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How many innocent, non-drug-using blacks have ever been arrested for crack or other drugs?
The simple fact is that suburban blacks use and distribute drugs more than any other demographic in this country; thus, they comprise the majority of the arrest made by law enforcement.
It's like saying that SEC (securities exchange committee) laws are racist because the vast, vast majority of wall street guys they bust are white. but see, the same dynamic is at work here: the white yuppies are getting busted for insider trading and fraud and what not because of racism, but simply because they comprise the majority of those breaking the rules.
Thanks for the graphics! So what you're trying to say with your charts is.....?
That blacks are not arrested more because of higher usage. For my city, we have about a 30/30/30 split between blacks, whites, and Hispanics, but most of the drug arrests are African American males. The main difference is the blacks in my city have much lower income than whites and it is just easier to target them. As long as I don't do anything ridiculously stupid I can do pretty much anything I want without cops bugging me, but I'm white and live in a wealthy area.
Another influencing factor is violent crime is pretty low in the white areas, so the cops focus on the black areas. At first glance this might just seem proactive and not racist, but if you look at NYC's old stop and frisk policy and resulting arrests you will find blacks getting stopped more often than whites, but whites carried more often than blacks. To summarize, the current drug policy is not necessarily racist, but the application is.
Now if you look back in history then you will find racist motives behind many of our drug laws. Marijuana was seen as a black drug, so the criminalized it. Crack receives a harsher punishment than cocaine or meth, etc.
That blacks are not arrested more because of higher usage. For my city, we have about a 30/30/30 split between blacks, whites, and Hispanics, but most of the drug arrests are African American males. The main difference is the blacks in my city have much lower income than whites and it is just easier to target them. As long as I don't do anything ridiculously stupid I can do pretty much anything I want without cops bugging me, but I'm white and live in a wealthy area.
Another influencing factor is violent crime is pretty low in the white areas, so the cops focus on the black areas. At first glance this might just seem proactive and not racist, but if you look at NYC's old stop and frisk policy and resulting arrests you will find blacks getting stopped more often than whites, but whites carried more often than blacks. To summarize, the current drug policy is not necessarily racist, but the application is.
Now if you look back in history then you will find racist motives behind many of our drug laws. Marijuana was seen as a black drug, so the criminalized it. Crack receives a harsher punishment than cocaine or meth, etc.
While I think your charts are very telling, I am very curious as to urban/suburban break down and I've yet to be able to find anything one way or the other.
From a purely theoretical stand point, it makes sense that a kid smoking pot in a fenced in back yard is less likely to get arrested than a kid smoking pot on a street corner. Similarly a kid smoking pot in the woods is less likely to get arrested than a kid smoking pot in the city park. While I'm not disagreeing with your overall statistics, I think part of it can be explained by the fact that arrests tend to be higher in general for all crimes in urban environments and that overall, blacks are more likely to live in cities than whites. The higher arrest rate in a more densely populated area themselves can be explained simply by the fact that one cop on a street corner will observer more people in a city than a suburb, so they are more likely to witness something illegal.
I'm sure it's a factor, I'm just not able to find out how much of a factor it is.
Drugs and the war on drugs, both of them, do a lot of harm to blacks. Just like Indians are plagued by liquor, blacks are plagued by drugs. There must be something in the metabolism of these groups that makes them susceptible.
I don't know which is worse, drugs or the war on drugs. But it is clear the war on drugs is lost. Every year drugs get cheaper and more available. One year it's crack, then its meth, then it heroine. Then the cycle starts over.
Drug laws aren't intentionally racist. I believe they're a well-meaning attempt to protect would-be victims from their own vices. But like all such laws, they are doomed to fail. Unless people find it within themselves, their families and their communities to resist them, they won't be resisted. There's profit to be made satisfying vices, so they will be satisfied.
Not to mention how the war on drugs has destroyed societies in Mexico and Central and South America.
Drugs and the war on drugs, both of them, do a lot of harm to blacks. Just like Indians are plagued by liquor, blacks are plagued by drugs. There must be something in the metabolism of these groups that makes them susceptible.
I don't know which is worse, drugs or the war on drugs. But it is clear the war on drugs is lost. Every year drugs get cheaper and more available. One year it's crack, then its meth, then it heroine. Then the cycle starts over.
Drug laws aren't intentionally racist. I believe they're a well-meaning attempt to protect would-be victims from their own vices. But like all such laws, they are doomed to fail. Unless people find it within themselves, their families and their communities to resist them, they won't be resisted. There's profit to be made satisfying vices, so they will be satisfied.
Not to mention how the war on drugs has destroyed societies in Mexico and Central and South America.
That is simply false. Whites are more likely to use drugs than blacks. Whites are incarcerated less for it. Blacks are incarcerated on petty drug crimes to be "initiated" into the prison system.
That is simply false. Whites are more likely to use drugs than blacks. Whites are incarcerated less for it. Blacks are incarcerated on petty drug crimes to be "initiated" into the prison system.
My thought is this: One big issue of why blacks are incarcerated more than whites can be singled out as this. Fatherless homes. The higher number of fatherless homes allows for juvenile gangs to creep in. Couple this with the idolizing of rap music stars which all claim one juvenile gang or another, and you've set the stage for a life of imprisonment. Juvenile gangs get their main source of income from selling drugs. Selling drugs gets you prison terms. The predominant juvenile gangs in this country are black with Hispanic numbers just behind. Do you feel that this has anything to do with blacks being arrested at a higher rate than whites?
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