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Communities of color have been criminalized and oppressed by racism imbedded in long-standing policies and negative narratives. From redlining to the War on Drugs, structural and systemic racism continues to negatively impact the opioid overdose epidemic. Drug enforcement policies have paved the way for law enforcement in many communities to terrorize Black and Brown people. The culmination of harmful policies and deep-seated narratives has increased stigma in communities with a majority of people of color from substance use prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery.
A new report from the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), Between the Lines: Understanding our country’s racialized response to the opioid overdose epidemic, shows the many ways that communities of color have been affected by the opioid overdose crisis and treated differently or ignored by the nation’s response. Between the Lines recommends policy strategies that can help us move toward an equitable response to the crisis. To truly help those negatively affected by substance use, policies need to focus on building the core infrastructure of communities that have been neglected for decades. Solutions must take a critical look at racist policies that have hindered communities, while bolstering ideas that reverse the severe damage, from providing reparations to African Americans and Native communities, to increasing the minimum wage.
Help us spread the word about Between the Lines with these sample social media posts:
- To achieve a decrease in #opioid overdose death rates in Black and Brown populations we need key policy changes in economic mobility. #betweenthelines #healthequity @CLASP_DC https://bit.ly/3bSqJst
- The federal response to the #opioid overdose epidemic needs to take a hard look at implementing public health approaches to communities of color. #betweenthelines #healthequity @CLASP_DC https://bit.ly/3bSqJst
- What is one policy recommendation that can help the disparate impact of the #opioid response? Provide #reparations to African Americans and Native communities. #betweenthelines #healthequity @CLASP_DC https://bit.ly/3bSqJst
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