In the December 7, 2000 issue of Rolling Stone magazine, the National Affairs department featured an article entitled 'Invisible Nation' by David Baum.
The sub-text of an illustration detailing the race of the prison population versus the general population stated the following:
Minorities are sent to prison at up to thirteen times the rate of whites. This is partly due to police targeting of low-income neighborhoods and sentencing disparities - such as a five-year sentence for the sale of five grams of crack vs. 500 grams of powder cocaine. According to Human Rights Watch, "In seven states...blacks constitute between 80 and 90% of all drug offenders sent to prison," despite the fact that whites use drugs at a higher rate than blacks.
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