How Black People Are Being Shut Out of America's Weed Boom • Hacker News Board

Re: How Black People Are Being Shut Out of America's Weed Boom

#11

Post by RodericDay » Fri, Mar 18, 2016, 3:32 PM UTC

fiatmoney wrote: post #8

"Henderson was more than qualified, so why didn’t he get the gig? ... he has two drug possession felonies on his record" You know, people with illegal bookmaking convictions are kept out of the gambling industry for good reasons. It started off as a dirty industry, and to the extent you keep anyone with a hint of grime out of it, you avoid it regressing to that state. That keeps regulators off your back and eventuall…

> Even though research shows people of all races are about equally likely to have broken the law by growing, smoking, or selling marijuana, black people are much more likely to have been arrested for it.

Re: How Black People Are Being Shut Out of America's Weed Boom

#12

Post by MrsPeaches » Fri, Mar 18, 2016, 3:35 PM UTC

fiatmoney wrote: post #8

"Henderson was more than qualified, so why didn’t he get the gig? ... he has two drug possession felonies on his record" You know, people with illegal bookmaking convictions are kept out of the gambling industry for good reasons. It started off as a dirty industry, and to the extent you keep anyone with a hint of grime out of it, you avoid it regressing to that state. That keeps regulators off your back and eventuall…

> Do you really want someone with a shitload of existing drug connections, being the poster face for the industry you're trying to vanillify?

This seems like a poor choice of words at best.

Re: How Black People Are Being Shut Out of America's Weed Boom

#13

Post by fiatmoney » Fri, Mar 18, 2016, 3:36 PM UTC

RodericDay wrote: post #11

fiatmoney wrote: post #8

"Henderson was more than qualified, so why didn’t he get the gig? ... he has two drug possession felonies on his record" You know, people with illegal bookmaking convictions are kept out of the gambling industry for good reasons. It started off as a dirty industry, and to the extent you keep anyone with a hint of grime out of it, you avoid it regressing to that state. That keeps regulators off your back and eventuall…

> Even though research shows people of all races are about equally likely to have broken the law by growing, smoking, or selling marijuana, black people are much more likely to have been arrested for it.

And? If Italians are much more likely to be arrested for illegal bookmaking & racketeering due to targeted efforts to take them down, does that mean it's a great idea to let Fat Tony with a felony conviction, a ball-peen hammer and a shitload of shady friends he has unclear relationships with open a casino?

Re: How Black People Are Being Shut Out of America's Weed Boom

#14

Post by kennywinker » Fri, Mar 18, 2016, 3:37 PM UTC

fiatmoney wrote: post #8

"Henderson was more than qualified, so why didn’t he get the gig? ... he has two drug possession felonies on his record" You know, people with illegal bookmaking convictions are kept out of the gambling industry for good reasons. It started off as a dirty industry, and to the extent you keep anyone with a hint of grime out of it, you avoid it regressing to that state. That keeps regulators off your back and eventuall…

Everything you say is entirely logical, but omits the reality that as a black person in america you are vastly more likely to be arrested for drug crimes. Not more likely to DO drug crimes, just more likely to get caught.

This means profiling and racist policing directly leads to economic exclusion. If the american dream is upward mobility, that means black people get a smaller shot at the american dream.

But all that aside. This is like saying that people who've had DUIs can't work at bars. The guy in the article had possession charges. That means he had nothing to do with selling the stuff, he was just a fan. That's a big difference from being an accountant convicted of fraud or a bookie trying to work at a casino.

Re: How Black People Are Being Shut Out of America's Weed Boom

#15

Post by mtalantikite » Fri, Mar 18, 2016, 3:37 PM UTC

greenisland wrote: post #10

I read the entire article. The man was duly convicted of a crime in Oklahoma. He broke the law, regardless of what anyone thinks. Fast forward to when selling dope in certain places is now legal and this guys want a piece of the action, but... he cannot legally do so because he's a convicted felon. Should we undo his conviction? No. He was tried fairly and found guilty based on the laws of the time and place. His fau…

The point here is that there are more consequences when you're Black in the US. Statistically speaking people of color, and in particular Black Americans, are arrested and convicted of marijuana related crimes at a much higher rate than any other group [1]. That translates into Black Americans being kept out of the newly legal business because of racist policing policies.

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/06/04/the-b...

Re: How Black People Are Being Shut Out of America's Weed Boom

#16

Post by fiatmoney » Fri, Mar 18, 2016, 3:39 PM UTC

kennywinker wrote: post #14

fiatmoney wrote: post #8

"Henderson was more than qualified, so why didn’t he get the gig? ... he has two drug possession felonies on his record" You know, people with illegal bookmaking convictions are kept out of the gambling industry for good reasons. It started off as a dirty industry, and to the extent you keep anyone with a hint of grime out of it, you avoid it regressing to that state. That keeps regulators off your back and eventuall…

Everything you say is entirely logical, but omits the reality that as a black person in america you are vastly more likely to be arrested for drug crimes. Not more likely to DO drug crimes, just more likely to get caught. This means profiling and racist policing directly leads to economic exclusion. If the american dream is upward mobility, that means black people get a smaller shot at the american dream. But all tha…

"This is like saying that people who've had DUIs can't work at bars"

In fact, people with alcohol-related felonies have a really tough time getting liquor licenses.

Re: How Black People Are Being Shut Out of America's Weed Boom

#17

Post by Retric » Fri, Mar 18, 2016, 3:39 PM UTC

greenisland wrote: post #10

I read the entire article. The man was duly convicted of a crime in Oklahoma. He broke the law, regardless of what anyone thinks. Fast forward to when selling dope in certain places is now legal and this guys want a piece of the action, but... he cannot legally do so because he's a convicted felon. Should we undo his conviction? No. He was tried fairly and found guilty based on the laws of the time and place. His fau…

This is tacking on an extra penalty for breaking the law after the fact which is generally considered unconstitutional. Further, by living in city's poor black people end up with much harsher punishments for the same crimes. Which set's up cycles of negative consequences we are all stuck with.

Picture this, you apply for a job but now all background checks are required by law to include speeding tickets which prevent you from making more than minimum wage. Further, this applies retroactively. Are you now more or less likely to commit a new crime?

Re: How Black People Are Being Shut Out of America's Weed Boom

#18

Post by mc32 » Fri, Mar 18, 2016, 3:40 PM UTC

MrsPeaches wrote: post #12

fiatmoney wrote: post #8

"Henderson was more than qualified, so why didn’t he get the gig? ... he has two drug possession felonies on his record" You know, people with illegal bookmaking convictions are kept out of the gambling industry for good reasons. It started off as a dirty industry, and to the extent you keep anyone with a hint of grime out of it, you avoid it regressing to that state. That keeps regulators off your back and eventuall…

> Do you really want someone with a shitload of existing drug connections, being the poster face for the industry you're trying to vanillify ? This seems like a poor choice of words at best.

Word choice is fine. Vanilla means plain, unremarkable, blends in well. To become an unremarkable part of the economy. Taking an altogether different meaning not fitting the context says more about your interpretive frame of reference.

Re: How Black People Are Being Shut Out of America's Weed Boom

#19

Post by ant6n » Fri, Mar 18, 2016, 3:41 PM UTC

greenisland wrote: post #10

I read the entire article. The man was duly convicted of a crime in Oklahoma. He broke the law, regardless of what anyone thinks. Fast forward to when selling dope in certain places is now legal and this guys want a piece of the action, but... he cannot legally do so because he's a convicted felon. Should we undo his conviction? No. He was tried fairly and found guilty based on the laws of the time and place. His fau…

You had me up to this point:

> His color has nothing to do with it, and quite frankly, I'm sick to death of everything in this country now revolving around race, homosexuals, feminists.

Because it's not that simple. And race seems to play a big part in the probability to get convicted and have a record, especially for something as mundane as selling pot.

Re: How Black People Are Being Shut Out of America's Weed Boom

#20

Post by traviswingo » Fri, Mar 18, 2016, 3:41 PM UTC

> But it can’t be someone who got caught. Which for the most part means it can’t be someone who is black.

It's thinking like this that pisses me off. Henderson wasn't hired because of a record. Yes, racism still unfortunately exists, but in order to move towards an equal future we need to stop bringing it up and searching for problems where there are none. Fucking Buzzfeed and Huffington post are constantly using they're over-sensitive audience to start drama.