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> The unjustifiable war on drugs, which disproportionately affects black communities. See, this gets to the heart of the matter. I personally think the war on

> The unjustifiable war on drugs, which disproportionately affects black communities. See, this gets to the heart of the matter. I personally think the war on drugs is very stupid, but the data indicates that it does not disproportionately affect blacks. Blacks use drugs at much higher rates than whites and blacks distribute drugs at even higher rates than whites. The prosecutions for narcotics crimes are by all indications commensurate with rates of criminal offense. It may be dumb law, but it's not racist. Cops and prosecutors are simply doing their jobs. If you think there's a racist conspiracy I dare you to prove it.

haberman 12y ago
> It may be dumb law, but it's not racist. I didn't say it was racist. I said it disproportionately affects blacks. Even if it were true that blacks use drugs at higher rates than whites (and this is disputed: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/racial-disparity-drug-use_n_3941346.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/racial-disparity-dr...), reversing an unjustifiable war that affects blacks the most would be a step towards fixing the problem. > If you think there's a racist conspiracy I dare you to prove it. I don't think there's a conspiracy. Few people believe that cops get together and make evil plans about how they can treat black people unjustly. Here's a bigger point though: I mentioned three things that are clearly broken today, and which fixing would work towards repairing some of the problems we are experiencing today. And instead of finding common ground there, you focused on rebutting an accusation of "conspiracy" -- an accusation I didn't even make. That, right there, is why we collectively spin our wheels and never really get anywhere.
anigbrowl 12y ago
Blacks use drugs at much higher rates than whites and blacks distribute drugs at even higher rates than whites. Most studies suggest the exact opposite to be true. http://healthland.time.com/2011/11/07/study-whites-more-likely-to-abuse-drugs-than-blacks/ http://healthland.time.com/2011/11/07/study-whites-more-like... http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/09/30/white-people-are-more-likely-to-deal-drugs-but-black-people-are-more-likely-to-get-arrested-for-it/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/09/30/w...
- a8da6b0c91d 12y ago
  The studies where they simply poll or ask indicate equivalent or lower black narcotics usage. Every piece of research that uses drug testing reveals well over double the rate of white drugs usage. This is a lie that needs to die. Blacks get arrested for drugs because they have and use drugs, relative to white people. It was the same with a huge mess of headlines about blacks getting pulled over on north east highways disproportionately. Finally some work was done with hidef cameras that could show the race of drivers that showed blacks speed at well over double the rate of whites. Black drivers get pulled over disproportionately for dangerous driving because, wait for it, they drive dangerously disproportionately.
  - anigbrowl 12y ago
    I'll take you more seriously when you cite some of these studies or at least link to articles which cite them.
  - tsotha 12y ago
    I'm also skeptical of the "whites take more drugs" argument. The ratio of black to white drug arrests is roughly the same as the ratio for those of violent crimes, and you can't explain away the violent crime ratio by assuming whites don't get arrested for committing them.
panglott 12y ago
If a stupid law disproportionately harms black people, that's racist.
- JoeAltmaier 12y ago
  No, it isn't. Racism has to include a positive correlation with race. And not a correlation with a confounding variable. In this case, the rate of offending is the confounding variable.

haberman 12y ago

> It may be dumb law, but it's not racist. I didn't say it was racist. I said it disproportionately affects blacks. Even if it were true that blacks use drugs at higher rates than whites (and this is disputed: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/racial-disparity-drug-use_n_3941346.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/racial-disparity-dr...), reversing an unjustifiable war that affects blacks the most would be a step towards fixing the problem. > If you think there's a racist conspiracy I dare you to prove it. I don't think there's a conspiracy. Few people believe that cops get together and make evil plans about how they can treat black people unjustly. Here's a bigger point though: I mentioned three things that are clearly broken today, and which fixing would work towards repairing some of the problems we are experiencing today. And instead of finding common ground there, you focused on rebutting an accusation of "conspiracy" -- an accusation I didn't even make. That, right there, is why we collectively spin our wheels and never really get anywhere.

anigbrowl 12y ago

Blacks use drugs at much higher rates than whites and blacks distribute drugs at even higher rates than whites. Most studies suggest the exact opposite to be true. http://healthland.time.com/2011/11/07/study-whites-more-likely-to-abuse-drugs-than-blacks/ http://healthland.time.com/2011/11/07/study-whites-more-like... http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/09/30/white-people-are-more-likely-to-deal-drugs-but-black-people-are-more-likely-to-get-arrested-for-it/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/09/30/w...

a8da6b0c91d 12y ago
The studies where they simply poll or ask indicate equivalent or lower black narcotics usage. Every piece of research that uses drug testing reveals well over double the rate of white drugs usage. This is a lie that needs to die. Blacks get arrested for drugs because they have and use drugs, relative to white people. It was the same with a huge mess of headlines about blacks getting pulled over on north east highways disproportionately. Finally some work was done with hidef cameras that could show the race of drivers that showed blacks speed at well over double the rate of whites. Black drivers get pulled over disproportionately for dangerous driving because, wait for it, they drive dangerously disproportionately.
- anigbrowl 12y ago
  I'll take you more seriously when you cite some of these studies or at least link to articles which cite them.
- tsotha 12y ago
  I'm also skeptical of the "whites take more drugs" argument. The ratio of black to white drug arrests is roughly the same as the ratio for those of violent crimes, and you can't explain away the violent crime ratio by assuming whites don't get arrested for committing them.

panglott 12y ago

If a stupid law disproportionately harms black people, that's racist.

JoeAltmaier 12y ago
No, it isn't. Racism has to include a positive correlation with race. And not a correlation with a confounding variable. In this case, the rate of offending is the confounding variable.