<p>"its necessary that they (like anybody.who wants to succeed) avoid drug use "</p>
<p>Well, that isn’t true. I knew lots of people at Harvard (undergrad and law) who used drugs. It wasn’t an appealing risk to me, but I know more lawyers, doctors, and Wall Street folks than I can count who did or do use use drugs. Most people who use drugs don’t become addicts or ruin their lives. Which is a big reason why the disparity matters. If the black kids who use drugs go to jail, while the white kids who use drugs go on to graduate school and the upper middle class, that’s a huge problem for both the black kids and the society that would benefit from their success.</p>
<p>Actually, Sally I know a lot about inner-city Milwaukee since that’s where I grew up. But, I don’t have time to write a book, right now. And, of course a ghetto kid has a harder time than a middle class kid. There are white ghetto kids, too. That’s not a race thing except in the stereotyping.</p>
<p>@moooop It wasnt actually to you, but thanks for the post anyway. It actually seems like your suggestion is more tangential to the topic than mine. I’m asserting that the war on drugs disproportionately affects African Americans (whether that’s due to racial profiling or simply that more effort on fighting the war occurs in black - concentrated areas is neither here nor there). Nobody is suggesting that people should go around doing drugs, we’re arguing that there’s some form of inequality under the law. It’s been well documented that blacks often get (I believe it was 10%-20%) more jail time for the same crimes that whites take part in. On the whole it simply demonstrates a difference in how whites and blacks are viewed from a LE perspective (discounting confounding variables of course. </p>
<p>Are drugs bad? Yep.
Is it problematic that LE seems to only have an interest in stopping certain types of drug dealers? Yep.</p>
<p>Suppose you were a college golf coach, and your players kept getting caught cheating in class. Then you found out the tennis players were cheating as much but were getting caught half as often as your golfers. Would u raise heck with your admnistration about equal treatment or tell your players to stop cheating?</p>
<p>See what I mean? The problem isn’t the unequal treatment, the problem is they are doing something that’s harmful, stupid, voluntary , and completely avoidable. </p>
<p>marie, Milwaukee is the most racially segregated city in the country. Surely your perspective has been influenced by growing up there. Your point of view is shared by many who view things through a lens in which race plays a big role. </p>
<p>Well, no. My lens is shaped by watching what was a diverse and decent neighborhood turn into a ghetto over the 10 - 15 years I lived there and seeing who managed to get out and do okay and who didn’t and race was not the primary factor and really we didn’t see color because those of us there were not accustomed to anything other than diversity. Black people were not unusual. By the time I left I was the white girl and that was unusual but then I moved to DC and was quite used to being the white girl so it was no big deal to live in a dump over the bus station where cops were a regular presence, thankfully. Among my childhood friends who are no longer there the biggest factor was not having a bunch of children by different fathers who then end up in jail. Yes, I know it’s blunt but it’s also true. However, if you’re suggesting that I see race where others don’t you’re just wrong. I see opportunity for everyone if you follow a few basic rules. Maybe it’s harder for any number of reasons of which race may or may not be one. But, so what? It’s possible.</p>
<p>By the way, living there was in many ways a very positive experience. I have some awesome survival skills and sent one of my kids to an inner city school because of the value of this experience. Another went to our suburban high school and has a whole lot less insight into the whole situation. </p>
<p>@mooop So you want me to tell other black kids to stop doing drugs? That analogy honestly carries no weight. After I yell at my team and impose whatever extra punishments I want on them I’d probably tell administration that there needs to be uniform application of the rules. I’d tell the school that I’m done with them only watching students on certain teams, when the tennis team has a storied history of cheating on tests. NCAA Titles be damned I will not let them get preferential treatment. I have no control over black kids at my school, nor any vested interest in controlling whether or not they (or anyone else) does drugs. </p>
<p>A better analogy is that Mrs. Williams is a teacher. She is very strict with her 3rd period, and is always watching out for cheaters. For some reason, she is extremely lax with her 7th period even though they cheat more. I myself am a 3rd period student but not a cheater, but I don’t like that she only seems keen on punishing cheaters in her 3rd period, while 7th period kids go off scotch-free. (Or is it Scott Free?)</p>
<p>You make a good point, but are you saying that the college golf coach wouldn’t blow the whistle about unequal treatment? A felony conviction can damage someone’s life for a long time, and if certain criminals were getting punished worse than others for the same infraction I can see why someone would be infuriated. Yes, you would tell the players to stop cheating but then you would wonder why the administration is holding the golf team to an extremely high standard and the tennis team to a much lower one. It sets a bad example to everyone – the golfers learn that the system is corrupt and biased, and the tennis players learn that the laws don’t apply to them and that they can do whatever they want. Is that really what we want? The system should be doing what it can to stop crime among the entire population, not just creating arbitrary castes. </p>
<p>The problem with all these analogies is that we have a Constitution which mandates that all citizens are entitled to the equal protection of the law regardless of race. If we are violating that law, I view that as a problem regardless of the circumstances.</p>
<p>Well, we’re not violating that law unless you slice and dice the population into groups and make judgments based on statistics. Not all law-breakers of any race are caught every time and suggesting that LE shouldn’t work harder in high-crime areas doesn’t make any sense. And, the seventh-period cheater not getting caught doesn’t translate into a violation of the third-period cheater’s rights since the third-period cheater still cheated. Mooop seems to be saying, stop cheating and there goes that problem for you individually. I think I would have to agree with Mooop.</p>
<p>For someone that wants to act like race doesn’t matter, you did make a pretty racially charged statement about people having “a bunch of children by different fathers”, though you did try to veil it as something else.</p>
<p>“The seventh-period cheater not getting caught doesn’t translate into a violation of the third-period cheaters rights since they still cheated.”</p>
<p>Under the law as currently written, race-based selective enforcement certainly does violate rights. Your rights don’t go away because you did something bad. On the contrary, the Constitution puts the most elaborate limits on the government when it is dealing with criminal defendants.</p>
<p>“we’re not violating that law unless you slice and dice the population into groups”</p>
<p>How else could you possibly tell whether a group is being disadvantaged?</p>
<p>marie, it’s not just on this thread…your comments throughout the time you have been on this site reveal a certain worldview. Even your preference for topics to post on says a lot.</p>
<p>Beyond that, under my classroom scenario, it’s still wrong that a teacher would only be concerned about cheating in one class. I don’t see why the “individual” matters more than the whole. As a student in her 3rd period I am inherently viewed differently by her even though I’m not a cheater. That there is the problem.</p>
<p>The disadvantaged group is the law-breakers. The police departments using these practices are targeting by criminal activity not by race. And, Sally why are you chasing me around on this forum? This morning I was asking questions about frats. What does that reveal, exactly?</p>
<p>My worldview if you want to call it that is that success is available to all if you follow the rules and some people will be ahead of you and some people will be behind you and it doesn’t matter and it is true whatever race you happen to be. Worrying about the people who didn’t get caught breaking the rules is just a waste of energy. There will always be some of those but it doesn’t have to have much to do with your individual ability to achieve so why waste time resenting it? Personally, trust fund kids annoy me, but oh well. Whatever.</p>
<p>No one is “chasing you around,” marie. Your posts on various threads really just stand out. You seem to have zero interest in posting about college-related issues but a lot of interest in discussing topics that allow you to communicate your views on race.</p>