Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Marissa Hernandez
Although a social construct, the concept of race divides social groups into categories with
differential access to resources and status. Due to lasting prejudice, discrimination, and the
concept of race, racism is still present in the United States. Those that do not fit into the
normative race, the white race in the US, are othered and are negatively compared. African
Americans historically have been the othered group and they continue to face individual and
however, racial differentiation on drug policies, one for white users and another for black and
brown users, is one of many examples of systematic discrimination imposed on minority groups.
This current issue establishes exigence in discourse communities such as academia and
news outlets. However, different outlets inform their audience with varied rhetorical appeals. For
instance, in The Real Opioid Emergency, a non-academic article published in The New York
Times, Carl Hart appeals to his wide-ranged audience on the issue of the disproportionate mass
incarceration of black and brown drug users to white users with the aid of kairos, logos, visuals,
and pathos. In comparison Deborah Small, the author of The War on Drugs Is a War on Racial
disproportionate arrests of black users compared to white drug users (Small, 2001, p. 897).
Small, however utilizes kairos, logos, ethos, pathos, and metaphorical language to effectively
When comparing where the two sources were published, the authors target audience
becomes apparent. Harts article was published in The New York Times, on an online outlet that
can reach a plethora of individuals in a short period of time, meaning that Harts audience is the
general mass public who have access to this source and who are interested in the topic. Another
factor that determines the work to be for the general public is the terminology used in Harts
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article. The terminology used is not difficult to understand and when Hart introduces a slightly
foreign term, he informs the reader of its meaning within the article. For example, Hart discusses
the pattern of racial differentiation then provides the definition of the term, one drug policy
for white users and another for black users, to provide clarity to individuals who are not experts
manner, eight days after President Donald Trump proclaimed the opioid problem a national
emergency. (Hart, 2017, p.1) Publishing his work in such a well-timed manner effortlessly
captivates the audience due to its relevance. The cause of the discourse for Harts article is the
Hart constructs a historical timeline underscoring a pattern that the United States
government has been ensuing for the last 47 years when attempting to resolve nationwide drug
epidemics. Hart commences, The Real Opioid Emergency, by detailing the arising opioid
problem, and a potential shift in the way we view certain drug users, now being patients rather
than criminals (Hart, 2017, p.1). However, as the article progresses, Hart refers to historical
events such as the crack epidemic and heroin crisis which appeals to the audiences reasoning,
that this enlightening drug policy is not an innovative approach (Hart, 2017, p.2). Rather an
approach that has been exercised numerous times in American history, that aids white drug users,
and penalizes black and brown users. In order to appeal to the audience's logic, Hart states
specific events in history with the addition of dates such as the so-called crack epidemic in the
late 1980s, the heroin crisis of the 1970s, and New York States infamous 1975 Rockefeller
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drug laws. The use of specific historic events with the aid of dates, provides evidence to the
audience that current drug policies have been employed in the past and have been proven to be
ineffective.
The digital image heading Harts article invokes a great deal of emotion within the
audience. At first glance, the use of this image persuades an individual to read the article.
However, as you analyze the image it also appeals to the audience's pathos due to the symbolism
within the image. The image has a vibrant red background which immediately attracts the
audience. In black there is a set of hands handcuffed, symbolizing to audience that the majority
of convicted drug offenders are people of color. On top of the black hands there is a needle
dripping, opioid, signifying the most recent drug epidemic plaguing American society.
national emergency, and shifting the view of drug users from criminals deserving scorn and
incarceration to now patients in need of out help and understanding. (Hart, 2017, p.1) His
skepticism derives from former events such as the crack epidemic and heroin crisis displaying
continuous racial differentiation in the United States. The doubtfulness that Hart presents is a
tactic used to usher in action from the audience, specifically the reformation of contemporary
drug policies. The use of a doubtful tone creates a bleak scenario for the audience and once again
appeals to the emotions of the individuals and invokes the need for action to resolve the issue of
The War on Drugs Is a War on Racial Justice was published in Social Research an
academic journal article by The New School. The article derives from The New School, a private
research university in New York City, meaning that the article is geared towards more
educated individuals, with greater knowledge regarding the sociology and criminal justice
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fields. In one instance, Small discusses the prison-industrial complex, a term that may be
foreign to those outside of the sociology field. Additionally, Small mentions racially skewed
charging, plea bargaining, and discriminatory sentencing practices (Small, 2001, p. 898). Such
concepts may be confusing to individuals outside of the political science or criminal justice
fields. Therefore, the terminology used determines the article to be for individuals within
academia, specifically in the sociological, political science, and criminal justice fields.
The introduction of the journal article implies that Smalls article is a commentary on a
previous panel discussion. Therefore, the cause of discourse, or exigence for Small arises from
the panel regarding drug policies. The panel establishes a kairotic situation, or the need for a
given rhetorical interaction to occur . The article establishes the interaction and commences
discourse concerning the drug policies in United States (Down, 2017, 467).
Small incorporates several statistics, appealing to the audience's logic. For instance,
Blacks constitute between 75 and 90 percent of all drug offenders sent to prison and black
men are sent to prison for drug offenses at rates that are from 20 to 57 times greater than for
white men. (Small, 2001, p. 897) Displaying numerical statistics emphasizes the extraordinarily
different rates at which black and brown individuals are being incarnated. Disclosing the
statistics to the audience establishes concrete evidence of discrimination within the American
Additionally, Small incorporates several in text citations from Human Rights Watch
and the United States Sentencing Commission. The Human Rights Watch is an organization
information gathering from a broad range of sources, and with field-based research at its core.
(Human Rights Watch 2015) The inclusion of this source establishes ethos, or credibility due to
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the abundance of research and reliable methodology the organization exercises. The United
States Sentencing Commission, is another source Small cited within her paper. The United
Congress. The commission has an Office of Research and Data that provides the Commission
with statistical and other social science research and analyses on specific sentencing issues and
federal crime generally. (United States Sentencing Commission 2017) The use of a government
source appeals to ethos because the commission uses research and analyses to provide credible
information to the public. Small also includes a detailed and extensive Reference page at the end
Small also addresses the devastating effects that the War on Drugs has on incarcerated
individuals and their families with the use of pathos. For example, tens of thousands of children
are permanently separated from the love and guidance of parents who have been incarcerated for
drug offenses. (Small, 2001, p. 899) Discussing a broken home, is an emotional appeal to the
audiences value of family. Small also notes that the laws that have stolen the lives of their
loved ones are tremendous social and economic costs (Small, 2001, p. 900). Small creates a
melancholy situation and invokes sorrow and sympathy within the reader. Therefore,
emphasizing the destructive effects encourages the audience to take action against the unfair
On several occasions, Small compares the United States criminal justice system to a
form of modern slavery that African Americans are legally imprisoned in. With the use of
metaphorical language, Small compares the War on Drugs to chattel slavery, Antebellum
plantation and apartheid justice. Doing so, Small appeals to audience's pathos and invokes
negative emotion within the reader. Comparing the War on Drugs to slavery spurs a sort of
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THE WAR ON DRUGS: A MECHANISM OF OPPRESSION
urgency within the reader to act against the methods of oppression that the United States is
Small did not include any visuals in her article. However, if Small did implement graphs
and charts, it would have been a helpful asset for the audience to grasp a visual understanding of
the several statistics that Small presented in her article. Additionally, visual models would help
Small displays a strong stance on mass incarceration and drug policies being tools of
oppression upon minority groups in the United States. Throughout the article Small antagonizes
the United States criminal justice system for establishing drug laws that affect people of color
more harshly than White Americans. However, as the article concludes there is some optimism
in her tone due to some representatives in the United States attempting to develop better drug
laws. Smalls optimism is a mechanism to catalyze action among her audience to resolve issues
The two articles, derive from two differing sources, one from a popular online outlet, The
New York Times and the other from an academic journal called Social Research. Hart employs
the use of kairos, logos, visuals, and pathos to influence the need for action from his audience in
his article The Real Opioid Emergency. The individuals reading a popular online source are
typically not experts in the field. Therefore, the use of logos is used to appeal to the reasoning of
the audience but pathos is the most effective because it targets the audience's emotions and
creates the need for action. Author Deborah Small similarly uses logos to appeal to logic of her
audience. However, she additionally uses ethos, pathos, and metaphorical language to connect
with her audience. The appeal to credibility and reasoning is necessary for discourses in
academia due to the audience being highly informed in the topic. Although the two authors use
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different methods to communicate with their audience, they both are able to effectively establish
discourse with a large range of individuals on topic of unjust drug policies and the oppression it
References
Downs, D. (2017). Rhetoric: Making Sense of Human Interaction and Meaning- Making.
Small, D. (2001). The War on Drugs Is a War on Racial Justice. Social Research, (3),
896.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/18/opinion/sunday/opioids-drugs-race-
treatment.html?mcubz=0
Human Rights Watch. (2015, September 21). About Our Research., from
https://www.hrw.org/about-our-research
https://www.ussc.gov/about/who-we-are/organization