The Color of Justice Summary and Analysis

"We are told by drug warriors that the enemy in this war is a thing—drugs—not a group of people, but the facts prove otherwise" (Page 98). The War on Drugs, as those in power describe it, combats drug-related crime and violence. The majority of illegal drug users and dealers are in fact white, yet three-fourths of all people imprisoned for drug offenses have been black or Latino. Indeed, African-Americans constitute 80 to 90 percent of all drug-offenders sent to prison. Proponents of the drug war claim this statistic is based on violent crime in communities of color. Yet violent crime is at an historic low and incarceration rates are climbing. What is perpetuating this racial bias? Alexander outlines a number of factors that are contributing to these disproportionate levels of incarceration. First, the War...