Helena Hansen et al., "Whiteout: How Racial Capitalism Changed the Color of Opioids in America" (U California Press, 2023)
Dec 5, 2024
The discussion dives into how racial capitalism influences the opioid crisis, revealing systemic inequalities in opioid distribution. The contrast between punitive drug policies for marginalized communities and leniency for middle-class whites highlights deep-rooted disparities. It traces the evolution from prescription to fentanyl crises, challenging common perceptions of addiction. The podcast also critiques colorblind racism and explores the narratives shaping public perceptions of addiction, calling for a reevaluation of societal attitudes and a push for universal health coverage.
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insights INSIGHT
Racial Capitalism and Drug Policy
Racial capitalism in the U.S. drug policy creates a split legal system.
One system criminalizes drug use in non-white communities, while another medicalizes similar drug use for white people.
insights INSIGHT
Racial Capitalism's Persistence
Racial capitalism, rooted in resource and labor exploitation, persists through consumption of healthcare.
Drug markets were historically segregated, impacting access and experience based on race.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Opioid Crisis Case Study
The opioid crisis reveals a racially segmented drug policy.
Oxycodone, opioid addiction treatment, and heroin's resurgence in white markets exemplify this.
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Whiteout: How Racial Capitalism Changed the Color of Opioids in America
Whiteout: How Racial Capitalism Changed the Color of Opioids in America
How Racial Capitalism Changed the Color of Opioids in America
Jules Netherland
Helena Hansen
David Hertzberg
Whiteout meticulously details how racial capitalism has shaped drug policy in the United States, creating a deeply unequal system. The authors trace the historical roots of this disparity, revealing how different drug markets have been constructed and policed along racial lines. They expose the ways in which white communities have been offered compassion and medicalized treatment, while Black and Brown communities have faced punitive measures. The book examines specific cases, including the opioid crisis, to illustrate this systemic inequality. Ultimately, Whiteout calls for a fundamental shift in how we approach drug policy, advocating for equitable solutions that address the underlying racial and economic injustices.
The phrase "racial capitalism" was used by Cedric Robinson to describe an economy of wealth accumulation extracted from cheap labor, organized by racial hierarchy, and justified through white supremacist logics. Now, in the twenty-first century, the biotech industry is the new capitalist whose race-based exploitation engages not only labor but racialized consumption. This arrangement is upheld through US drug policy, which over the past century has created a split legal system—one punitive system that criminalizes drug use common among Black, Brown, and lower-income communities and another system characterized by compassion and care that medicalizes, and thus legalizes, drug use targeted to middle-class White people.
In the award-winning book Whiteout: How Racial Capitalism Changed the Color of Opioids in America(U California Press, 2023), a trio of authors—Helena Hansen, Jules Netherland, and David Herzberg—explain how this arrangement came to pass, what impacts it has, and what needs to be done. This remarkable book won the 2023 Rachel Carson Book Prize from the Society for the Social Studies of Science.
This interview was a collaborative effort among Professor Laura Stark and graduate students at Vanderbilt University in the course, “American Medicine & the World.” Please email Laura with any feedback on the interview or questions about how to design collaborative interview projects for the classroom.
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