A couple weeks ago we read a piece by Bakari Kitwana ("Race War") in which he laid out some of the ways African American males have been adversely impacted by what he sees as a biased criminal justice system. One example he cited was the vast discrepancy in the sentencing of people for crimes related to crack cocaine (who received severe, multi-year sentences) vs. those whose crimes were related to powder cocaine (and other drugs). This has been going on since "mandatory minimum" laws for certain drugs went into effect in 1988.
Well, 20 years later, things are finally changing. As reported by Associated Press today, new sentencing guidelines which take effect this week may make disproportionate crack-related sentences a thing of the past. And many of those currently in prison for crack-related crimes could have their sentences reduced.
Why do I bring this up now? Because the intersections with race and racism are hard to miss. As the article explains: "Previously, a person with one gram of crack would receive the same sentence as someone with 100 grams of the powdered form of cocaine. The disparity has been decried as racially discriminatory, since four of every five crack defendants in the U.S. are black, while most powdered-cocaine convictions involve whites."
Part of me wants to take a moment to appreciate the new changes and this move toward justice. But I can't help thinking about all the men and women over the past 20 years whose lives have been ensnarled by sentencing guidelines that seem anything but just.
Click here to read the article.
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4 comments:
It's crazy to think that this is JUST happening NOW. After reading the article, Race War, I noticed that there were SOOOO many changes to the laws between the 1950's and the 1980's. Mandatory minimums were taken away... put back into action... then taken away.. etc. I, too, feel for those who have been "ensnarled by sentencing guidelines that seen anything but just."
Even though it is long overdue, I am glad that Charges are being dropped and laws are being changed. Hopefully this milestone is just another light step further away from racism. The Charges before were extremely harsh, especially for the drug in the matter. This just goes to show you that even the people with better drugs, and more money for those high quality drugs get off better than the poorer class drug dealer. Our entire system is based around money, class and race. We need to look within our selves to try not to feed into these "important" American entities, and pay more attention to the terrible laws being made. The government should also be more delicate in such cases that the woman (or man) may only be a bystander....and still get arrested for an offense. We need to work on that law as well.
I think it is very interesting that the sentences for crack were more harsh than those for powder, when blacks were usually the dealers of crack. Was this statistic known to the lawmakers before the law was enacted? I know we do not like to think of ourselves as racist, but very often statistics such as this one can influence the people in power, even if it is subconsciously. So if this was a known fact to the lawmakers, can they be held accountable for making racist legislature and consequently putting many first time offenders and a large percent of black males in prison? Is legislature such as this intended to warehouse people society deems as problematic? Just like the children in New York schools we talked about a few weeks back? Maybe we are not outwardly racist anymore, which is a step in the right direction. But obviously with our discussion in class and readings, there still are not steps being taken to spread privilege to those who lack it now. I know it is hard to see drug dealers and other criminals as people who deserve "privilege" but at the same time, what makes me deserve it? Just because I was born into it? We are experiencing a time bursting with change and opportunity for those who are currently underprivileged. It is going to start with writing and reading programs in schools-better ones. And move on to increased acceptance in careers. However, its going to take a long time because not everyone can just stop thinking what they were always told, and they can't teach their children to be accepting if they don't practice it. So we can do a lot in the mean time, like push for more fair legislation and educate ourselves, but the true test of our society will be with time.
I really do agree with these statements because it is a shame that if I was in the car with some one that my friend knew and they got into trouble and i was there im going down with them not even having a real chance to fight against it. This has happeed to so many people and is still happening.I feel as if there is no reason any one should have their opportunities taken away for that reason and the laws that we live under have us all bound by such foolishness. It is really sad that a person can get more years for being ther then committing an actually crime depending on the persons skin color or gender and sometimes both. We as a society need to make a stand and make some changes because if not who will be our future?
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