Allowing Discretion in Drug Sentencing Is a Step in the Right Direction but Racism Still Runs Deep.?
Question by kijarra m: Allowing discretion in drug sentencing is a step in the right direction but racism still runs deep.?
Allowing discretion in drug sentencing is a step in the right direction but we still have a long way to go before we right any of the wrongs imposed on the African-American community. The mandatory sentencing law is racist and does incredible damage to the Black community. The primary difference between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, as far as engagement with our legal system goes, is that most people convicted for possession of crack are Black, whereas most people convicted for possession of powder cocaine are white. That is systematic racism at work, throwing Blacks in prison and ripping apart Black families. It says something horrible about our society that we find this state of affairs acceptable.
The growing number of African-Americans incarcerated today only fuels racist stereotypes and hatred. Instead of trying to solve the underlying issues, people prefer to fall back on beliefs like, ” all young black males are criminals, lazy, or drug users”. We refuse to……
We refuse to consider that the situation in these communities are a result of our actions ( we blame young blk men for turning to crime when we have left them no choice. We take away their fathers, put a stranglehold on their mothers, oppress their entire community and then stand back and say,”Oh My……what’s going on here? These communities are just full of criminals”……round em up, put em in jail, and so the cycle continues). Why is it that when Skip gets caught with coke, it’s such a shame and he deserves a slap on the wrist since he has so much to offer and doesn’t deserve to have his life thrown away because of a mistake, but when Tyrone is caught with just a fraction of the drugs Skip had he deserves to be locked up since the belief is that he’s never going to amount to anything anyway. Putting the discretion back in the hands of judges is a step in the right direction, but it will not solve any of the problems unless we can first admit that these laws are purely racist…
racist and we stop trying to put them uder some blanket of good intentions. All of these disparity laws were implemented by racist people with racist intentions. Even drug addicts know that the first step to recovery is in admitting that there is a prolem, the same is true for a sick country……..admit that there is a serious problem and fix it. We are always so quick to point at the shortfalls of other nations but we seem to bow our heads or look away when it comes to our own. Instead of going across the world to impose Democracy on someone who doesn’t particularly want it, why don’t we try to impose it here. How about if we try and have a real democracy here before we insist on implementing something we know nothing about somewhere else.
Best answer:
Answer by Gem
This is not a race issue.
It is a government making decisions for all of us issue.
Yes, their are more blacks in prisons than whites. Maybe because they commit more crimes. BUT, we also incarcerate a greater percentage of our population than any other modern country. Black, white, brown, yellow and polka dotted.
The problem is the law. We as a society have decided that every action must be punished. Every item controlled. We have handed our futures over to the rich, paid for life, government and now wonder why?
We need to band together and get the government out of personal choices. Trillions of dollars later, the “war on drugs” has us right where we started. Not one life has been saved AND millions of criminals have become wealthy from trafficking in drugs.
Since the beginnings of human existence, there have been drug users and prostitution. Yet we continue our puritanical thought that outlawing something makes it go away.
Wake up America, take responsibility for raising your children and get the government out of our homes.
/rant
Answer by Pfo
Uh, no one told black people to smock crack, and no one told white people to use cocaine. These are bad substances for you, people using crack are potentially dangerous. At the very least, they will probably steal your stuff. While all young black males might not be lazy criminal drug users, I am inclined to believe the ones using crack are.
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