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Re: Justice report finds systematic discrimination against African Americans in Fergu
For the moment, lets say its true that blacks and whites have parity on marijuana use ( I haven't seen any study to suggest for or against that). You can't get from there to the fact that blacks are more likely to be arrested for marijuana use without looking at the factors in between. Could they have been more likely to be out in public? Driving erratically? Caught for another crime and then marijuana was found? Less likely to have a legal reason to be using medical marijuana? More likely to commit other crimes that would lead cops to them? More gang activity? (btw there are stats for these)
Do you understand what Im saying? You simply can't make the jump from one to the other without knowing these things.
What do those three criteria have to do with black people being arrested 11.5 times more likely than white people for marijuana use? The % of black individuals who use marijuana is roughly equal to the % of white individuals who use marijuana. So how would the economy reconcile how a racial demographic that comprises just 17.4% of the population is 11.5 times more likely to be arrested for a crime they commit at the same rate as the other racial demographics?
Blacks make up 17.4% of the population in Minneapolis and Whites make up 70.2% Both groups use marijuana about equally. So there are 1/4 as many black marijuana users, but a black person is 11.5X more likely to be arrested for marijuana use. That's a pretty large discrepancy and I haven't heard you offer up any other explanation. I have evidence, you have "could be another explanation." If police don't target black people for non-violent crime arrests such as marijuana use, then surely statistics would support that, right? So cite some statistics!
Do you have any black friends? I'd suggest you ask them about this subject matter. Every black friend I've ever had has got stories about the police trying to find a reason to arrest them. I have stories about the police looking for reasons not to arrest me.
For the moment, lets say its true that blacks and whites have parity on marijuana use ( I haven't seen any study to suggest for or against that). You can't get from there to the fact that blacks are more likely to be arrested for marijuana use without looking at the factors in between. Could they have been more likely to be out in public? Driving erratically? Caught for another crime and then marijuana was found? Less likely to have a legal reason to be using medical marijuana? More likely to commit other crimes that would lead cops to them? More gang activity? (btw there are stats for these)
Do you understand what Im saying? You simply can't make the jump from one to the other without knowing these things.