Here are white men poised to run big marijuana businesses, dreaming of cashing in big—big money, big businesses selling weed—after 40 years of impoverished black kids getting prison time for selling weed, and their families and futures destroyed. Now, white men are planning to get rich doing precisely the same thing?
Interpretation
The quote highlights the disparity in the treatment of black individuals versus white individuals in the context of marijuana legalization and business opportunities.
This quote by Michel'Le points out the irony and injustice of a system that has historically punished black individuals for selling marijuana, leading to devastating consequences for their lives and communities, while now white entrepreneurs stand to profit from the same activity that was once criminalized for black youth. It underscores the systemic inequalities in policies relating to race and economic opportunity, leading to discussions about equity and reparations in the wake of legalization.
In practice
In a discussion about racial justice and economic reform, one might use this quote to illustrate the ongoing issues of inequality.
If you grew up white before the civil rights movement anywhere in the South, all grown-ups lied. They'd tell you stuff like, 'Don't drink out of the colored fountain, dear, it's dirty.' In the white part of town, the white fountain was always covered with chewing gum and the marks of grubby kids' paws, and the colored fountain was always clean.
In a sense the quest for the emancipation of black people in the U.S. has always been a quest for economic liberation which means to a certain extent that the rise of black middle class would be inevitable.
The USA has more people in prison that any other country, including countries with much larger populations. 13% of the population is black but 80% of the people in prison are black, mostly for soft crimes.
The system functioned relatively automatically, and the prevailing system of racial meanings, identities, and ideologies already seemed natural. Ninety percent of those admitted to prison for drug offenses in many states were Black or Latino, yet the mass incarceration of communities of color was explained in race-neutral terms, an adaptation to the needs and demands of the current political climate.
Being a young black man, observing and sensing the need for race equality and women's rights, I wrote about what was important to me.
When thousands of men and women work full time but need food stamps to put food on their tables, when they can't get health benefits, when they can't get paid sick days, then we must do whatever we can to stand up for them.
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