Apartheid. USA 1988

[p. 14]

January 14, 1987:

Homicides, shootings among teenagers and the seemingly intractible spread of cocaine and its derivative, crack^24a., rose sharply during 1986 in some of the nation's largest cities. New York City had 1 309 homicides in the first 10 months of 1986. It was almost 20 percent higher than during the same period in 1985. In Washington DC the homicide rate rose more than 60 percent. In Chicago, Miami, Boston, Philadelphia, St Louis, Baltimore and Dallas increases were recorded up 20 percent over the last year. Although drugs were considered a leading culprit - in Los Angeles half of the 820 homicides were considered drug-related - it is the rashness of some slayings that alarmed authorities everywhere. Victims were killed for anything from lottery tickets to parking spaces. In Detroit teenagers were killed for silk shirts and gym shoes. Two policemen were killed by citizens who mistook them for criminals in one case, and an 18-year-old killed a college student for 80 cents and some ice cream. One mother called the Detroit City Council office to say she could not be responsible for what her strapping teenaged son did. ‘Lock him up,’ she said.^24.

24a. Crack is a particularly potent form of cocaine.

24. The New York Times, from a report by Isabel Wilkerson