The feeling that this generation were unable to accomplish anything left them facilitated many into a life of crime (“Drugs and Gangs Plague African American Communities”). Laws against crack were biased to people of lower income and minorities. Crack cocaine, which was used mainly by poorer urban populations, was given a harsher sentence than powdered cocaine. This lead to disproportionate incarceration rates with African Americans being incarcerated at six times the rate of whites and non-white hispanics three times the rate of whites. In addition people with lower income were also subject to higher incarceration rates.
In 2007, blacks made up 39% of detained males in prisons or jails however they make up 12% of the total adult male population. White males make up 36.1% of the male inmate population but they make up 65.6% of the total male population. These statistics demonstrate that racialized mass incarceration exists in the U.S. There are a few reasons why African Americans are discriminated by the legal system. The primary cause is inequitable protection by the law and unequal enforcement of it.
Another example of this is the disparity in sentencing is the comparison of those caught with powder cocaine and those caught with crack cocaine. Despite being essentially the same substance, "federal penalties for
According to an article by Clarence C. Gravlee, in 2004, the overall age-adjusted death rate for black Americans was more than 30% higher than it was for white Americans; for some leading causes of death, the disparity was substantially higher. Statistics that prove that the welfare of “inferior” groups are low clearly demonstrate where certain races stand in society. White supremacy has been evident throughout history and it is demonstrated through how
According to The New York Times, “The United States has less than 5 percent of the world's population. But it has almost a quarter of the world's prisoners.” Let's face it, the U.S is imprisoning way too many people, because of three main reasons: harsher drug-related crime sentences, lack of prisoner's resources, and racial profiling. The first reason, why the U.S imprisonment rates are too high, because of harsher drug-related crime sentences. In the early 1980's, lots of cocaine was shipped to the U.S. What happened, is that drug dealers extracted a powder from the leaves of the Coca plant, and turned it into a smoke-able powder. This resulted into a massive “Crack Epidemic” which led to the crackdown of drug traffickers.
Seventy-six of African American are arrested for a serious felony. In addition African American male are more likely to be arrested for the same offense committed by a white males. Majority of inmates that are in prison are because of the drug offenses, which is fuel by the war on drugs. Sentencing guidelines on the level of drugs has lead to stiffer penalties for having crack cocaine rather than powder cocaine. Crack cocaine is not much different from the powder form, but Crack cocaine is likely to be founded in African American neighborhood verses powder
For example, a person arrested with having five grams crack cocaine may receive the same charge or conviction as a person found with five hundred grams of powder cocaine. I believe, no matter how much or what type of cocaine you are caught with, the charge should be consistently applied. The bigger issue is with how the unfair and unjust laws are written. Many of today’s laws are written by people who are rich and they have little consideration for the people who will be affected by racially and culturally biased laws. Consequently, the people who are hit hardest by these laws are generally poor and minorities.
Yes, drugs are illegal. This very fact is what discourages many Americans from using drugs. However the illegality of the substances in question do not stop all people from using. Despite the severe punishment users of illicit drugs face if caught, illicit drug use is widespread in the United States. “According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse's 1992 National Household Survey, more than one in three Americans (36.2%) have used illegal drugs at least once in their lifetime, nearly 28 million Americans (11.1%) used them in the previous year, and almost 14 million Americans (5.5%) used them during the past month” (Skolnick 3).
The statistics will show that while more White people use illicit drugs in the United States, more African Americans and other minorities will be convicted, and more harshly than their White counterparts, for the same crimes. Literature Review National Institute on Drug Abuse Report Spotlighting on drug abuse by specific ethnic group was a good start to research, as it shed some light on the actual drug problems by minority group. The study showed that African American teenagers have a lower rate of drug use compared to Whites, however they suffer from more drug-related health problems than any other ethnic group. It was also suggested that drug use is believed to cause criminal behavior in African American communities. Asians and Pacific Islanders may be less likely to pursue treatment services because they are not culturally appropriate.
The term “crack” can be attributed to the crackling sound made when the drug is smoked, but in addition to smo... ... middle of paper ... ...at these laws are unfairly targeting non-whites. Blacks and Hispanics are put in prison much more than whites while whites make up a bigger percentage of the population. This trend started to become noticeable when the mandatory minimum laws went into effect. Another problem with these laws is that they propose sentences too harsh for the crimes. Some people committing small drug crimes get 5 years in jail where they would normally get 1 or 2.