Pubdate: Wed, 07 Mar 2001
Source: Amarillo Globe-News (TX)
Copyright: 2001 Amarillo Globe-News
Contact:  P.O. Box 2091, Amarillo, TX 79166
Fax: (806) 373-0810
Website: http://amarillonet.com/
Forum: http://208.138.68.214:90/eshare/server?action=4
Author: Bob Ramsey
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/tulia.htm (Tulia, Texas)

BLACK AND WHITE EQUAL GRAY AREA

How many black people do we have to put in jail before we get white people 
to stop using drugs?

Though many have expressed shock at the drug bust that sent one-third of 
Tulia's adult black males to prison in one day, the "one day" is all that 
sets Tulia apart.

The resulting portion of blacks with a felony conviction is about the same 
as the rest of the United States.

Also, like people elsewhere, nobody in Tulia seems to care that there must 
be many white drug users and dealers still at large among their children.

Studies by both government and private groups indicate drugs are used by 
about the same percentage of people, regardless of race or income. Tulia is 
about 5 percent black.

If the town is 50 percent white, that means there are about 400 white male 
Tulians who somehow avoided the same multi-decade sentences.

If it is just to orphan 37 black children to rid a community of drug 
abusers, should we not demand equal justice and orphan 370 white children 
in the same cause?

Drug use requires a more thoughtful response than the current "Wham, Bam, 
Slam!" approach. Substance abuse afflicts all ethnic and economic groups 
equally.

This suggests a medical rather than a criminal problem.

I recommend a thoughtful reading of Matthew 25:31-46.

On Judgment Day, will the King say, "I was hungry and naked and sick, and 
you sent men with guns to injure me"?

BOB RAMSEY

Irving
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