Jena, O. J. and the Jailing of Black America

I am embarrassed to be a human being when such a blatantly racist and horrific diatribe gets posted in the New York Times. Give me a break! the following paragraph starts out good, as Patterson briefly acknowledges the role that the drug war has played in incarcerating black Americans.

America has more than two million citizens behind bars, the highest absolute and per capita rate of incarceration in the world. Black Americans, a mere 13 percent of the population, constitute half of this country’s prisoners. A tenth of all black men between ages 20 and 35 are in jail or prison; blacks are incarcerated at over eight times the white rate.

The effect on black communities is catastrophic: one in three male African-Americans in their 30s now has a prison record, as do nearly two-thirds of all black male high school dropouts. These numbers and rates are incomparably greater than anything achieved at the height of the Jim Crow era. What’s odd is how long it has taken the African-American community to address in a forceful and thoughtful way this racially biased and utterly counterproductive situation.

Those of us that are in the drug policy reform committee have been complaining about the impact of the uneven application of the drug laws for years. America's incarceration rate is shockingly high and this issue is not being addressed. Black, poor communities are often targeted for drug raids while what people do behind closed doors in their white, upper, middle-class suburban homes gets ignored. It's ridiculous to think that anybody in any community should be persecuted for smoking the wrong plant. But from this point on, the article descends into race-baiting.

But there is another equally important cause: the simple fact that young black men commit a disproportionate number of crimes, especially violent crimes, which cannot be attributed to judicial bias, racism or economic hardships. The rate at which blacks commit homicides is seven times that of whites.

The rest of the article can be summed up like this:

Rappers
OJ
Divorce
Domestic violence
Bitches and hoes

But it's not because of racism and poverty.

Rappers sell racist and sexist crap because white people buy it. Domestic violence against women is a global epidemic. Black men live in a patriarchy and have internalized the hate as much as anybody else.

Anyway, I haven't got the perfect rebuttal to this except %$&#*^)#%#. Also, Patterson can suck it.

Race and the Drug War

America has 5% of the world's population and 25% of the worlds' prisoners. The drug war and the racist, uneven application of the drug laws is to blame for this unfortunate situation. Glenn C. Loury has a great article about this very problem in the Boston Review.

In light of the injustice of this modern day Jim Crow law, I would expect that the sole African American presidential candidate might be interested in reforming the drug laws. I am in for a huge disappointment. While it is true that all the Democratic candidates are on record stating that they will end the raids on the medical marijuana gardens, there is no sign that serious drug policy reform is on the Democratic agenda. The only candidate that has the voting record to back up his opposition to the drug war is Ron Paul, the pro-life baby doctor*. Luckily he has no chance of getting elected. At any rate, Obama is on record wavering on the infamous crack-cocaine sentencing disparity. Here's the prize money quote from the Boston Globe:

"Even if we fix this, if it was a 1-to-1 ratio, it's still a problem that folks are selling crack. It's still a problem that our young men are in a situation where they believe the only recourse for them is the drug trade. So there is a balancing act that has to be done in terms of, do we want to spend all our political capital on a very difficult issue that doesn't get at some of the underlying issues; whether we want to spend more of that political capital getting early childhood education in place, getting after-school programs in place, getting summer school programs in place."

I guess he doesn't realize that increased enforcement has had little to no impact on rates of drug use. Very disappointing. First a pro-life baby doctor, now a black man who doesn't oppose the racist drug laws? WTF? The only reason he made it in politics was his ability to stay out of jail. 60% of black male high-school students aren't so lucky.

* A pro-life baby doctor! What's next? A Christian feminist?

Racism and the Drug War

First came the poor man, barely 17 years old – too young to buy beer or vote, but an adult under the Texas penal code. He took part in a $2 stickup in which no one got hurt. He pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and was put on 10 years of probation.

He broke the rules once, by smoking marijuana. A Dallas judge responded in the harshest possible way: He replaced the original sentence with a life term in prison.

This is the United States, the land of the Supermax gulag and 25% of the world's prison population, so this shouldn't really surprise anybody. The next case was handled by the same judge.

Now the flip side of the coin, also from Judge Keith Dean's court: A well-connected man pleaded guilty to murder – for shooting an unarmed prostitute in the back – and also got 10 years of probation.

The killer proceeded to break the rules by, among other things, smoking crack cocaine. He repeatedly failed drug tests. He was arrested for cocaine possession in Waco while driving a congressman's car, but prosecutors there didn't press charges.

Judge Dean has let this man stay free and, last year, exempted him from most of the usual conditions of probation. John Alexander "Alex" Wood no longer must submit to drug tests or refrain from owning a gun or even meet with a probation officer. He's simply supposed to obey the law and mail the court a postcard once a year that gives his current address.

What is Judge Dean's justification for the difference in treatment of these two suspects?

In general, he said, he tries to evaluate "the potential danger to the community" when someone violates probation "and what, in the long run, is going to be in the best interest of the community and the person themselves."

A black pot-smoker is much more dangerous than a white murderer.

via Pam's House Blend

Pothead to spend a minimum of 16 years in prison

Brown, who pleaded guilty to his first and only offense at age 17, was given probation after a $2 armed robbery in which the victim wasn't harmed and had his wallet returned. But months later, Brown violated his probation by testing positive for marijuana. In most cases of marijuana violations, Texas judges — and Dean — often recommend counseling and allow the defendant to remain on probation with a stiff warning.

In this case, however, without explanation, Brown was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

But this story has a "happier" ending.

The response from the story led to a Web site and protests — pressure that seems to have worked. Brown may soon be on the road to freedom, 16 years after his probation violation.

Nobody can give him sixteen years back. But it's nice to know that activism pays off.

I wonder what race Mr. Brown is? I have a feeling that he isn't white. The war on drugs has been absolutely devestating to minorities. Remember kids, "Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men."*

Hat tip to PZ and TalkLeft.

*Quoth Harry Anslinger, America's first Drug Czar