As in when the war on drugs, something in it's very name that is a militarized symbol with militarized rhetoric, militarized equipment, and highly punitive "solutions" suddenly evolves into a public health crisis with medical solutions and compassion for the parties involved.

"Among African-Americans critical of the modern drug war launched four decades ago by President Richard Nixon, the fact that the opioid epidemic is primarily striking the majority race helps explain why it is largely being called an epidemic and treated as a public health crisis, rather than a war.

“Look at the inner city, it’s always been what we consider an epidemic,” said the Rev. Ralph White, pastor of Bloomfield Full Gospel Baptist Church in Memphis.

“If this had been the case in other areas, the community would have been crying out long ago,” White said. “But now that it’s taking the lives of European Americans, we find that it’s at a time of crisis.”

Michael Eric Dyson, a Georgetown University sociology professor as well as minister and author, offered a similar view after an appearance in February at the University of Memphis.

"White brothers and sisters have been medicalized in terms of their trauma and addiction. Black and brown people have been criminalized for their trauma and addiction," said Dyson, whose latest book is "Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America.""

https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/money/2017/03/26/white-opioid-epidemic-highlights-black-frustration-drug-war/97694296/

Mirrored at the Nerve Center as "War on"

Categories: Across time, Class disparities, Double standards, Serious consequences