The Crack Epidemic:The Degradation, of the Black Community.

The African-American community in the United States was and still is a strong community. But within these communities there are also communities that are fading, causing harm to one another and themselves. One of the major reasons for this occurrence is from the use of drugs. One drug in particular that created a downfall in the African-American communities was, “crack cocaine.” Even though this drug destroyed many communities, one female in particular made sure there cause of this outbreak would not stay hidden in the shadows. Maxine Waters had always held the African-American communities close to her, ever since she gained political power. She made a stand in the L.A riots, supported Castro when he helped with the Civil Rights, and is against any threat to the African-American communities. Maxine Waters spoke out against all terrors including the domestic threats such as the CIA, (At the time.) Maxine Waters issued an investigation on the CIA to see if they were buying crack cocaine from an outside source. The CIA director however denied the allegations that they were buying and or supplying anyone with the drugs. However thanks to the investigation CIA inspector general released a statement saying they did buy the drugs from a outside source. She gave reason for people to believe that the CIA distributed crack cocaine to the African American community. Between 1984 and 1994, the homicide rate for Black males aged 14-17 more than doubled and homicide rates for Black males aged 18-24 increased almost as much. In stark contrast, homicide rates for Black males 25 and older were essentially flat over the same period. By the year 2000, homicide rates had fallen back below their initial levels of the early 1980s for almost all age groups. Crack is strongly correlated with a range of social indicators. You find that the rise in crack from 1984-1989 is associated with a doubling of homicide deaths of Black males aged 14-17, a 30 percent increase for Black males aged 18-24, and a 10 percent increase for Black males 25 and over, and thus accounts for much of the observed variation in homicide rates over this time period. The rise in crack can explain 20-100 percent of the observed increases in Black low birth weight babies, fetal death, child mortality, and unwed births in large cities between 1984 and 1989. In contrast, the measured impact of crack on Whites is generally small and statistically insignificant.