Discriminatory Policies: Unjust and race-targeting.
Many policies or laws seem to be race neutral (effects all races equally) but actually some of these policies target a particular race(s)."School zone" drug policies have been adopted in many states and by the federal government that penalize an individual more harshly for using illegal drugs within a certain distance from a school. The tremendous racial effect stems from the housing patterns among people of color. New Jersey is one among many states that have adopted the school zone "racially neutral" policies, and the county's in New Jersey that adopted this policy have a high population of Blacks and Hispanics. This policy was only active in county's with a high population of Blacks and Hispanics, a clear example of a race-targetting policy. The negative effects of these school zone policies on Blacks and Hispanics are jaw dropping. 96% of all persons in prison for these school zone drug offenses are Black or Hispanic. This policy, among others, discriminates and targets Blacks and Hispanics. This leads to more time in prison for Blacks and Hispanics than Whites for particpating in the same illegal act.
Crack versus Powder: The most Anti-Black law in modern day America
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The largest discriminatory policy/law is the crack vs powder weight disparity in sentencing. It is common knowledge that crack is more common with Blacks, and powder with Whites due to the price differences between the two drugs. "Basically Whites use cocaine, Blacks use crack," said Keith Ellison. Under the law prior to 2010, for a mandatory five-year minimum sentence, one would have had to been caught with only five grams of crack. To get the same charge, powder cocaine users must have been caught with at least 500 grams, which is an absurd amount of cocaine costing between $40,000-$50,000. Luckily the "Fair Sentencing Act", activated in 2010 reduced the weight disparity to 18:1 rather than 100:1. The amount of powder stayed at 500 grams but the amount of crack for a five-year sentence was raised to 28 grams. It probably should have been called "The More Fair But Still Not Perfect Sentencing Act" as there is still an 18:1 weight disparity. This law is still discriminatory towards Black people, who are 90% of the crack users. This policy of 28 grams still makes it easier for crack users to receive a jail sentence. Meanwhile, a White powder user is simply put on probation or just not even caught. Even though crack cocaine and powder cocaine are essentially the same drug.
Blacks serve virtually as much time in prison for a drug (crack) offense (58.7 months) (which usually affects only the offender) as one does for a violent offense (61.7 months) (which can potentially affect many people). It is wrong and unethical that possessing small amounts of crack relative to powder results in so many years in prison. Furthermore, it is also unjust that many Blacks go to jail for possessing the same amount of grams of essentially the same drug as Whites, while Whites get off scot-free.
Blacks serve virtually as much time in prison for a drug (crack) offense (58.7 months) (which usually affects only the offender) as one does for a violent offense (61.7 months) (which can potentially affect many people). It is wrong and unethical that possessing small amounts of crack relative to powder results in so many years in prison. Furthermore, it is also unjust that many Blacks go to jail for possessing the same amount of grams of essentially the same drug as Whites, while Whites get off scot-free.
"I believe discrimination still exists in society and we must fight it in every form."-Andrew Cuomo