Re: [Mpls] Re: City budget woes- a microeconomic view from Crack Street North

[Brandon Lacy]

List,

Nope. Proud to say that I'm not a drug dealer or a criminal. I think you brought up a key point, that I brought in an earlier post. That as well many people living in poverty, paritcularly people of color, are living in places where all they see, learn, and hear are poverty, crime, drugs, prostitution. And, if that is all you see, day in and day out, that is what you most likely will grow up and know. And, I've lived in Puerto Rico, and I've seen modern day sharecroppin' right there on our little island colony.

I was lucky to have a Mother with a strong familial support system. It is also to note that my Mother is white. And, no matter how downtrodden she was, she grew up with a cultural understanding that was based on hope and a sense of fundamental entitlement. That is a feeling that many people of color did not grow up with.

And, you are right on with the flaw in our legal system. At all levels of our legal system people of color are disproportionately negatively affected. A black child is more likely to be returned to his drug addicted mother than a white child. A black man is more likely to spend time in jail for being busted with drugs than a white man. In the 1980s, the Supreme Court ruled that our justice system was unduly biased towards people of color. The case escapes me right now. But, the end result of the ruling was that Justices ruled the problem so pervasive that in order to fix it the entire system would have to be dismantled and reassembled. Therefore, it could not be done.

And, Jim, praise your Mama if she did indeed instill you with values so deep and strong that injustice makes you want to raise up mentally or physically to correct it.

-Brandon Lacy
-Powderhorn Park

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