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Don’t you just love it when people do studies to reach conclusions that should be pretty darned obvious?

If you’ve surmised that I’m referring to the recent American Civil Liberties Union study about marijuana, then pat yourselves on the back and go to the head of the class.

Yes, our ACLU friends did a study in which they found that black folks get arrested for marijuana possession more than whites do.

Now I’m pretty sure that not one black American passed out from shock upon hearing that the weight of law enforcement, when it comes to arrests for marijuana possession, come down harder on black folks than on white folks.

If you’re black, then you already knew that. If you didn’t know it positively and conclusively, then, at the very least, you had an inkling that it was true.

Or a hunch. Or a sneaking suspicion. But you sure as hell weren’t surprised. Nor was the result of the ACLU study anything like a startling revelation.

That’s because, deep down in our hearts, most black Americans know what the deal is with the nation’s law enforcement agencies, at least when it comes to us.

And what we know is this: there is not one police department, anywhere in America, that can be called a “friend of the Negro” organization.

I’ve written this before, but it’s one of those things that bears repeating, and should be repeated often.

And loudly.

American police forces are not “friends of the Negro” organizations. That goes for the ones in large cities, and the ones in small towns and counties like Armpit, fill-in-name-of-state here.

Proof of that axiom shouldn’t be needed, but some examples might be in order. Anybody remember Kathryn Johnston?

She was 92 years old, black, law-abiding and minding her own darned business when three Atlanta rogue cops raided her home on Nov. 21, 2006.

Johnston had her own gun and fired a shot at the cops. They returned fire, ripping off 39 shots that killed Johnston.

An investigation revealed that the cops lied to obtain the search warrant used to justify raiding Johnston’s home. And they lied about finding – you guessed it – marijuana in Johnston’s home.

Members of a police force that supposedly took an oath to protect, not murder her, killed Johnston. If there is any one group of black people in this country that needs no convincing of the axiom that police departments are not “friends of the Negro” organization, then it’s Johnston’s surviving relatives.

Recent ACLU Study on Marijuana and Arrests is No Surprise to Blacks  was originally published on blackamericaweb.com

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