Crack v. Cocaine In Black & White

Andy
November 2 2007, 11:02AM

While its not fair, any black kid peddling crack should know the law is 110% against him, so, the while the law may not be fair, common sense should tell the black kid not to be dealing. Good grief, most of the young black men can't walk down the street without being harassed by the popo.

I have no sympathy for the black kid at all, since he's doing one thing, destroying his neighborhood peddling this trash. As for the white guy, his privileges are guaranteed by the constitution based on his skin color and upheld by the Supreme Court as well, something the black kids don't have, to get one up in the legal system, no matter how wrong he may be its usually a slap on the hand, and, he knows it.

Equalnox
November 2 2007, 11:09AM

I'm not sure why this topic is important. It seems to me neither the white guy nor the black should be selling illegal drugs. If the black guy plans on selling drugs, he should switch to powder cocaine so when he gets caught, he can get a lighter sentence. That's not racism, that's just common sense.

I do feel that some illegal drugs should be legal. I'm not into marijuana, but I think it should be legal. I don't use drugs so I won't be buying powder cocaine from the white guy or crack cocaine from the black guy.

Maybe if the both the black guy and the white guy were to get an education and take responsibity for their own actions, neither one would be out selling illegal drugs on the street.

KBJr.
November 2 2007, 11:35AM

Again, let's make a race issue out of what should be a common-sense one. How about the black kid not have crack cocain, then he wouldn't have to worry about being thrown behind bars unfairly by the law. I'm not going to shed a tear for most of anyone who was in the wrong in the FIRST place, and got a raw deal. Tough.
On that note, I believe most drug laws are a government racket anyways. Weed, coke, meth, crack; 18 years old and up for recreational use in the confines of their own home should be legal. With the stroke of a pen, probably 20% of those in prison now for non-violent crimes wouldn't be there.
Next, you treat these drugs like alcohol..no driving under the influence, no public intoxication, no giving it to minors, otherwise used in moderation, as an adult in a free society, you shouldn't be threatened with a prison sentence.
Bottom line: Either push for decriminilization; or quit whining about harsh sentences. Changing the sentences are just putting a bandaid on a broken leg.

elg
November 2 2007, 12:14PM

I don't think the white guy with his powder cocaine and the black guy with his crack cocaine are entirely comparable. The white guy with powder cocaine is not ravaging his white community. The black guy with his crack cocaine, on the other hand, has ravaged many black communities. There are "open air" drug markets in some poor black neighborhoods leading to the extreme violence we see among some young black men. I don't care if the laws regarding having powder cocaine and crack cocaine remain as they are. I don't care where or how a drug dealer of any race ends up.

MidwestGuy
November 2 2007, 12:17PM

If the rest of america is as indifferent to "our" plight as the previous posters, then its no wonder why we continued to be treated disparately.

How can any black person question why topics like these aren't important?

As a single father raising a young black male, I cringe at the thought of having my son (whom I hope would never) your child or nephew arrested, charged much more harshly than a white kid commiting the same crime, and black people act like it's no big deal.

If this isn't the worst example of "if we hadn't tried to run away massa wouldnt'na beat us" I don't know what is.

Now this is just disgusting.

Thanks Keith for posting this.

Cat from Philly
November 2 2007, 12:26PM

MidwestGuy:

We finally agree on something. The issue is a blatant disparity in the handing out of justice. It's probably the "openly" racist act committed by the Federal Government since the Fugitive Slave Law.

But I've been very careful about disagreeing with anyone lately. You know, my mental state and all. Right now, I'm just a pussy......cat.

Alto
November 2 2007, 12:27PM

Midwest Guy for once I wholeheartedly agree with you.

J
November 2 2007, 12:27PM

Criminals(Genarlow, Jena 6, CRACK dealers)are not heroes. They don't deserve community support. They are not victims.

Instead of organizing to snuff out real injustice people are promoting and supporting CRIME.

Ostend Street
November 2 2007, 12:52PM

"J" I sincerely hope no one responds to your ignorance.

Equalnox
November 2 2007, 1:13PM

@J I agree with you. Too many times we defend people from our community who don't deserve being defended. A criminal is a criminal is a criminal regardless of color. Those people who knowingly do wrong things don't deserve our sympathy.

shanna
November 2 2007, 1:20PM

This is very much so a racial issue, a common sense issue and a justice issue. The current sentencing laws are meant to disenfranchise Black people by putting them in jail and taking away their power to vote once they come out. It's like in the South after Reconstruction when petty theft was given harsher sentencing than murder because theft was a sneaky or "Black" crime while murder was a "robust" crime.

To say that a Black child should know he'll be treated harshly and therefore shouldn't commit a crime, is to ignore the fact that most Black people don't know their rights due to lack of education and access. Our community needs to offer effective alternatives before we knock what people are doing.

It's about true justice which anyone can see is not being handed out in this country

MidwestGuy
November 2 2007, 2:48PM

Gee Thanks. I'm usually the anti-christ in here. :)

What I have to realize is that gays, especially black gays, are not much different than our heterosexual counterparts. We are not very inclusive, understanding, or sympathetic to the plight of no one but ourselves.

I say this because when talking to my straight friends about "gay" issues, they are as indifferent as the posters here. They are less concerned because they view our problems as self-imposed because

"If they weren't gay, then..."

or

"Michael Sandy, who is that?"

I'm sorry but that is a problem.

When we choose to turn a blind eye to the disparate treatment of others because they made decisions we don't agree with, we are truly harming ourselves.

You don't have to agree with a 17yr old choosing to get his dick sucked at a party by a 15yr old to know that he shouldn't have gotten a 10-yr sentence.

Bingo
November 2 2007, 3:36PM

And once again, Boykin reaches across the table for the race card, trying to play it on an issue that has to do with the LAW not the RACE. Comparing cocaine apples with crack oranges.

Boykin, when are you going to learn that this attempt to hang everything on race is getting tired?

Rickey
November 2 2007, 3:39PM

Well, all of you have good points, however, we all know that the justice system is not set up for blacks on anything from jay walking to a minor traffic ticket and most certainly not for drugs. Its not the law on the books that are eating our communities alive, its those who break them.

The double standard is nothing new, and never will be in this country, which is why we need to try to do the right thing, simplistic, but, its worked for me and my 5 brothers who grew up in poor areas, and never once got into any trouble with the law. My Pop's told us, you are going to have to work twice as hard to get ahead, and, will always be wrong if stopped by the police, so, that country attitude of his still applies, no matter where you are in this crooked, racist country.

MidwestGuy
November 2 2007, 4:43PM

Rickey, ahhh, great point.

You should also consider that you and most others, although understandably, liken crime as isolated to the poor. Genarlow wasn't poor as are many others who break the law and suffer harsher sentences because of it. That is a consistent misconception that we tend to have about each other--all prisoners/ex-cons grew up poor.

A middle class child can suffer the same fate.

I know and have counseled the families of quite a few.

Manchild1
November 2 2007, 4:57PM

Some of you fools who support this are really ignorant...
how can you justify the diff between the two...the law
is meant to do one thing....get black men. To say that
it is diff,or to imply that just because a lawbreaker is
a lawbreaker...his crime should be just. To argue that point then you must see that the white guy with the
powdered cocaine and the crack dealer on the corner are
no different,both ravage communities...but both are diff
in the eyes of Johnnylaw and Johnnylaw has been represented for decades by the white man. I wish one day
that all you supporters of this would just get caught up
in an unjust law like the Duke boys did with that rape
incedent,then suddenly you all become indignant and cry
foul. But if it do not effect you or those you know ,you
cry because the lawbreaker is breakin laws. Just one
day,walk in our shoes and feel the stupid injustice of
the system that is made to get you,keep you and brain
wash you into becoming an ignorant criminal(thats what
jails do).

Cadence
November 2 2007, 5:24PM

So, we should support a plan that will give people who terrorize neighborhoods a slap on the wrist? Are you actually backing a plan that would put these people back on the street, so they know that they can continue to poison people and destroy lives, without facing any consequences?

The problem starts when a person makes the decision to sell drugs instead of getting a legitimate job that won't him or anyone else. The problem is that the cocaine dealers aren't getting ten years like the crack dealers.

Some people in our community need to stop making excuses for this type of behavior. It doesn't make sense. The disparages in sentencing doesn't discount the fact that it is wrong to sell crack. It doesn't diminish the damage that crack and crack dealers have done to many Black communities. It is this damage that many have used to justify the long prison terms.

Bingo
November 2 2007, 8:17PM

Sorry Midwest guy, but I have no sympathy, regardless of race, for anyone who resorts to dealing drugs. I live in the Artist's District in downtown Los Angeles near skid row, and daily I see people who have sold their souls for their crack addiction. I once watched a man take off his suit down to his underwear and exchange it with a drug dealer for a rock.

I know a counselor at the Midnight Mission, and he equates crack to the "devil incarnate". The counselor is African American. The drug dealer that took the man's suit was African American. One black man trying to save others. Another black man trying to take the lives of others so he has some cash in his pocket.

One more point - crack cocaine is an altogether different drug than coke itself. Once you are hooked, there's no turning back.

How anyone can have sympathy for someone who decides that they will profit off of the plight of others, really has no idea what they are saying.

A dealer, is a dealer, is a dealer.

brucito
November 2 2007, 9:04PM

Not too long ago there was an article here about hip-hop. Lets be honest with ourselves. If YOU were an uneducated 18 year old black kid and knew that Cameron, 50 cent, the late Biggie Smalls, the late Easy E (who died of AIDS) and a host of others are all on record admitting that they sold drugs and ended up rich and famous do you think you would give a fuck about having to do 10 years trying to get the same thing. Hell look at the rewards and obvious fame that awaits you if you make it. T.I. damn sure was not living in poverty when he was arrested for trying to buy automatic weapons. Prison is a big business. Companies such as Corrections Corporation of America run private penal institutions and their stock is traded on the NYSE. (Now there's a story for the new business section on this site.) As long as there is a large uneducated population out there with no hope there will always be prisons and money to be made off of their ignorance.

Liquid Fonts
November 2 2007, 9:40PM

Well we black folks who manage to avoid the prison system benefit in the short run from these inequalities because that's one less person on the streets selling crack, or competing for jobs, college admissions, the line at the DMV is shorter, less traffic conjestion, more parking spots but clearly, long term sentences of small time drug dealers isn't decreasing the demand for drugs. In the long run, the higher the rate of incarceration under this system of injustice, the more inflated our overall standards of achievement since having no record at all is equivalent to a college degree while for many, staying out of trouble becomes as difficult as obtaining one.

J
November 2 2007, 11:39PM

You all are right.

Let's stop sending those role models to the pen. They shouldn't be locked up when they could be pissing on black America.

Let's continue Martin's work. I'm sure if he were alive today he'd be worried about crack sentencing.

Fuck all these hard-working, decent human beings running around. We have to save the dealers, rapists, and other demons.

G-man
November 3 2007, 1:00AM

MidwestGuy you're right on point!!! I would have liked to added more to the conversation, but you've taken the words right out of my mouth today :)I couldn't agree with you more. Keith, thanks for the post. Have a great weekend everyone....

sandy
November 3 2007, 2:02AM

Thank you Mr. Boykin for the timely topic. I have no love for the dealers in my community. They bring death and destriction. So do the "bulk" cocaine dealers. They ALL SHOULD BE SENT TO PRISON FOR A MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF TIME. The laws that we have now is a joke. Who do you think is peddling the cocaine to break down into crack? This been going on for the longest time.
What good is the money spent on drug interdiction if the big time players are getting away with a slap on the wrist? It's a tragic joke. As long as the news programs can show a bunch blacks in shackles doing the prep walk, everyone feels all the more safer. Right. Yes, lock them away and have another bunch line up to break down some more cocaine to sell; the supply just keeps on rolling in. More death more destruction.

Black Gay Lawyer
November 3 2007, 4:45AM

It's ironic how the people who say Boykin unnecessarily injected race into this law enforcement issue don't see that they're doing the same thing with projecting their own views of the morality of drug crimes (or other law violations) onto an article that is about fairness & proportionality. Boykin never justified the choices of those who are caught up in the criminal justice system, so why are some people harping on that point -- it was NOT the point of Boykin's piece.

But, since we're now in the realm of morality, I'd say there definitely appears to be some serious internalized notions of white supremacy & corresponding black inferiority for posters who condemn a black suspect and excuse a white suspect for making very similar choices as to criminal acts. It's even worse to say that we shouldn't care about the justice system treating people so unfairly. Come on black folks, we can do better than this.

John
November 3 2007, 10:59AM

Criminal acts are just that criminal acts and punishable by laws that the white man sets. The law is racist, but, any black person doing the law breaking already knows this and should have a clue that he is not going to be treated fairly. Why play into the hands of a racist legal system in the first place? And, what about the black people in his area that he is putting through hell? This law stinks, but, so do ASNY and ALL drug dealers, be it, crack, powder or weed.

These are not victims, they are law breakers, and, I for one refuse to support them, although, they should all be sentenced the same, no matter the race, but, that's a pipe dream. This country has turned so far to the right under Bush, and, its blatant intolerance for blacks, and young black men ion particular will be around for a while with the right wing Supreme Court, and, federal Appeals courts. And, this has got to be told, although, I'm sure they know it, to these foolish drug dealers.

No excuses for any dealer, jail them equally.

MidwestGuy
November 3 2007, 11:03AM

BGLaw, even more ironic is that these are the same people who argue for the rights of gays.

Since we're so pro-what the law states, there are laws on the books banning same-sex marriage. Why continue this fuss about changing it? Gays aren't being discriminated against, we aren't treated unfairly, it's just the law. If we weren't commiting moral sins, molesting kids, and spreading aids, we wouldn't have to be worried about that.

Why try to change a righteous law?

Laws are laws.

That's what we get for being gay.

steve b.
November 3 2007, 11:27AM

Hear, hear Midwest Guy (and BlackGayLawyer). Again, people "see" what they want to in these pieces and sometmes miss the point entirely. Playing the race card? I guess I missed that whe I read the article.

Manchild1
November 3 2007, 11:32AM

For those of you who understand the implications behind
this law..thank you..for those of you who dont,wake
the fuck up before you get caught up ...ask the
Duke Boys

elg
November 3 2007, 12:32PM

My parents bought a home years ago in a small pleasant, working class, mostly black community with grocery stores, etc. My parents eventually passed away and I inherited the home. Rather than sell the home, I decided to move back into the home and live there. To say the neighborhood had changed is an understatement: the DOPE BOYS had taken over parts of the neighborhood (it was no longer a community). I was uncomfortable living there from the beginning and then embarrassed. When a new acquaintance would ask me where I lived, I was embarrassed to say because the neighborhood was known for crime and little else. I eventually sold the house and bought another home in a nice community. The so-called disparities in sentencing may not be "fair" but so what. The dope boys detroyed the reputation of the community I grew up in, causing me to feel ashamed to say I lived there. I have no sympathy for the dope boys. May they rot in jail (or hell).

Cadence
November 3 2007, 12:40PM

Black Gay Lawyer, no one is excusing the white criminal, in fact, those who agree with Keith are excusing the black criminals. We are saying that neither needs to be excused, neither needs to recieve a slap on the wrist. Both need to be locked away for a max. of 10 years.

And, no one has Keith said that a white person who is convicted of selling crack recieves less time than a black person who sells crack. Or that a Black person who sells coke is sentenced longer than a white person who sells crack. Those situations would be examples of an unjust system.

There are plenty of examples of unfair sentencing, but we don't need to act like crack dealers deserve to get off the hook because coke dealers aren't given long sentences. Wrong is wrong.

MLee
November 3 2007, 1:39PM

This is a tough subject. It invokes in me all your emotions combined, except for J’s. The war on drugs has been a complete failure as witnessed by elg. Our government sends billions of dollars a year to foreign countries to stop the production of drug from entering this country. Yet, the production is at record levels. Our government spends billions of dollars a year catching and jailing low level drug/street dealers. Yet, the drug trade has not been reduced, and is still reeking hell in the poor black neighborhoods. The government could stop the drug trafficking today and remove all the evils associated with it, and save billions of dollars a year just by removing the profit from drugs. Legalize drugs in such a way where only addicts could get access legally. For this to work there also has to be in place programs to convince addicts to get free treatment and support. I would never suggest legalizing crack. Some of you may look at my solution in horror. Continued...

MLee
November 3 2007, 2:20PM

…Continue.
But, our poor neighborhoods would be left in livable conditions. People in need of help would get it. And, maybe out taxes would go down. Crack addicts would still get free treatment and support.

J
November 3 2007, 2:45PM

Martin would be proud. I'm sure our people died so we could stand up for crack dealers.

I don't care how complex people want to make this issue or where they want to point fingers.

The fact that we are treated differently in the court room is not news. Dealing, using, and picking up guns to destroy communities are individual choices.

I guess some people just don't care since they don't have to deal with the reality of crack on a daily basis or maybe they just want to ignore the piles of bodies.

I guess it would be too hard to go into these communities and mentor as well as support the decent people who want something out of life.

Maybe it's more fun or "sexy" to ride for thugs like some sad, confused 19 year old girl who's been sheltered most of her life.

Myra
November 3 2007, 4:07PM

Cadence, you've summed it up well, thanks. And, MLee, the ones who are really suffering from this distorted law and drug use, are the poorer people of color, and, the poor whites caught up with meth. The ones who tend to use powder seem to be from so called "affluent" areas, and, that's part of the double standard.

I for one don't give the crack dealers, users, or coke users, drug use stinks, and, if you are fool enough to carry crack to sell, black, white or orange, deal with the laws on the books. Don't like the laws, get in touch with your people in congress.

You don't get a pass from me, black or white when you are deliberately destroying communities peddling dope. And, the laws aren't harsh enough, look at the crime in Philly, Baltimore and places that like, almost all due to drugs, or NYC in the 1970's, where, it was unsafe to peep out a window.

Brucito
November 3 2007, 5:39PM

There are now too many communities throughout the country whose existence depends on the jobs that the newly built state prisons provide. That is why that law was created and won't go away. What needs to change are the role models that help create this mentality. A rapper not only goes on 60 minutes and tells the entire nation that he has no regrets at all about selling drugs and then walks into a school to a cheering crowd of students with a diamond earring in each ear because he is considered a role model. Fuck school books. Hell if he made a million dollars and got all of this why the fuck shouldn't the rest of them. I am sure when the white folks in those present and soon to be prison towns saw that segment they started licking their lips at all of those new jobs with overtime galore just waiting to be created once a new prison is built due to the overcrowding of other prisons. I know that is how I saw it.

cmoney
November 3 2007, 8:40PM

Of course this is a racially motivated disparity in sentencing. When these crack cocaine laws were written, it was seen as a Black drug and the sellers and users were regarded as Blacks. That's why the senteces were made so harch. Powder cocaine is just as addictive as crack--it is the same drug!! Anyone who says that powder cocaine is not ravaging White communities doesn't know what he is talking about. Millions of people have been addicted to powder cocaine. But they came from communities and families that were able to get them into treatment and keep them out of jail. If Tyrone, the Black kid gets strung out, he is not likely to get drug treatment and ends up stealing to support his habit. If Paris Hilton, the White girl gets strung out, she can afford to keep buying more drugs with her own money. If she needs treatment, she goes into treament. She never gets into the criminal justice system and everyone goes on believing that cocaine only affects Black people.

Shazza
November 4 2007, 1:28AM

Bottomline, we know all this so its not NEWS. Just don't sell, possess or use either one and not worry about the imbalance of a "jail sentence" for drugs. Now if you were talking about something like Jay-Walking or maybe illegal subletting an apartment where the end results are obvious bias then I can support the law/prison arguement.

This arguement is almost like this kid wanting me to sign a petition to FREE TI. I can only work and support what is right to begin with. And both the drug standards and TI stink from the front to the back equally.

MidwestGuy
November 4 2007, 8:43AM

Some of you obviously intelligent people need to be ashamed.

What is the problem with your comprehension skills.

There is not one poster (including the author) who has said anything about giving a pass or making excuses or support illegal activities--not one and it's ignorant to suggest otherwise.

Having conversations about the disparity in sentencing is not excusing behavior. Where are you getting that from?
It's like you didn't even read anything other than what you wanted to see.

Debating which is less ravaging? Coke-Crack? What?

ELG, you definately should've moved if you're too embarrased to tell people where you live. That's shameful at an adult age, especially if you were successsful and intelligent in your own right.

In large, urban areas across the country, white people move to these poor, dope-filled black areas, clean them up and double the equity. Harlem/Chi/DC.

You ashamed black people allow it to happen.
They put and end to it.

elg
November 4 2007, 9:24AM

Most of the working, home owning black people I know feel the same way I do about the dope boys. They fear and despise them. I don't know of a single white community in my city that was destroyed because of powder cocaine. Even the poorest white neighborhoods seem to have businesses of some sort (corner grocery store, laundry mat, etc.). There are a number of black neighborhoods in my city, however, that are wastelands because of crack cocaine. Don't use or sell powder or crack cocaine and you won't have to worry about "unfair sentencing".

myview
November 4 2007, 9:52AM

Midwest guy how many children do you have?

MidwestGuy
November 4 2007, 10:33AM

ElG, you need a reality check.

Who is in love and respects drug dealers?

No businesess in poor black neighborhoods?

Who owns the beauty supply stores, carry-outs, laundry mats, pawn shops, check cashing, and corner gorcery?

Where are you getting this stuff from? Your imagination.

I don't know of a single black community that was destroyed by crack either. It's too few people hooked on and selling crack for it to do that.
Communities are destroyed because of the drug trade not crack. That consists of marijuana, PCP, coke etc. Crack is the less expensive, more addictive, life altering, cooked form of same drug that is en vogue in america today.

I have one son.

elg
November 4 2007, 10:55AM

MidwestGuy: I don't give a flying fuck what white people do. I did not want to live in a neighborhood where I could look out my window and see black men selling drugs outside on the streets. I could afford to move, unlike most of the people in that neighborhood, so I did.
A black guy with 5 pounds of powder cocaine is caught, arrested and convicted of possession. A white guy with 5 pounds of powder cocaine is caught, arrested and convicted of possession. Neither has a prior criminal record. The black guy ends up with a stiffer prison sentence than the white guy. Now that is an example of "racial disparity" in sentencing: they should both get the same sentence because they both had the same amount of the same substance. No one is saying anything different.

myview
November 4 2007, 2:06PM

Midwest guy you should stop for a minute and look back at the things you said earlier and compare them to the now ranting and raving you are now doing. You started off trying to sound like a black intellectual but now you sound like a total full of shit damn fool. Crack destroyed plenty of black communities throughout the entire country in the 80's and early 90's. In NYC alone, {let alone N.E.Philly, S.E.DC, St. Louis etc.} the reports of child abuse skyrocketed 1000%. Homeless people were flooding the subway stations to the point where many of them simply referred to the stations as their homes because they got safer than the homeless shelters. That law was a message to the inner city gangs that this is not going to be another Colombia, where the drug cartels had completely taken over. You talk about staying on one subject but with this topic you have to look at what was going on at that time. You are too short sighted to critize people who lived through that shit.

elg
November 4 2007, 2:19PM

MidwestGuy: You apparently want me to be a social worker and help "clean up" neighborhoods like the one I left behind. THAT IS NOT WHO I AM. Speaking of moving to "poor dope filled black areas", several years ago a young black man bought an abandoned house in a really bad area of my city and was trying to fix it up. The dope boys who had been using it for their own purposes, wouldn't let him. He got into an altercation with the dope boys and was shot and killed. This was big news here several years ago. No one has ever been brought to justice. The "no snitching" rule, I suppose. My point is, white people can move to poor dope filled black areas and be relatively safe. The dope boys leave white people alone because they know if they mess with them the police will track them down. The black man, on the other hand, was on his own and paid with his life. I didn't want that to happen to me. I would call the police (in my old neighborhood) and nothing happened. I got the hell out and I don't regret it.

MidwestGuy
November 4 2007, 3:17PM

ELG, Obviously you abuse cocaine since you are main "cocaine is cool, crack is whack" poster on this board. Do you know ELG, DO YOU!

Myview, I don't "try" to sound like anything other than what I say. I don't have to identify myself. People are going to characterize me as whatever they chose. Hence, my quick travels from being an intellect to a damn fool.

This is 2007 and in 2007 the majority of the problems faced is not drug abuse as it was in the 70's 80's. Now it's violence, illiteracy, lack of self-awareness/policing, diminished view of education, lack of resources, lack of mentoring, lack of positive reinforcement to a greater extent than crack ever was when it was the epidemic.

These young boys aren't hooked on crack. They aren't selling crack. They are the product of long-ignored, cross-generational, issues that have been unchallenged with anything other than condemnation, indifference, and imprisonment.

That has only increased and the criminals got younger.

myview
November 4 2007, 4:48PM

Midwest guy I went back and read everything that ELG has written and I still say the one who is full of shit here is you. I don't see anywhere on here where he (she) glorified crack but I sure as hell see you trying defending these little hoodlums while sounding like a complete idiot at the same time. Girl calm down and go out and get some fresh air. You are either crazy or sitting there hitting a pipe yourself and not paying attention to what you are saying here.

LaRufus
November 4 2007, 4:50PM

Midwest, I think you mean well, as you take the time to explain where you are coming from and why, however, I'm just curios, how would you deal with the drug epidemic in some black communities? The law is a joke to me as it has not stopped the stupid young men and women from selling crack and other drugs, just like the death penalty hasn't stopped some from killing. And, this fear of drug dealers has got this ridiculous no snitching thing to the point where good people are afraid to even tell the truth when they know who is perpetrating crimes.

I'm tired of seeing young black men and women thrown away for life with the double standard that these white folks have about the same drug, and, yet, am also tired of seeing all sorts of illegal drug use devastating black areas more than any others.

loi wade
November 4 2007, 5:38PM

Cocaine is Cocaine so the penalty for both substances should be the same. But as far as I'm concerned, the crime rate would diminish astronomically if it were legal altogether. Compare the crime rate in America to,say, Amsterdam. Alcohol and cigarettes do as much damage , if not more, to the human body and mind as any other substance. Somebody please tell me if I'm wrong. Prohibition did not stop people from drinking, it only increased the crime rate.

brucito
November 4 2007, 6:11PM

A 22 year old coke dealer by the name of Rayful Edmund the 3rd had a whole lot to do with the current drug law. That boy control not only 90% of the cocaine sold in Wahsington, DC but at the height of his career he was grossing 70 million dollars a month. He was pushing 2000 kilos a week. He also had 150 soldiers to back him up. Now lets go to Chicago and El Rukn. They had all of the south side and only the lord knows how many soldiers in their army. In NYC police themsleves were robbing drug houses. Officers making $55,000 were found to have brokerage accounts over 1 million dollars. It had reached the point where many street level thugs would not give a fuck about firing on any officer because he kenw he was going to robbed instead of arrested. Certain streets in N.E. Philly would not be patrolled becuase of police were outgunned. Something had to be done and unfortunately it was the very low level dealers (street soldiers) who ended up paying the price.

Diamante
November 4 2007, 6:17PM

I read some of these post and I notice that some people compare crack to cocaine saying that coke is the lesser of the two evils. Crack and cocaine are both illegal, and it is not fair for the white man to get off easy just becuase he didn't have crack. This is ludicrous, but you can only blame the government for this. Now before you guys attack me saying that I have conspiracy theories, listen to this. There was an article in the LA Times that talked about how the government put drugs in black communities. So yes, it is justified that the government is out to get us. Now I agree that people with a drop of common sense know that dealing crack is wrong and should not do it in the first place but if you are going to prosecute people for such a crime, then both parties should be prosecuted equally.

MLee
November 4 2007, 6:28PM

I have lived in the Black “poor” inter city most of my life. I am aware of the destruction drugs can cause. However, I have never had a major problem living in the inter city. In fact, 11 years ago I had a new house built in a small new sub division in the middle of the ghetto. At the same time a friend had his house built in a white suburb at twice the cost. Now he envies me. Whites who had deserted my city are slowly moving back in. The only complaint I have is that there are no decent stores to shop in the city.

loi wadee
November 4 2007, 7:07PM

LIKE I SAID, MAKE IT LEGAL! But the racist powers that be are NOT going to do that. Because if they do , then they would have to concentrate on other crimes, such as the senseless rape and murder of innocent women and children. Then the prisons would be filled with white men. And we can't have that now can we.

yeahisaidit
November 4 2007, 8:47PM

....hey, anyone going to see american gangster? oh, and some of these complex issues being discussed here are created because of the huge DEMAND for drugs, nicotine, alcohol, porn, you name it...can you say capitalism? if money can be made off of it...it will be for sale in some size, shape or form...legal or illegal makes no difference...the cycle is vicious...locking everyone up? hollering how everyone should just obey? making everything against the law? we're trying that now and it ain't working...a reality check is in order baby...maybe trying to decrease the DEMAND would affect the SUPPLY...

LaRufus
November 4 2007, 9:47PM

yeahisaidit, you are right, anytime its illegal, people want it more. That in my opinionmakes those with weak minds and spirits want it no matter the consequences. But, I somehow don't think making crack or powdered cocaine legal is a good idea. I guess I'm old school and find these drugs not worth any more harm than they have already done. But, I also guess you are right, its capitalism at its best, no matter who is hurt by it.

This country will never turn in to a Holland with its liberal drug laws.

J
November 4 2007, 11:10PM

Really though, is this important? Out of all of our issues, why in the hell is anyone screaming about this?

Let's say everything was equal tomorrow. Crack dealers get a slap on the wrist or coke whores get locked away for a line. How in the hell would that improve black life, really, other than getting your cousin Ray Ray out or getting Paris Hilton off my damn tv?

Who cares how much time those cancers do? I hope they find hot homo love in their permanent state housing. May their food be glass free and the baby oil plentiful.

Liquid Fonts
November 5 2007, 4:10AM

J, the bottom line given your scenario is that the black community (13% of the population) wouldn't be receiving the bulk of societal blame for a drug issue that affects society as a whole spilling into our communites via less expensive means. Prejudiced "journalist" with the power to disseminate information to the rest of the country affecting their perceptions of our communites wouldn't be able to sell black faces as a primary reason for "The War on Drugs" because drug arrest would reveal the truth about where the problem really exists.

elg
November 5 2007, 6:37AM

myview: Thanks. You expressed my feelings perfectly.

Derrick from Philly
November 5 2007, 10:03AM

For God's sake, y'all. We ALL hate crack drug dealers. They destroy their communities and dishonor their ancestors. But the federal law is boldly racist. Treat crack dealers and powder cocaine dealers (and crystal meth, etc.) the same: put their evil, dishonest, disloyal, ruthless, inhumane asses away.

I can't figure out how some of y'all thought any of us were calling for lighter sentences for crack cocaine dealers. We ought to lease land from the Russians and send their asses to Siberia--neither drug dealin' nigguhs nor drug dealin' crackas like cold.

J
November 5 2007, 10:37AM

LF, the images in the media and people's opinions of us didn't begin and won't end with crack laws.

Liquid Font
November 5 2007, 1:47PM

J the Cocaine/Crack sentencing issue has been circulating for a while now and it simply illustrates as Philly said BOLD faced racism at the highest level of our Judicial system well above our heads. Whats interesting is that many black folks will play the "all crime is equal card" knowing full well it don't play out that way in the courts. Genarlow Wilson didn't sell crack but for a long time other black folks refused to support him simply because the justice system labeled him a criminal.

cmoney
November 5 2007, 4:14PM

Funny how everyone is so tough on crime--until they or one of their loved ones get caught up in hte criminal justice system. They will be the first one's calling the NAACP and the ACLU and Al Sharpton looking for support. Anyone who thinks the criminal justice system is fair to people of color is just a damn fool. Calling for fairness does not mean we are calling for sympathy for drug dealers. I swear, some Black people are our own worst enemies--and I am not talking about the crack dealers! I am talking about the people who turn a blind eye to rank hypocrisy and racism and say that the Black kid somehow deserves a harsher sentence because some cracker on Capitol Hill thinks crack and cocaine are two different drugs. What a bunch of dumbasses!

myview
November 5 2007, 8:20PM

ELG you are very welcome. The cable station Discovery Times channel and the local PBS stations have shown very interesting documentaries about the drug trade during the 70's,80's,90's. For those of you who find these types of programs interesting you can go to their websites and find out either when they are going to be shown again or just google the channel and subject and start searching from there. To say there was a clear and present danger of many inner cities turning into mini Medellin, Colombias is the understatement of the year. As unfair as the laws are now at that time a VERY STRONG message had to be sent out. There will be no black Pablso Escobars here. Now all of these years later we see how ineffective this lock'em up and throw away the key mindset was. Many of these poor, uneducated people have no chance of ever escaping their past because the felony conviction will stay with them forever.

Equalnox
November 6 2007, 12:17PM

@Cmoney If my black child is so stupid that he's out selling crack in the streets, not only would I not call the NAACP, the ACLU, or Al Sharpton, I'd be tempted to drop his dumb ass off at the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. Remember, we're not talking about an innocent kid, we're talking about someone who is purposely selling poison on the street.

Who are you going to call/blame when my black child sells crack to your black child?

MLee
November 6 2007, 5:44PM

Equalnox, can you not understand what cmoney is clearly saying? He is not glorifying crack dealers or other thugs. Cmoney is only stating that the criminal justice system in this country is not equal.

Equalnox
November 7 2007, 8:03AM

MLee I'm a gay black man. I'm very much aware of how unfair this world is to me for being both black and gay. If there were a law that says black drug dealers are only allowed to sell crack cocaine, then this would be a racism issue. However, since there is no law that says that, this is a personal choice issue. If you choose to sell the deadliest form of cocaine, you choose the harshest prison sentence. We have to realize that the white prison money machine is looking for any excuse to lock us up, so let's not give them an excuse. For some strange reason we keep expecting white society to not be white. It ain't ever going to happen folks. This is as close to Martin Luther King's dream that we're ever going to get.

And again, if some black thug sells crack cocaine to my black child, he'd better hope that they lock him away for an extended period of time.

Karim
November 7 2007, 1:16PM

While I think that the change in minimum sentencing is a good thing, I do believe that that it doesn't go enough.

nhlanhla - S.A.
November 8 2007, 2:05AM

Not sure if example of cocaine v. crack was most effective to put the case of unequal justice for white v. black. Example has many associated politics, such as drugs decriminalisation, level of ill social effects. So the important point that blacks face an unfair justice system in the US gets sidetracked. This happens sometimes indirectly

I think the best principle for administering justice is for the extent of punishment to mirror the extent of social damage, whether crime is committed by black or white. If negative social effects of crack are worse than those of coke & dagga, then social punishment should mirror that

And if there's a propensity for one racial group to committ more henious crimes, reducing punishment for that group would break the principle, which may breakdown a justice system. Rather remedy actual causes of skew distributions of more henious crimes

Still on topic of ills: again another blk lesbian couple was attacked, partner heniously murdered in S.A. by blk men

Hiuitsmetoo
November 16 2007, 5:40PM

This is simple. You get stronger side effects with crack because it's 90% pure coke. While powder coke is only 15%, at most 20%, pure coke. Why are we even discussing this. Someone needs to do their homework *Keith B.* before writing an article. Did anyone not think about the racial view? Did anyone think "Well what are the effects and make-up differences in both of these drugs? Isn't there a logical explanation if the law set this standard? And if not then it should be corrected." Unfortunately for the people who are protesting on behalf of their druggie incarcerated people there is, 90% versus 15% hmm... what to do what to do? I swear so many journalist and political leaders always try to pull the race card....when will they stop crying and begin to fix things within before crying discrimination. Let's all give a hand to the people who are fighting to get our criminal brothers out of prison. God help us.

anonymous
November 19 2007, 2:29AM

but criminals belong in prison??

mr. meth
December 13 2007, 9:18AM

The niggas dying of crack cocaine and the whole Black race is comming apart because of the white man. try meth,its cheaper and last longer. Mr. meth...