Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonathan
OK - I agree it's horrible. And I have doubts that he'd be able to have bought himself a third term, or implement such terrible practices with apparent impunity, without the power his economic standing grants him. He's able to do horrible things because of his membership in an elite financial class. Other people are suffering because of the disparity.
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Absolutely, but that's just on the macro level. It's the same on the micro level. largely wealth is distributed in America on racial lines. When you don't have wealth everything gets harder, so on average People of Color have less access to education, less access to housing, less access to credit, and then when they get stopped by a racist cop for being "fucking mutts" they sometimes can't articulate what's wrong with the situation, or maybe they're so frustrated they get mad, or maybe the cop is just a total dick. Then they go to court and can't afford a good lawyer, the jury is looking at them sideways because they look like criminals they've seen in TV and movies and this subconsciously informs their decision. The judge treats them more harshly, either for the same reason, or maybe because they aren't well-spoken and educated, or maybe he's just racist and suddenly they're in prison for a bag of weed they're carrying (or maybe the cop planted it on them, they're known to do that in NYC)
So now you have a ton of black and latino men locked up in a private for-profit prison (yes we have those, they're taking over the system actually) serving out their sentences by doing free labor.
What does that sound like to you?