…when you hear stories about drugs in the African-American community, it’s always about a “crime,” but when you hear stories about drugs in the white community they’re almost always stories about the same drugs as a “disease?”
1 thought on “Did you ever wonder why…”
Comments are closed.
Very interesting point. I never bought the “disease” concept/scapegoat, whether the person was white or black. At least not in the sense how other diseases are defined. You can wake up one day and be diagnosed with cancer, but no one says “Cocaine disease? Well just my luck, how did that happen?” At the least the first time one had to make the choice to try it (there’s the crime part). I would use the term “addiction” to accurately describe substance abuse. Does a person bear responsibility? Yes. Might they be in over their heads in addiction? Yes also.
Ron Paul made the comment that drug laws unfairly penalize African Americans. “True racism in this country is in the judicial system,” Paul said, “the percentage of people who use drugs are about the same with blacks and whites. And yet the blacks are arrested way disproportionately.”
Evidence is there to support that and it’s a serious issue. However, does that excuse the behavior or criminal act? No! In fact, if one knows the deck is stacked against him, you would think that would encourage him further NOT to commit the crime. It might not be fair for the police to stop every red car for speeding, but knowing that is the case, red drivers would be more careful not to speed.