Black Silent Majority: The Rockefeller Drug Laws and the Politics of Punishment

by Michael Javen Fortner

Overview

Aggressive policing and draconian sentencing have disproportionately imprisoned millions of African Americans for drug-related offenses. Michael Javen Fortner shows that in the 1970s these punitive policies toward addicts and pushers enjoyed the support of many working-class and middle-class blacks, angry about the chaos in their own neighborhoods.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674496101
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	09/07/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Robert S. Gerleman is a professional writer and editor. He earned his B.A. in English from Humboldt State University and is a graduate of the Stanford University Writer's Studio. His first novel, Damned If I Do Damned If I Don't, was published in April 2012.

He currently resides in San Francisco, CA.

For more of Rob's upcoming and published works, please see his website at www.robswriting.com

Table of Contents

Cover Title Copyright Dedication Contents Preface Introduction: “The Reign of Criminal Terror Must Be Stopped Now” Chapter 1. Rights and Wreckage in Postwar Harlem Chapter 2. Black Junkies, White Do-Gooders, and the Metcalf-Volker Act of 1962 Chapter 3. Reverend Dempsey’s Crusade and the Rise of Involuntary Commitment in 1966 Chapter 4. Crime, Class, and Conflict in the Ghetto Chapter 5. King Heroin and the Development of the Drug Laws in 1973 Chapter 6. Race, Place, and the Tumultuous 1960s and 1970s Conclusion: “Liberal Sentiments to Conservative Acts” Notes Acknowledgments Index