This statement relates to the larger conversation surrounding when society deems a problem as noteworthy. There’s a prevailing assumption that “drug use is to be expected in poor, ethnic minority urban communities, but not in suburban and rural white America” (Netherland and Hansen). Since white communities “are the unmarked norm,” white drug use is often framed as a tragedy due to “wasted potential” (Netherland and Hansen).These media-reinforced expectations and assumptions desensitize people to the suffering of ethnic minorities and those who are socio-economically disadvantaged.