Tough on Crime or Tough on African

Americans?
By Tatyana Gamble

In1994, former president Bill Clinton introduced the Crime Bill. This was a $30 billion
crime bill that created dozens of new federal capital crimes, mandated life sentences for some
three-time offenders, and authorized more than $16 billion for state prison grants and the
expansion of police forces (Alexander) The Clintons referred to this bill as anti-crime, anti-
gang, and anti-drug effort (Clinton) . In reality, this bill is anti-African American.

This new bill was heavily enforced in African American communities, and therefore are
responsible for mass incarceration. BBC.com states that The prison population had tripled in the
two decades that preceded the act. Under this bill the three-strike life sentence was
implemented. The three strike law states that a person being convicted for a felony after being
convicted of two serious or violent crimes will receive a life sentence. Because many of these
laws include drug offenses as prior strikes, more black than white offenders will be subject to life
sentences under a "3 Strikes" law (ACLU.org). This 3-strike law was a perfect depiction of
Clinton supporting the Tough on Crime movement.

Clinton got his tough on crime slogan from former president Richard Nixon. John
Ehrlichman, Nixons Advisor, admitted that the Tough on Crime Movement was used to target
African Americans. Ehrlichman stated that The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White
House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people We knew we couldn't
make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the
hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin. And then criminalizing both heavily, we could
disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders. raid their homes, break up their
meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying
about the drugs? Of course, we did" (CNN.com). This shows that Bill Clintons 3 strike law
derived from a movement that strategically targeted African Americans. Not only did his law
come from a prejudice system, but it is a prejudice law within itself.

The first step to decreasing mass incarceration rates of African Americans and all people
will happen through the revision of the 3 strikes law. The 3-strike law should only convict felons
to life if it is their third violent crime and after they have received multiple forms of
rehabilitation. Instead of spending money on more police officers to lower crime rates, the
government needs to properly allocate money for rehabilitation services. After a persons first
and second violent crime they should be forced to enter a rehabilitation program where they
receive professional help from a psychiatrist and attend monthly check ups for a year. If the
person shows any signs of concern during these checkups they will be required to attend therapy
sessions with a psychologist and therapist once every two weeks until they are cleared as
rehabilitated. The government will provide theses ex inmates with transportation to their therapy
sessions and will pay for all facility fees. It is imperative that these ex-convicts receive internal,
emotional, physical and mental help so that they are guaranteed to not be repeat offenders. These
programs will give these people a second chance at life and solve their issues, instead of denying
them professional help by automatically sentencing them to life.
 References
Alexander, Michelle. "Why Hillary Clinton Doesn't Deserve the Black Vote." The Nation.
N.p., 10 Feb. 2016. Web. 21 Apr. 2017.

"10 Reasons to Oppose "3 Strikes, You're Out"." American Civil Liberties Union. N.p., n.d.
Web. 21 Apr.
2017.

LoBianco, Tom. "Report: Nixon's War on Drugs Targeted Black People." CNN. Cable News
Network, 24 Mar. 2016. Web. 21 Apr. 2017.

Bill Clinton and the New Jim Crow. Dir. Billie Pritchett. Youtube.com. Bille Pritcett, 12 Feb.
2016. Web.