Rev. Wright has no where said that Africans are superior to Europeans. What he has said is that this country has a history of racism.

 

BTW why is 1 gram of crack cocaine just as serious as 100 grams of powdered cocaine?

 

Have you ever seen Les Miserables? or read the book?

 

The 100:1 ratio for crack cocaine vs powder cocaine no longer exists. It was recently changed.

 

Judges look to Crack Terms.

 

As much as some people may not want to believe it, the 100:1 ratio existed maybe because of racism. Poorer minorities who abused drugs were not able to afford the powder cocaine, so they would use crack cocaine. The people using the powder cocaine was mainly rich whites. See something interesting there?

There are studies which prove that just as many white people (percentage) are known to use/carry drugs but more black people (percentage based) are arrested, searched, and eventually arrested. Minorities are over represented in our prison system right now and white people likely commit just as many crimes.

I guess we should have a reverse quota system for the prisons now.

I guess we should have a reverse quota system for the prisons now.

No, maybe a little justice would be better.:thumb:

But, no, RTS, you're right- it's just because they break the law more.

Percentage-wise, yes, he's completely correct on that.

No, maybe a little justice would be better.:thumb:

Or a little respect for the law.

Percentage-wise, yes, he's completely correct on that.

Correction- poor people break the law more. And it still doesn't hold with my statement, because that's not the ONLY reason. There's also a verifiable, studied, and well-known disparity in conviction rates and sentencing.

But it only takes a very small amount of pure cocaine to make a large amount of crack. Considering the only ingredients to the 100 times more addictive substance are baking soda, water, and cocaine, wouldn't logic dictate that the only illegal ingredient be enforced on the same scale as the product, if not more so? I'm sure ace is comparing the user base of crack versus that of pure cocaine with the punishment for each, and while I have no fundamental understanding of it, the logic doesn't add up on my end.

 

Crack cocaine isn't 100X more addictive or 100X worse than powder cocaine.

 

This disparity was passed in 1986 and based largely on the assertion that crack cocaine was more dangerous than powder cocaine, that it was instantly addictive and that it caused violent behavior. Since then, copious scientific evidence and U.S. Sentencing Commission analysis have shown that these assertions, which were not supported by sound data, were exaggerated or even outright false. The disparity has resulted in a hugely disproportionate number of black Americans sentenced under this mandatory-minimum law. While the intent was not to single out one racial demographic over another, the impact of these laws amounted to discrimination.

 

LINK

If I may, I think we are getting off topic in this talk about racism and crack cocaine. Sure there is racism still in the U.S. Such is undeniable and I'm not sure why we are wasting server space talking about that issue. There are racists that are black and there are racists that are white. I believe based on what I've heard and read that Rev. Wright is a racist (you really have to google hard to find more of what Rev. Wright has written in his church bulletin, but you can find it. There is more than just what you see on You Tube.)

 

So the issue really is whether its fair to question Sen. Obama for his close relationship with a known racist and wonder what Sen. Obama really believes. Sen. Obama now admits that he was aware of controversial things that Rev. Wright has said in the past (evidently according to ABC News, he previously had denied knowledge of past controversial comments by Wright.)

 

I think its a fair question to ask, that given Rev. Wrights position on race today in America; his beliefs about whites; his belief that 9/11 was justified; his position about Islam and Israel, and given Rev. Wright's admitted influence on Sen. Obama (both now and growing up), just where does Sen. Obama stand on these positions? I know what Sen. Obama says, but I wonder what does he actually feel; what does he actually believe?

 

Posters supporting both parties have acknowledged that they are not so naive to believe what politicians say on the campaign trail, as they know that most/all (you pick) politicians will generally say whatever is needed to get elected. I won't go so far as to say their speeches are meaningless (if for no other reason because campaign promises can sometimes lock politicians into doing things when elected that they may not actually agree with), but I think they are pretty close to meaningless.

 

Me, I look at past actions more than speeches. And I do that for my party's candidate as well as the other party's. So when I assess Sen. Obama, I don't get all enamored with what he says. Heck, I'm not sure its because I'm smarter than that, or because as a lawyer, I've heard way too many clients and non-clients say one thing, when about the exact opposite happened. While I generally will give someone the benefit of the doubt (and in fact had given Sen. Obama the benefit of the doubt about what he was saying about his desire to unify America) that benefit can be negated when past actions cause me to wonder about whether what he was saying was actually what he believed.

 

And his attendance at Wright's church and his close relationship with Wright cause me to so wonder. I respect Sen. Obama for now denouncing what Wright said. But now that Sen. Obama admits that he was aware of the controversial things that Wright had been saying in the past, yet continued to have a close relationship with him until this recent mess hit the media and it became an absolute political necessity for Sen. Obama to come out and denounce what Wright said, I have further cause to wonder about whether Sen. Obama can be a unifying force in America if he is elected. I don't want a President that shares Wright's or Jesse Jackson's or Al Sharpeton's view on racism or might agree with their ideas as to how we should remedy it. I have further cause to wonder just what Sen. Obama feels about handling racism in America today. If he, like Wright, is stuck in how American treated blacks in the 19th century or even the first 75 years of the 20th century, I don't share those views.

 

I agree with black leaders like Bill Cosby that admit that blacks bear a large part of the blame for where they are and they should stop blaming the "white man". Read the attached link: http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewSpecialReports.asp?Page=/SpecialReports/archive/200407/SPE20040702a.html

 

I do not in any way agree with Wright. And if Sen. Obama does, I could not support Sen. Obama even if I had otherwise had considered doing so. And I have no idea really if Sen. Obama does agree with Wright. He says one thing in his campaign speeches, but I think his past actions indicate something else. So I wonder, and I think it is fair for me to wonder.

Percentage-wise, yes, he's completely correct on that.

 

They're caught more. That doesn't mean they break the law more. Ever heard or racial profiling?

Correction- poor people break the law more. And it still doesn't hold with my statement, because that's not the ONLY reason. There's also a verifiable, studied, and well-known disparity in conviction rates and sentencing.

Only in the imaginations of those who wish it to be true. :sleep:

Or a little respect for the law.

 

Or a little less racism.

Ever heard or racial profiling?

Ever heard of "worn out, phony excuse?"

Or a little less racism.

 

Yeah..."on whose part" is the question here.

Ever heard of "worn out, phony excuse?"

 

I do not believe that our police profile based on race like in the past...not as frequently. But it still happens whether you want to believe it or not.

Yeah..."on whose part" is the question here.

 

How about White America?

 

The one where blacks and other minorities make less money than whites, for doing many of the same jobs, with the same or better qualifications.

 

The one where blacks and whites commit the same amount of crimes, yet blacks are arrested, and convicted more often than whites.