Why are NY's Rockefeller drug laws called racist?

[akule76]

I am happy to hear that New York's Rockefeller drug laws are being revised/repealed. As I was reading about this topic I read several articles that stated that the laws are "racist", but none of them really state why. It was said that 91% of people incarcerated under this law(s) are black. Wouldn't it just mean that more black people are breaking this law(s) than any other race?

[avikar76]

A couple of years ago I was waiting for criminal court to end so I could contest a speeding ticket. Two guys were in there on drug charges. The black guy got caught with a small baggie (less than a gram) of crack cocaine while the white guy got caught with 2.5 grams of powder cocaine. The black guy went to jail and the white guy got probation.
Guess who had the public defender and who had a private lawyer?

[kendrix]

The Rockefeller Drug Laws have had a terrible impact on all of New York, but no communities have been more devastated by these laws than Black and Latina/o communities. Major scientific studies have revealed that drug selling and use are shown to be approximately equal between races based on their proportion in the population. Yet while Black and Latino people comprise approximately 23% of New York State’s population, they comprise fully 91% of those currently incarcerated for drug felonies. There are more Blacks and Latinos entering the prison system for drug offenses each year than there are graduating from the entire state university system. This horrendous racial disparity has been condemned by such international groups as Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights, along with the vast majority of New York residents.