Wow – I am surprised that a school with as much publicity and recognition as University of Tennessee would choose to hire a coach with a history such as that (even if he wasn’t directly related).

I like how you connected the idea of masculinity and the incarceration system. The idea that being perceived as strong on something, in this case crime, and protecting something or a group of people has driven people throughout history. Several of our readings have stated that white men lynched African American men based on the idea that they had harmed white women who were thought of as symbols of purity who were only for white men. In the War on Drugs, this can be applied to white communities as politicians did not want drugs to enter white neighborhoods and ruin their children.

Sarah, like everyone else, I appreciated your comments on the role of masculinity. I think you make another good point when you bring up the fact that conservatives tend to support the war on drugs even though it represents a large federal program. I believe there is actually a significant portion of libertarian minded Republicans that would be in favor of ending the drug war, but the issue will likely remain a non-starter on the right because of the family values wing of the party. I think that parents and grand parents in particular tend to see the issue in terms of protecting their children (even though their children probably have access to drugs). Because, as Alexander points out, the drug wars are mostly limited to poor, urban and predominantly black communities, these rural and suburban voters don’t see the negative impact that the war on drugs has on society. I have a faint hope that the present opioid crisis may change perceptions. Perhaps as family values voters encounter a “crisis” that is much closer to home, they will rethink their views on drugs in general and move from a crime and punishment approach to a treatment approach. (This makes sense if you look at it logically, since opioid pain killers and heroin are basically the same thing.) Perhaps this hope is a little naïve, but hey, sometimes you have to take your hope where you can find it.