Examining America's War on Drugs
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University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 1-1-2018 Discourses of Deception: (Re)Examining America's War on Drugs Benjamin Steven Boyce University of Denver Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the Criminology Commons, and the Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons Recommended Citation Boyce, Benjamin Steven, "Discourses of Deception: (Re)Examining America's War on Drugs" (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1462. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1462 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. Discourses of Deception: (Re)Examining America’s War on Drugs ____________________ A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of Arts and Humanities University of Denver __________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy ____________________ by Benjamin S. Boyce June 2018 Advisor: Joshua Hanan Author: Benjamin S. Boyce Title: Discourses of Deception: (Re)Examining America’s War on Drugs Advisor: Joshua Hanan Degree Date: June 2018 Abstract America’s war on drugs is a failed experiment that has caused more damage than it will ever prevent. From its original design to its contemporary manifestations, the war on drugs is a conflict that remains firmly rooted in white supremacy. In contemporary Western societies, the rhetoric of both political leaders and mass-mediated narratives becomes the raw material of subjective reality. Since the war on drugs began nearly a century ago, the spectacle of mass media has been consistently utilized by white political elites as a vehicle of misinformation—as a well-oiled machine for spreading the false social narrative that drugs are dangerous and deadly, that drug dealers and users are infectious and criminal, and that drug use should be punished. From newspapers to sitcoms to commercials to blockbuster films, these narratives also work to associate drug use with crime and race in ways that reinforce racist stereotypes often used in the service of white supremacy. A century into the war on drugs, American prisons are packed with people of color, many working full-time jobs for little or no wages while lacking the most basic of human necessities, all because drug possession and use are socially constructed as dangerous and criminal. Once released from prison, the convicted drug criminal faces life-long barriers to legitimacy. The drug addict is especially at risk, forced to live in the crevices of society and damned to the dangers of the criminal underworld. The war on drugs isn’t responsible for saving the lives of addicts or helping drug dealers find more ii lucrative (and legal) employment. The war on drugs is a catalyst of mass incarceration, a threat to public health, and a guaranteed source of income to underworld organizations. iii Acknowledgements This finalize piece would not be possible without all the help I had along the way. Much gratitude to Dawn Bryner for all your editing help, and to my fabulous partner, Dr. Erin Boyce, for your support and advice throughout this project. Thanks to Dr. Christina Foust and Dr. Josh Hanan for keeping me grounded. Thanks to Dr. Armond Towns and Dr. Stephen Hartnett for reminding me that there is life after a prison number. Thanks to Dr. Bernadette Calafell and Dr. Dawn-Marie McIntosh for lighting that radical feminist fire that won’t go out. iv Table of Contents Introduction ..............................................................................................................1 Chapter One .............................................................................................................6 Finding an Enemy and Declaring a War ......................................................6 An Other America ........................................................................................7 Striking the Match........................................................................................9 Harry’s War ...............................................................................................11 Licata’s Ghost ............................................................................................19 Harry’s People ...........................................................................................24 George Wallace ..........................................................................................26 Barry Goldwater.........................................................................................28 And the Beat Goes On ...............................................................................29 Forget not the Democrats ...........................................................................31 44 & the Flip Side of Dog Whistling .........................................................32 Trump’s Best People ..................................................................................33 The Opioid Crisis .......................................................................................36 Russian Hacked Dog Whistles ...................................................................40 Breaking the Encyclopedia ........................................................................42 Chapter Two...........................................................................................................44 The New Slave State: From Plantation to Penitentiary .............................44 As American as Slavery .............................................................................45 Defining White Supremacist Capitalist Patriarchy ....................................50 White Supremacy .......................................................................................51 Patriarchy ...................................................................................................52 Capitalism ..................................................................................................53 Painting Maximum Security from the “Belly of the Beast” ......................54 All We’ve Got ............................................................................................56 Privatized Punishment ...............................................................................60 What’s in a Name? .....................................................................................62 Feeding the Beast .......................................................................................64 Same ol’ Song ............................................................................................68 The White American Dream ......................................................................68 Repackaged Racism ...................................................................................71 Chapter Three.........................................................................................................73 Keeping Race Invisible: From Spectacle to Dispositif ..............................73 The Dance of Life and Art .........................................................................74 The Age of Representation ........................................................................76 The War on Drugs as a Foucauldian Dispositif .........................................81 Chronic Wokeness .....................................................................................84 Reinforcing Racial Mythology in the Society of the Spectacle .................90 v Double-Down or Fold ................................................................................94 Chapter Four ..........................................................................................................96 America Now: Drugs, Race and Class .......................................................96 Waging the War .........................................................................................98 Hollywood’s War on Drugs .....................................................................104 The War on the Ivory Tower ...................................................................106 The War on Fifth Street ...........................................................................111 Capitalism 101 .........................................................................................116 Breaking the Cycle ...................................................................................119 Chapter Five .........................................................................................................122 Towards a Solution ..................................................................................122 The Short Walk from Plantation to Penitentiary......................................122 The Crime Boom......................................................................................128 A New Paradigm ......................................................................................131 My People ................................................................................................133 An Alternative to War ..............................................................................139 Killing the Romance ................................................................................141 Intoxication ..............................................................................................142