Pubdate: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 Source: Louisiana Weekly, The (New Orleans, LA) Copyright: 2005 Louisiana Weekly Publishing Company Contact: http://www.louisianaweekly.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3627 Author: Kirk Muse THE WAR ON DRUGS I'm writing about Marian Wright Edelman's thoughtful column: "Increasing criminalization of children: How did we get here?" (Nov 28th issue). The answer to Edelman's question is: the war on drugs. Even though whites and blacks use illegal drugs at about the same rate, blacks are 13 times more likely to go to jail or prison for drug crimes than whites are. It's obvious that the so-called war on drugs is actually a war on (politically selected) people--and black people are those politically selected people. Where is the outrage? Where is the outrage from the Black Community? Where is outrage from the so-called black leaders? Where is the outrage from America? Where is the outrage from the rest of the world? The whips and chains of slavery have been replaced with prison cages. Kirk Muse - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake