Posted by Justin Jeffre

Human Rights Watch reports black men are nearly twelve times as likely to be imprisoned for drug convictions as white men, even though whites commit more drug-related crimes. Black women are five times as likely to see prison time for drug crimes than white women. According to the Sentencing Project, since 1980 the rate of drug arrests for blacks has increased by 225 percent, compared to 75 percent for whites. (Last year studies found a race gap in traffic searches.)

The US has a long history of racist policing and unfair treatment under the law. Some people are now being freed from wrongful convictions because of DNA evidence, but we must ask ourselves how many have been set up and then murdered by the state? The US has more people in prison than any other nation on the planet and almost half are there due to the failed War on Drugs. When will we demand a change?

As Tip O’Neal once said, “All politics is local”. Perhaps it’s time to stop the injustices in Cincinnati.

Thank you for reading (and printing from) The Cincinnati Beacon.