3 ms·

The main question is to whether those differences in speed of effect can justify penalties that are 18x harsher per gram[1] (an improvement over what was previo

• wahern 4y ago
  In retrospect, no, but in the 1980s even black community activists were demanding harsh penalties, precisely because of the disproportionate impact of crack upon their communities, which was utterly devastating if not existential, at least from a contemporaneous viewpoint. https://www.wnyc.org/story/312823-black-leaders-once-championed-strict-drug-laws-they-now-seek-dismantle/ https://www.wnyc.org/story/312823-black-leaders-once-champio... It's fairly well established, e.g. by admissions from Nixon administration officials, that part of the support for the War on Drugs was rooted in anti-black animus. But that's not the whole story. One of the more intractable aspects of "systemic racism" is that even without any animus, when the majority moves on from an issue, minorities get dragged along. Thus why it took decades for even moderate sentencing reform, despite a general consensus emerging much earlier. Everybody admitting to the same general problems isn't even half the battle; most of the battle is in prioritization, particularities, and process. (This dynamic is also the crux of Dave Chapelle's critique of the Woke movement wrt to how it prioritizes the demands of other minority communities over those of the black community.)