Question

"As the rules of acceptable discourse changed, however, segregationist distanced themselves from an explicitly racist agenda. They developed instead the racially sanitized rhetoric of "cracking down on crime"=rhetoric that is now used freely by politicians of every stripe. Conservative politicians who embraced this rhetoric purposefully failed to distinguish between the direct action tactics of civil rights activists, violent rebellions in inner cities, and traditional crimes of an economic or violent nature. INstead, as Marc Mauer of the Sentencing Project has noted, "all of these phenomene were subsumed under the heading of 'crime in the streets'"

Answer 1

The political language shifted from overt racism to topics like crime prevention, especially during the war on drugs in the 1980s, which disproportionately affected Black and Hispanic communities with harsher sentencing,

Step-by-step explanation:

Throughout the evolution of the civil rights movement, we observe a shift in the language of segregationists to a veneer of crime prevention, distancing themselves from overtly racist agendas. During the 1980s, with the introduction and explosion of crack cocaine in urban areas predominantly inhabited by Black and Hispanic people, politicians, including President Ronald Reagan, capitalized on the growing fear in White middle-class society.

Harsher sentences for drug offenses, especially related to crack versus cocaine, were introduced, reflecting racial bias given the socioeconomic differences of crack and cocaine users. This period also saw the implementation of mandatory minimum sentences and the advent of 'three strikes laws'—all contributing to an increase in incarceration rates among minority communities.

These punitive measures against drug crimes were intertwined with systemic racism and aggressive law enforcement tactics in minority neighborhoods. Practices like civil forfeiture and reduced judge discretion, supported by federal funds, incentivized the targeting of minority communities. This led to a disproportionate number of traffic stops, searches, and arrests of Black and Hispanic individuals, reinforcing racial profiling and contributing to the devastating impact on these populations.