'When Crack Was King' chronicles the misunderstood history of the crack epidemic

In his new nonfiction book, When Crack Was King, Donovan X. Ramsey explores how the crack cocaine epidemic of the '80s and '90s shaped people, neighborhoods and entire communities, particularly for Black and low-income folks. He writes portraits of those who struggled with addiction, those who sold the drug, and those who tackled policy and decriminalization. In today's episode, Ramsey tells NPR's Ayesha Rascoe why he wanted to dispel the myth of the "superpredator," and how societal views on addiction changed once people of color were no longer the face of it.

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