Senator Compares War On Drugs To Jim Crow

[DEAD7]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/18/rand-paul-mandatory-minimum-laws_n_3949415.html

At a packed public hearing of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) compared the war on drugs to the racist policies of the Jim Crow era.

"If I told you that one out of three African-American males is forbidden by law from voting, you might think I was talking about Jim Crow 50 years ago," Paul said. "Yet today, a third of African-American males are still prevented from voting because of the war on drugs."

"The majority of illegal drug users and dealers nationwide are white," he said, "but three-fourths of all people in prison for drug offenses are African American or Latino."

Paul was arguing against mandatory minimum sentencing laws, which require judges and prosecutors to impose severe penalties against those convicted of low-level drug crimes.

 

[DEAD7]

 

[The Real]

I knew it was going to be that bum Rand Paul when I saw the deliberately vague thread title.

If only I could accept his words in good faith...

 

[Type Username Here]

I knew it was going to be that bum Rand Paul when I saw the deliberately vague thread title.

If only I could accept his words in good faith...

Why can't you? He said a fact.

 

[The Real]

Why can't you? He said a fact.

I accept the truth of their content, certainly, but I am more than a little skeptical about whether he honestly believes them. Like his father, he has documented, close associations with several avowed racists, including some of his most trusted former aides and advisors, who are themselves pretty nostalgic for Jim Crow laws and Confederate white nationalism.

 

[Jhoon]

welcome to 20 years ago. are you willing to restore the voting rights rand?

 

[DEAD7]

I knew it was going to be that bum Rand Paul when I saw the deliberately vague thread title.

If only I could accept his words in good faith...

What choice do you have?

No one else is pushing this, and it is unquestionably something the black community should be rallying around.

edit: If the black community voted for their best interest, and not along party lines, this issue right here would get him elected.

 

[Milk N Cookies]

Why are white people always trying to compare recent struggles that have not even within a ball park's distance to something black people fight tooth and nail to over come? However i where he's coming from

 

[Type Username Here]

Why are white people always trying to compare recent struggles that have not even within a ball park's distance to something black people fight tooth and nail to over come? However i where he's coming from

In his defense, this argument comes from prominent black scholars. He's just parroting what they researched and wrote.

 

[Milk N Cookies]

In his defense, this argument comes from prominent black scholars. He's just parroting what they researched and wrote.

Really? Who are the ones he's taking credit from?

 

[Type Username Here]

Really? Who are the ones he's taking credit from?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Jim_Crow

 

[Type Username Here]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Jim_Crow

 

[acri1]

What choice do you have?

No one else is pushing this, and it is unquestionably something the black community should be rallying around.

edit: If the black community voted for their best interest, and not along party lines, this issue right here would get him elected.

I didn't realize the black community was composed entirely of single-issue voters.

 

[DEAD7]

I didn't realize the black community was composed entirely of single-issue voters.

It isnt, but I think its fair to say no other issue being campaigned for impacts us as much as the drug war...

 

[tmonster]

running ahead of the crowd and calling it leadership brehs