Effect of Drug War on Blacks
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Your article uses a huge amount of space to inform us that many innocent citizens are being harassed and brutalized by members of law enforcement. The article treats the issues of police brutality and drug interdiction as a single issue.
The result is misinformation of the highest order. Long before drugs of any sort were considered a national threat, police brutality was a major issue in black communities across the country. Lumping the two issues together seems an attempt to soften the insult of police misconduct, to say that such misconduct should be tolerated in the name of law and order. Institutionalized abuse of black Americans has been a hallmark of this republic since its inception.
The problem of police brutality in black communities has nothing to do with drugs or any vice. It stems from an overzealous few who continue to believe that those with dark skin don’t deserve the same human rights as themselves.
GEORGE BLAINE JR.
Los Angeles
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