Silicon Valley's cocaine problem shaped our racist tech

Silicon Valley in the 1980s was the hub of an international drug trafficking network that fueled technological innovation and criminalized black people

If ever there was a white paradise, it was Silicon Valley in the 1980s. We called them geniuses and wizards. Inventors and entrepreneurs. Industry titans, and even a few free-thinking hippies who believed they were gods, powerful enough to shape technology to their will.

This white cast of characters populated the world's largest high tech hub at a rate of nearly 75%. Absorbed 80% of the area's generated income. Owned the vast majority of its homes. Commanded double the per capita income of black people living in the area.