Michelle Alexander: White Men Get Rich from Legal Pot, Black Men Stay in Prison

[LibCampFireClub 635]

It's good to see that Michelle Alexander is drawing awareness to the unsettling fact that US prison populations are dominated disproportionately by blacks. It's time to focus on black children who grow up in fatherless homes, and lack of successful role models.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

War on drugs was around before they had private prisons.

Yes but incarceration has increased dramatically since we privatized the prisons.

[lostinblue 1,989]

Yes but incarceration has increased dramatically since we privatized the prisons.

Perhaps more folks break the law..... both white and black folks.

[luckytxn 2,264]

And many new laws by two opposing major parties trying to outdo each other in showing how tough on crime they are.

Yes but incarceration has increased dramatically since we privatized the prisons.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

And many new laws by two opposing major parties trying to outdo each other in showing how tough on crime they are.

Make that two opposing major parties feeding at the same corporate trough.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Perhaps more folks break the law..... both white and black folks.

For the almost two decades that I have lived in this country, I keep hearing - year after year - how crime is in decline. And yet prisons are filling up at a rapid pace. Shouldn't there be fewer incarcerations if there is ever less crime committed? Something doesn't add up. And if you're going to tel me that we have less crime because we incarcerate more, that old hat has long been debunked, too. Now what?

[luckytxn 2,264]

They were doing this before private prisons though. The prisons so filled up that Federal courts ordered massive releases of the prisons to relieve over crowding.

Both parties wanting to sound tough on crime then came up with mandatory sentencing. That made it hard to fill up already over crowded prisons so they came up with privatizing. The racist drug laws came from having crack sentences being so much more than regular powder cocaine.

Make that two opposing major parties feeding at the same corporate trough.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

They were doing this before private prisons though. The prisons so filled up that Federal courts ordered massive releases of the prisons to relieve over crowding.

Both parties wanting to sound tough on crime then came up with mandatory sentencing. That made it hard to fill up already over crowded prisons so they came up with privatizing. The racist drug laws came from having crack sentences being so much more than regular powder cocaine.

No doubt. But there are cases of judges being bribed to send offenders away to private prisons. There was a judge that was himself sentenced to life in prison for taking kickbacks from the prison industrial complex for supplying inmates. The prison corporations may not have started the trend but they sure have perfected the practice. And it was largely targeted on minorities which you acknowledge in your post. When a country that has 5% of the world's population also has 25% of the world's prison population, something is grossly out of whack. How such country can claim to be all about freedom and liberty - taking the same away from such a disproportionate amount of its own people - is beyond me.

Edited March 15, 2014 by Mr. Big Dog

[luckytxn 2,264]

How? War on drugs. Government wanting to control what its citizens can ingest because they feel morally it is wrong and that no one should have that freedom. Both major parties are at fault for this.

No doubt. But there are cases of judges being bribed to send offenders away to private prisons. There was a judge that was himself sentenced to life in prison for taking kickbacks from the prison industrial complex for supplying inmates. The prison corporations may not have started the trend but they sure have perfected the practice. And it was largely targeted on minorities which you acknowledge in your post. When a country that has 5% of the world's population also has 25% of the world's prison population, something is grossly out of whack. How such country can claim to be all about freedom and liberty - taking the same away from such a disproportionate amount of its own people - is beyond me.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

How? War on drugs. Government wanting to control what its citizens can ingest because they feel morally it is wrong and that no one should have that freedom. Both major parties are at fault for this.

The war on drugs was fought elsewhere, too. And largely still is. And yet, nowhere did they end up with such insane incarceration rates.

[luckytxn 2,264]

War on drugs is happening elsewhere because the U.S. makes them do so. No matter how you try to spin the ludicrous corporate red herring the facts still stand that these things were going on way before there was privatizing of prisons. The war on drugs and mandatory sentencing has caused these high rates of incarceration. The war on drugs is a morals war. The government has said that our bodies are not our own but belong to the state. They have deemed drugs can't be ingested so they have a war on people going on.

The war on drugs was fought elsewhere, too. And largely still is. And yet, nowhere did they end up with such insane incarceration rates.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

War on drugs is happening elsewhere because the U.S. makes them do so. No matter how you try to spin the ludicrous corporate red herring the facts still stand that these things were going on way before there was privatizing of prisons. The war on drugs and mandatory sentencing has caused these high rates of incarceration. The war on drugs is a morals war. The government has said that our bodies are not our own but belong to the state. They have deemed drugs can't be ingested so they have a war on people going on.

Nonsense.

[LibCampFireClub 635]

Blacks dominate the population of US prisons by overwhelming amounts. The best way to address the problem is to point to the criminal's family rather than continually pointing at everything else.

[Peikko 1,575]

Blacks dominate the population of US prisons by overwhelming amounts. The best way to address the problem is to point to the criminal's family rather than continually pointing at everything else.

Of course, more black people are in prison because black people don't understand the value of family. Brilliant logic

First racists failed to believe that there was a disproportionate number of black people in prison and now they blame it on the fact that black people are essentially antisocial and need to be taught how to live in society. Flawless thinking there.

[LibCampFireClub 635]

Of course, more black people are in prison because black people don't understand the value of family.

I don't think your conclusion is correct. If you look to the family you will see more than 54% of all black children in the US are born into single family homes. This makes it very difficult for the young children from a sociological perspective because they are missing that vital role model.

Edited March 15, 2014 by ExExpat