The House I Live In

 




This is a very insightful yet disconcerting documentary of the utter failure of America’s drug war. Comprehensive in scope and interviewing some of the most enlightening scholars such as Michelle Alexander and Charles Ogletree, this film also offers hope and the potential to effect change. There were some jarring moments in this piece such as the following observation by a noted scholar who spoke of an insidious chain of destruction that is repeated over time, decade after decade, century after century all over the world in different societies. This chain of destruction begins with the following links... 

(1) Identification - This is when a group of people are identified as the scourge of society. People start to perceive their fellow citizens as bad and worthless 

(2) Ostracism- This is when we learn to hate the people identified as "bad" and deny them access to jobs and resources thus making it hard for them to survive/succeed..people lose their dwellings and forced to live in ghettos where they are physically isolated and separated from the rest of society

 (3)Confiscation- People lose their rights/civil liberties..the laws change thereby making it easier for people to be stopped and searched and property confiscated (which leads to the people themselves being thrown in the slammer) 

(4) Concentration - This is when people get concentrated into prisons/camps and stripped of all of their rights (can't vote, their labor is exploited in a systematic way, etc) 

(5) Annihilation - This may be indirect like withholding medical care, withholding food, etc. It can also be direct where death is inflicted 

All of these steps proceed at the their own momentum without anyone forcing them to happen. That this is happening in America comes at no surprise to the poor and black/brown communities who have suffered in unimaginable ways for quite a long time. Of course, assholes abound & they argue that what is happening to "those people" has absolutely nothing to do with them. Until their teenaged offspring gets into trouble do they stop to consider just what the hell is going on.

Please take the time to watch this important film and have your children watch it as well.

OneLove

:::MME:::