New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

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New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

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Maybe You Shouldn’t Say ‘Crackhead’ So Much

Despite its common usage, the word has a problematic history, rooted in the U.S.’ racist drug laws and discriminatory practices
Maybe You Shouldnt Say ‘Crackhead’ So Much

You hear it everywhere: “We were acting like crackheads”; “That’s some crackhead behavior”; “It’s crackhead hour!” The word crackhead is typically used to describe sporadic, loud and risky behavior that is often seen from those experiencing something akin to the symptoms of crack cocaine use — without the crack itself. It’s become part of our vernacular, but those who throw the word crackhead into conversation fail to acknowledge that it’s a racist callback to the crack epidemic of the 1980s and the War on Drugs that came with it.

The fact that we have adopted this term with no sense of awareness of its past is irresponsible. We are a generation with a reputation for being concerned with accountability, it seems hypocritical that we continue to use the term crackhead without acknowledging its history. It is even more careless that we ignore the irreparable damage that the crack epidemic and War on Drugs had on the black community — effects that still plague what is arguably the U.S.’s most vulnerable and marginalized population.

The War on Drugs began in the U.S. during the 1970s, when President Richard Nixon increased federal funding for drug control agencies and treatment efforts. However, when Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980, the War on Drugs dramatically escalated. Reagan’s focus shifted from treatment to criminal punishment, which led to a spike in incarceration rates for nonviolent drug offenders — from 50,000 in 1980 to 380,000 in 1989. His policies put the U.S. at the forefront of incarceration rates in the world. The extreme media coverage of the crack epidemic was a major component in the expansion of the War on Drugs. People were scared, and Reagan took advantage of that anxiety to launch his anti-drug initiatives — like Nancy Reagan’s“Just Say No” campaign. In 1986, Congress passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, increasing funding for the War and establishing a series of mandatory minimum prison sentences for drug offenses. And this is when claims that the War on Drugs was a racist institution began.

The claims were legitimate. The mandatory minimums established by the Anti-Drug Act would automatically give those found with five grams of crack a five-year prison sentence — the same sentence that applied for 500 grams of cocaine. A person who possessed five grams of crack cocaine, an amount too small to be sold on a mass scale, would get the same sentence as a powder cocaine dealer — creating a 100:1 sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine. Approximately 80% of crack users were black, while most cocaine users were white. This demonstrates the disparity between the number of black people convicted for drug possession and that of white people.

One of Nixon’s top aides, John Ehrlichman, admitted that declaring a war on drugs was a political tool to get the public to “associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin,” then criminalize the use of both drugs to “arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news.” Congress itself has acknowledged how the War on Drugs failed when they introduced a bill in 2018 acknowledging that the policies implemented failed to reduce drug use and failed entire communities instead. 

The War on Drugs is the largest contributor to the systematic mass incarceration of people of color in the U.S. based on the statistics. Although the War on Drugs is no longer waged with the same intensity as it was in the 80s, it’s a phenomenon we still witness.

The term crackhead makes light of a period where racial discrimination found yet another way to thrive in the criminal justice system. The word highlights the specific struggles of historically marginalized communities that were — and still are — targeted, persecuted and punished for drug addiction and possession. 

Before adding the word crackhead to your vocabulary, consider its history. It’s trendy, I know — I’ve said it too. But we need to stop. It is disrespectful towards the communities that suffered deeply due to possession of this drug in the past, it is offensive to the people who struggle with addiction to this substance today and it is inconsiderate towards the people who still face disproportionate punishments for drug offenses due to their race.

The English language is vast enough for you to choose a word that does not have a history of racist connotations. Try mad, erratic, idiotic or my personal favorites: loony, nutter, screwball and wacky.

Granted, some words we use every day were once incredibly intolerant. Perhaps crackhead may someday become part of that vocabulary without affecting or insulting an entire community and its past. But slurs should not become part of our day-to-day language. Not enough time has passed for the effects of the 1980s to be forgotten or ignored —  20% of all incarcerated people are in prison for a drug offense, and 451,000 of these offenses are nonviolent. These words were born out of hatred, fueled by racist ideals and popularized by racist circumstances. It’s true that words only have the power we grant them, but they also carry the weight of the context we form them out of, and that should be evaluated and respected.

Email Sophia Martinez at [email protected]

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  • J

    Jim SmithsMay 14, 2022 at 9:56 pm

    Try living beside them before you write something so stupid. I praise recovering addicts. Try dealing with it year after until you have move from your family home! Fuck crackheads!

    Reply
  • M

    Mike HuntOct 6, 2021 at 3:37 am

    I see what you’re saying and I’ve no intention of questioning the merit of your historical knowledge. I am however, speaking from the here and now. We have a saying out here, “You wanna do drugs? Alright, fine. But keep it your problem, don’t make it mine.” I hold no stigma against the person who snorts expensive coke nor the person who smokes the more “affordable” rock. I know people who are functioning addicts of a variety of vices. The stigma comes from one’s actions. I believe drugs should be decriminalized but people should not get a pass if they’re addicted to drugs and have victimized somebody who was minding their own business, going about their life and not harming anyone. The kid down the street delivered newspapers (yes, even in the here and now) so that he could buy a brand new BMX bike. A week after he bought it, it gets stolen, sold for $20 worth of rock, taken to the makeshift chop shop in Tent City, redone and even though that kid has serial numbers and can positively identify the bike, some crackhead rides it around the city whilst the police hand the kid’s parents a file number and say they’ll look into it.
    I’m pretty sure nobody cares about the skin color of that crackhead, nor do they care about their backstory, what they’re dealing with in their life, etc. They just know that someone who obviously smokes crack has just stolen a child’s bike and now they’re supposed to keep their natural angry reaction in check and throw their compassion towards the “real victim”? Don’t call that person a name based on their actions or you might hurt their feelings by using an insult that, like many other words in the English language, has evolved and taken on a meaning that has nothing to do with racial discrimination anymore and everything to do with a person who generally cannot be trusted?

    Let me spell it out for you…

    Bass Head = One who can’t get enough of low frequencies.

    Gear Head = One who can’t get enough of working on anything mechanical, mainly automobiles.

    Crack Head = One who can’t get that first ringer back but will chase the dragon, leaving victims in their wake in order to get it.

    Oh yeah, one more…

    Shit Head = One whose heart bleeds pumpkin spice latte from their gated community and will play an outdated oppression card in an attempt to convince people who actually live in the areas where these things happen that their collective anger and frustration is insensitive and that coddling crackheads is a logical solution.

    Anyone who’s ever been in a crack shack and seen firsthand what these people are like will tell you straight away that you’re not looking at racial oppression, you’re amongst people who are indeed smart (or perhaps I should say clever) and that they are constantly discussing the next scam, the last home/small business they cased out, when they should make their move, etc. and they know damn well they’ll only get a slap on the wrist and released. But what do I know? I just happen to live in “that” part of the city and I’m no longer swayed by the sob stories and crocodile tears that seem to be so effective when it comes to keeping the welfare office sympathetic enough to lift the delay on a check, right?

    The current stigma comes from one’s actions, not one’s skin color. Personal responsibility and consequences for one’s actions should go right across the board without prejudice, regardless of one’s vices.

    Reply
  • P

    PhilasandeAug 1, 2021 at 6:08 am

    I don’t understand

    Reply
  • R

    RoseJul 26, 2021 at 6:44 am

    Whoops, meant to say ‘Before the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010’.

    Reply
  • R

    RoseJul 26, 2021 at 6:43 am

    Sure, there a lot of things these days that could be quickly linked to racism. However, if you look at the laws of the mandate of “crack”, you’ll see that it is different than from it’s counterpart, cocaine. Both of them are the same in chemical compound, crack just has additives that make it a solid.
    Up until recent years, criminal offense of the sale/possession of crack vs powdered cocaine was extremely different. Because of the Fair Sentencing Act in 2010, 5 grams of crack cocaine would give you the same sentence as 500 grams of refined powdered cocaine — even though they had the same chemical derivative. Crack cocaine tended to be cheaper since it was mixed in with water and baking powder for it to be solidified into crystals, while refined cocaine had stronger effects and tended to be on the pricier side.
    In a socioeconomic perspective, crack cocaine was usually found in poor, ungentrified neighborhoods where minorities usually resided. Refined, powdered cocaine were found more so in white collar environments. Leave it up to you on why cost-wise.
    Why make the laws different? If anything, shouldn’t refined cocaine have a higher sentencing due to having a higher purity? It was more likely you could die of an overdose through powdered cocaine.
    So while the “race talk” might make some uncomfortable, it might be a talk worth to have when it comes to the War on Drugs. An individual taking drugs and holding their own responsibility to the crime should definitely be blind to race, however the economic and social standpoint of it should be highly considered in terms of race.
    Compassion to crime shouldn’t be tolerated. However the need for change and tolerance towards the attitude of dealing with addiction in a socioeconomic standpoint needs to change so that there could exist a solution to the rise of drug possession, sale, and addition. You know, so that the probability of the lady in the park encountering a situation like that decreases. Gradually then maybe that particular word ‘crack’ can cease to exist from our vocabulary.

    Reply
  • C

    ChristianMay 13, 2021 at 8:53 pm

    Who gives a f**k? If you smoke crack you’re a crackhead. That isn’t racist

    Reply
    • J

      JACK CHRISTIANSONJan 23, 2023 at 6:08 pm

      The insinuation of the slur is what is ineffective in regard to one’s recovery from their drug addiction. If you call someone a crackhead to their face, they are statistically less likely to seek help, or recover from their drug use or addiction at all.

      Reply
  • K

    kayMar 11, 2021 at 9:19 pm

    HAHAAHAHAHA– lol im a crackhead

    Reply
  • A

    Amber WilsonFeb 21, 2021 at 9:22 pm

    Mike Hunt couldn’t have said it any better..

    Reply
  • M

    Mike HuntFeb 11, 2021 at 9:07 am

    I love how quick some people are to link something to racism these days. Sure, the history you speak of cannot be denied however, when people say crackhead nowadays, I don’t believe it’s racially driven. If we are indeed a generation with a reputation for being concerned about accountability, we should not discriminate in this regard and people who use crack, regardless of their nationality, gender, etc., have a reputation of victimizing innocent people in order to get their drugs. An elderly lady gets mugged in the park in my city. She is trembling in trauma and as you help her to her feet, look into her terrified eyes and tell her she should be more compassionate towards the crackhead who knocked her down and snatched her purse. After all, it would be insensitive to hold that person ACCOUNTABLE for their ACTIONS, right? That is the context in which most people I know use the word crackhead due to the world we have grown up in and encounter on a daily basis. Being a crackhead is a multicultural thing now, it’s an open invitation to anyone who chooses to take that path in life. Accountability for one’s actions is the real issue here.

    Reply
  • L

    LeoSep 18, 2020 at 7:26 am

    Hey! Thank you for treating this issue, that’s cool and it’s very well explained.
    However.
    Some of the alternatives you chose are ableist and discriminatory against people with mental illnessess (mad, idiotic, loony, and nutter, at least. As English is not my native language I am not sure about the background of the last two)
    It would be great that you took that into consideration too, since it’s also an accountability issue regarding marginalised people.

    Reply
    • B

      BehnchodeNov 8, 2020 at 10:39 pm

      Shut up

      Reply
      • Z

        ZoeMar 6, 2021 at 9:57 pm

        Rude. This dude is totally right. Saying shut up make u sound like a 2nd grader. Immature

        Reply