Posted on 06/24/2013 11:25:24 AM PDT by YourAdHere
WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Black activists marked the 42nd anniversary of the War on Drugs with a protest in front of the White House aimed at ending a targeted action that has led to the disproportionate arresting, conviction and incarceration of Blacks for decades.
The Institute of the Black World 21st Century, an organization dedicated to the empowerment of the Black community, mobilized a network of community groups last Monday for the “day of direct action.”
Workers on their lunch breaks and a few tourists paused to snap cell phone photos of the group of activists as they marched, led by a police escort, from the Metropolitan A.M.E. Church in Washington, D.C. down 16th Street NW and into Lafayette Park for the rally. Event organizers and marchers touted the symbolism of protesting against the president’s War on Drugs within shouting distance of the White House.
“The War on Drugs was started by a president and it needs to end with the president,” said Courtney Stewart, chairman of The Reentry Network for Returning Citizens a group that helps ex-offenders find jobs, housing and access to social services. “Everything starts with leadership. President Obama is the leader of this great nation. He needs to end the War on Drugs.”
Ron Daniels, president of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century, said that the ‘War on Drugs’ is a war on us. Daniels, a veteran social and political activist, said that the statistics are clear and reveal racial discrimination in the criminal justice system.
The Sentencing Project, a non-profit organization focused on criminal justice advocacy and research, reported that Blacks make up 12 percent of the total population of drug users, “but 34% of those arrested for drug offenses, and 45% of those in state prison for a drug offense.” Whites accounted for less than 29 percent of state prisoners incarcerated for drug offenses.
According to a 2010 study conducted by The Pew Charitable Trusts, one in 12 working-aged Black men is in prison or jail, compared to 1 in 87 working-aged White men.
The report also showed that “2.7 million children have a parent behind bars,” and most are incarcerated for non-violent offenses. More than 11 percent of Black children have a parent that is locked up, compared to less than 2 percent of White children who share the same fate.
“Children with fathers who have been incarcerated are significantly more likely than other children to be expelled or suspended from school,” stated the report. When children spend less time in school as a result of disciplinary action, they often spend more time in the juvenile justice system, which can lead to a young person becoming ensnared in the criminal justice system as an adult.
Statistics associated with the so-called ‘War on Marijuana’ show even deeper disparities.
According to a recent report by the American Civil Liberties Union titled “The War on Marijuana in Black and White,” a Black person is 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than a White person, even though Blacks and Whites use marijuana at similar rates.”
States collectively spent more than $3.6 billion chasing down and arresting Americans for marijuana possession and in at least one case, for just a seed of marijuana. According to the ACLU study, there was a marijuana arrest every 37 seconds in 2010. In some states, Blacks were “six times more likely to get arrested for marijuana possession than Whites.” In the worst counties in America, the disparity between Black-White marijuana arrests jumped to 30 to 1.
“Just as with the larger drug war,” the ACLU report said, “the War on Marijuana has, quite simply, served as a vehicle for police to target communities of color.” Ron Daniels said that the War on Drugs is a targeted, racially-biased program that is devastating and destroying the Black community.
Jesse Jackson, founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, abandoned the usual melting pot analogy often used to describe a diverse group of people working together.
“Black people cannot sacrifice the integrity of our Black experience for that coalition,” said Jackson.
Many of the criminal justice advocates used their proximity to the White House to make a point about the current administration.
“The president has to come out and say that he supports the Black community and that he understands the issues that affect the Black community,” said Stewart. “He has to say that he understands the disparities, that he understands the lack of hope, that he understands the joblessness, and that he understands how this ‘War on Drugs’ has really decimated our community.”
Stewart said that until President Obama articulates those concerns on a national stage and backs those concerns with policy reforms, little will change. Stewart said that without that, many people won’t fight, because they don’t see their leader in the White House fighting.
The network of community organizations and activists called on the president to intensify efforts to eliminate drug sentencing disparities, to publicly support the decriminalization of the possession of small amounts of marijuana, and to allocate more funds for drug education, counseling, and treatment.
Daniels said that ending the War on Drugs will take a significant mass movement, similar to the grassroots campaigns that increased national and, at times, global awareness about issues affecting other minority groups in the United States.
“How did marriage equality come about? The immigration question, why is that on the table now?” asked Daniels. “The dreamers never stopped dreaming. You can’t just sit back. You have to keep organizing, and organizing, and organizing until your message is heard.”
Jackson said that it’s not enough just to have friends in high places. “At the end of the day it’s about direction,” Jackson said. “It’s not merely about complexion.”
It wasn’t that long ago the black militants were insisting that the government loaded the black neighborhoods with the drugs. Now they don’t want any attempt to stop them. Hey, make up your mind!
Are these the same people who said that white Americans gave drugs to minorities and more or less encouraged use of illegal drugs in oppressed neighborhoods?
Gee...what would ‘Reverend’ (God Damn America) Wright have to say about this demand for an end to the war on drugs?
Anything to grow the underclass, obviously.
only “the same people” if you assume all black people are the same person.
Well, if you vote in ONE IMMOVEABLE AND INDIVISIBLE BLOCK, maybe you will be seen as ‘all the same’
Stopped clock and all that.
While theyre at it, might as well make an exemption for murder, burglary and robbery for the black race...
One other thing...if you don’t want to be behind bars, stop committing the crimes!
What is it they want? To legalize drugs? George Soros will be happy as he’s invested in drug rehabs (if not in the trading). In Afghanistan their heroin exports are 78%.
What is missing from this report is the number of people who initially came in contact with police from some other offense. That is why the figures look like this. Whites usually try to maintain a low profile while smoking and blacks ignore or overlook law enforcement observing their behavior.
Gee, I wonder why the drug arrests are disproportionate??
Could it be that Blacks use the most drugs and have the most dealers????
Nah Couldn’t be.
Actually we have never had a drug war, It was all a farce.
The drug war would start with breaking the Money laundering. Banks and white Collar workers. The feds know who they are, but they are powerfully politically connected.
They put away a few dealers and the rich guys get richer.
Wars are fought to win. The drug war never was fought to win. We let illegals carry it across we allow tunnels and we allow boats and planes to transport it. We have practically neutered the Coast Guard.
Just like the illegals that walk across every night, we could stop them overnight if we really wished to. Our Government doesn’t wish to.
I would bet that every city law enforcement agency knows most every drug dealer by name.
You want to stop dealing , make the dealer eat whatever drugs are caught on him.
Eat it right on the spot.
touche’!
“Jackson said that it’s not enough just to have friends in high places. “At the end of the day it’s about direction,” Jackson said. “It’s not merely about complexion.”
High friends in low places?
This one is repeated often by libs but the question is :
‘Which of the two is selling it ? And which group is buying it for personal use?’
That would make a big difference.
Which neighborhoods have the sellers standing on street corners?
So what should we do, keep having fedgov walk all over the Tenth Amendment, as well as other parts of the Constitution?
“Children with fathers who have been incarcerated are significantly more likely than other children to be expelled or suspended from school...”
Hm...so what did the fathers do to get themselves incarcerated, thereby putting their own children at risk for being expelled or suspended from school?
It needs to be stopped, but I’m damned if I know how.
It’s obvious we cannot vote good people into office. As soon as they get there their only interest is in staying.
They promise a lot before elections and then spin us.
One day perhaps in the next 4 years or so we may have to change boxes.
Just follow the Constitution. Let fedgov deal with illegal imports and let the states deal with intrastate drug regulation.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.