5 Grams - 9780814787014

5 GramsCrack Cocaine, Rap Music, and the War on Drugs\nAuthor(s): Dimitri A. Bogazianos\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: New York University Press, United States\nImprint: New York University Press\nISBN-13: 9780814787014, 978-0814787014\nSynopsis\nIn 2010, President Barack Obama signed a law repealing one of the most controversial policies in American criminal justice history: the one hundred to one sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder whereby someone convicted of \""simply\"" possessing five grams of crackthe equivalent of a few sugar packetshad been required by law to serve no less than five years in prison. In this highly original work, Dimitri A. Bogazianos draws on various sources to examine the profound symbolic consequences of America's reliance on this punishment structure, tracing the rich cultural linkages between America's War on Drugs, and the creative contributions of those directly affected by its destructive effects.\n Focusing primarily on lyrics that em.