare for others.
African Americans, do not lose compassion. Also, do not waste time explaining to whites the issues African Americans face. The average white person has been duped and needs their illusion. White people will never understand the issues, but they are reaping the consequences of their actions.
Frank James IV © 2023
beingfrankwithfrank@gmail.com
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the writer and not of the Milwaukee Times Weekly Newspaper or HT Group, LLC, its staff or management. “Being Frank” is a bi-weekly column exclusive to the Milwaukee Times Weekly Newspaper.
