It is so easy for people to hear the words “anti-drugs” or “banning drugs” and immediately believe whatever the message or ruling is, it is a good one. However, for so many low income people and in particular, people of color the war on drugs has been devastating. White privilege is something that is incredibly relevant today, and has been around for many hundreds of years. Unfortunately, racial biases are at an all time high when it comes to drug possession and drug use. Hispanics and blacks are 3x more likely to be searched while they are in their vehicles than whites. While this does not surprise me, because of how corrupt the system is, this saddens me. Racial biases involving drugs have become way too normalized and it is incredibly unfair.
While watching the movie Just Mercy, I became incredibly upset. So many people of color are wrongfully convicted or get sentences for crimes that are astronomically different than whites. The racial biases within our systems has been a problem for a very long time, and I truthfully do not know when it will stop. I am increasingly saddened and astonished by the racism that is still so prevalent in not only our country, but in our court systems. One thing that I am interested to see how it plays out is the fact that Oregon just decriminalized all drugs. The disparity between drug laws in all the states is very interesting to me, and I am intrigued to see how this ruling plays out. Overall, this reading and movie left me saddened and discouraged with the way our systems have performed in regards to drug laws and sentencing.
I also felt very saddened and discouraged about our country’s legal system after reading and watching about the unfair and biased system that continues to hurt people. The court is a place where justice and equal treatment is supposed to be protected, but it is clear that this is not the truth throughout the U.S. I also thought it was interesting that Oregon has just decriminalized all drugs and am interested to see if this change has an impact on drug use and criminalization there.
I find it interesting how you play both sides of the argument here. Yes, it is easy for people to say drugs should be banned, but when you consider how much more this affects minorities it is not a clear cut answer anymore. Making marijuana legal in many states may cause less injustice in this arena of the legal system. I would hope making something legal is not the only way to fix the injustices of the legal system, but it is an interesting thought. I agree, Just Mercy was hard to watch at many times, because of the helplessness these black people feel.
I was too surprised at how drastic the difference was with Hispanics and blacks versus whites with being searched as well as being charged with drug-related crimes. I agree that people immediately believe that “anti-drug” movements are beneficial but never stop to think about the preconceived biases that come along with these movements and how they harm many innocent people.