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Whites Smoke More, Blacks/hisp. Arrested More


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just checking out the yeson19 site. saw this:

 

NAACP Study: Whites Smoke More Pot, but Blacks and Latinos Are Arrested More

by David Knowles | AOL News

 

Is it a smoke screen, or proof of the need for change?

 

As California prepares to vote on Proposition 19, which would legalize recreational use of marijuana for people 18 and older, a new study by the NAACP finds that the state's African-American and Latino residents are far more likely to be arrested for low-level pot possession, even though whites, according to government statistics, use the drug in greater numbers.

 

is this simply a matter of whites not being harassed as much as blacks and hispanics, or is a matter of the image portrayed by the individuals harassed?

 

on face value, one might automatically come to the conclusion that it is because the police target blacks and hispanics. (very well could be the case)

 

i question, though, if it's the image portrayed. in my area, whites seem to be more discreet about mj usage. the blacks and hispanics, though, tend to wear more hip hop type clothing, and clothing advertising their pot (pot leaf hats, shirts, coats, belt buckles, shoes, pants, tattoos). also, the "ghetto" look is also an advertisement that you smoke pot, IMO. you may not, but that stereotype you are keying into, does

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Interesting question.

 

I guess some of it is related to racial profiling, but I would think it is more a matter of the where and when such arrests are happening.

 

By this I mean that, most police patrols and activities are conducted in otherwise high crime areas, which just happen to be in lower income and minority areas (which is a statement about us as people, not the folks that live there). I truly believe that another big factor is that some folks just don't understand or aren't taught that they have certain rights, and have become apathetic to the cops pushing them around; with no money for good representation, the police aren't as worried about being over zealous.

 

There are many more reasons I am sure, but I wouldn't want to paint with too broad a brush..

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Interesting question.

 

I guess some of it is related to racial profiling, but I would think it is more a matter of the where and when such arrests are happening.

 

By this I mean that, most police patrols and activities are conducted in otherwise high crime areas, which just happen to be in lower income and minority areas (which is a statement about us as people, not the folks that live there). I truly believe that another big factor is that some folks just don't understand or aren't taught that they have certain rights, and have become apathetic to the cops pushing them around; with no money for good representation, the police aren't as worried about being over zealous.

 

There are many more reasons I am sure, but I wouldn't want to paint with too broad a brush..

 

good point!

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While you and others may not think of color, others seem to be hell bent to create a new underclass of people. The disproportionate arrests aren't just a casual thing. This whole cannabis issue has become a civil rights issue. What else is one to think when there are more blacks in our prison system than in college classes? If we keep folks undereducated and incarcerated then it becomes more of a new "Jim Crow" type of a tactic. Shameful! ...Peace...j.b.

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While you and others may not think of color, others seem to be hell bent to create a new underclass of people. The disproportionate arrests aren't just a casual thing. This whole cannabis issue has become a civil rights issue. What else is one to think when there are more blacks in our prison system than in college classes? If we keep folks undereducated and incarcerated then it becomes more of a new "Jim Crow" type of a tactic. Shameful! ...Peace...j.b.

 

 

i think that is Right it's a civil rights issue i was at that ACLU meeting yesterday but it was not the first time i had heard of it i also i saw in on CNN and the NAACP that more people of colored was in jail for Marijuana

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The really sad part is, that is what many of the marijuana laws (especially the early ones) in this country were designed to do... snag minorities. The term marijuana in the American lexicon is there because of that exact thing, it was used as a derogatory term pointing at Hispanics (Mexicans during the early prohibition days). If you were to ask some folks, they would probably say that the laws are working as intended...

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That's another reason that it is important that Cal passes Prop 19.

 

LEO might be doing most of their 'busts' in 'high crime' areas... but after Prob 19, at least in California LEO will have to find ANOTHER reason to 'pop' people... OF ANY COLOR OR BACKGROUND!

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I seriously never think of color.

This is an example of White Privilege. Whether you are white or not, this is the mindset that White Privilege wants us to assume. People of Color are not often afforded the privilege to "forget about color". As my wife has often said, "I can have a PhD, and still just be a N*&&$r to someone that wants to remind me of what i am not allowed to forget - that i am Black."

I am no cheerleader (or basher) of the NAACP. And i am not trying to start any arguments. I think if we can all be 'real' with one another, while acknowledging our imperfections with some humility, we can fight together around this issue. (cops, in general, are NOT friendly to anyone with MM.) the fact, even though brought to us by a sometimes controversial NAACP, is still a fact. Blacks and Latinos are arrested more for all drug use crimes, even for those crimes for which whites far out-commit than their People of Color counterparts.

-rant off

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