Richard Wershe is 28 years into a life sentence for a non-violent drug offense which occurred when he was a minor (17 years old). Rick was arrested for doing what a drug task force had previously encouraged and paid him to do starting when he was just 14 years old. Why should Rick have to spend another day behind bars for the mistakes he made as a kid??

"In May 1987, when he was 17, Wershe was charged with possession with intent to deliver eight kilos of cocaine, which police had found stashed near his house following a traffic stop. He had the misfortune of being convicted and sentenced under one of the harshest drug statutes ever conceived in the United States, Michigan’s so-called 650 Lifer law, a 1978 act that mandated an automatic prison term of life without parole for the possession of 650 grams or more of cocaine. (The average time served for murder in state prisons in the 1980s was less than 10 years.)

Sentencing juvenile offenders to life without parole for non-homicide crimes was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2010, by which point such sentences were already exceedingly rare; the court was able to locate only 129 inmates serving them nationwide. Michigan eventually acknowledged the failures of the 650 Lifer statute—the governor who signed it into law, William G. Milliken, has called it the greatest mistake of his career—and rolled it back in 1998. Those already serving time became parole eligible and began to be released. Wershe is the only person sentenced under the old law who is still in prison for a crime committed as a juvenile. Prominent and violent kingpins and enforcers from Wershe’s day in Detroit have long since been freed. And yet Wershe has remained incarcerated, for more than 27 years." - From 'The Trials of White Boy Rick' by Evan Hughes. - http://i64.tinypic.com/121a...

"The FBI groomed 14-year-old Richard Wershe to become a drug dealer and informant. The teen dope slinger helped put away the mayor of Detroit’s brother-in-law—and got in bed with his niece. When Wershe got busted, the FBI didn’t help him and the mayor got his secret revenge." - http://www.thedailybeast.co...

Information, documents, links, etc related to Rick Wershe and his case:

https://www.facebook.com/fr...

https://read.atavist.com/wh...
http://www.thedimedroppers....
http://www.huffingtonpost.c...
https://www.change.org/p/fr...

I think all this race anguish--discrimination --prejudice--riots--critical race studies--writers on race with an agenda-- agitation--complaints--etc.,etc., .. has gotten Blacks no where -- for over a few hundred years for heaven's sake. Isn't it obvious by now that whites are not just into blacks. Integration is a myth. Segregation is a fact. Expecting economic and social equality is a fool's errand. When was a black invited for family dinner by a white. A " racist" has become an accusation unrelated to race -- now it's just something to call a person who simply doesn't like you. Blacks really think Blacks are suffering a ruination without end and they are right. Scratch a black and you will find a white-hater. Oh! had only the slave ships brought to the colonies white instead of black slaves there's be no racism. Blacks came. Thus racism. Racism is permanent. You've been freed. You lost your chains long ago. Get over it or get out! Nationalism is salvation!

Wow . . . I must admit, it's confusing to read something like this that seems to be hanging on the precipice of understanding. Unlike so many others who are blind to the continuing race and class issues in the US, willfully or not, your comment indicates you see and acknowledge that little has changed.

And the proceeds to nosedive into an incoherent, jumbled stew of dismissive, offensive and inaccurate insults being passed off as advice.

To clarify: Anguish does not have a racial component. It does have a human component. It is legitimate, in every case, to address issues of discrimination and prejudice. Critical analysis, complaint, agitation, writing and, if need be, rioting, are all viable responses which depend on the specifics of a situation. You've clearly identified all of these actions are working towards a purpose, in your words an agenda, which seems obvious and clearly is justified. Especially, as you point out, given the hundreds of years where there has been no significant progress made to correct these injustices.

It's not obvious that, "'whites' are not just [sic] into 'blacks'". Racism is a learned behavior, so what is obvious is that people are still teaching their children to judge others. The same holds true concerning integration and segregation. Neither are myths or facts, except insofar as they exist, still, because they have not been addressed, eliminated, or relegated to the status of historical footnote.

You seem to really hit the nail on the head here, as all of the above structural issues are really a result of, and continued method for, economic and social misappropriation of the culture and labor of an entire group for the benefit of another. Expecting economic and social equality is a moral, human desire for continued progress towards a vision of what the world can, and should be, for all people. Working towards that is a noble and necessary reaction to current reality we all find ourselves in.

By definition, a racist is someone who incorrectly believes in the superiority of one race over another, and discriminates based on that belief. Claiming that the accusation of racism is used inappropriately is a tired canard used to deflect an obviously accurate claim. When you don't like someone, they'll likely call you an asshole. When you don't like someone merely because of their race, then you'll be called a racists.

As you point out, Blacks (as well as others, as you clearly demonstrate) think they are suffering significantly, because they are. As for collective animosity or hatred of whites, as much as there can be an intellectual acknowledgement that this isn't a productive mindset, until significant remedy of the current situation is provided it may not be beneficial but seems wholly justified.

And, racism would exist regardless of slavery, as it's only in America that the two are so intertwined. Historically, slavery was strictly economic and often the result of military conquest. But, racism is not permanent, it will be eliminated when people stop teaching it to the next generation of humans.

As for being feed, as the article that you're actually commenting on but obviously didn't understand makes clear, slavery was never really abolished, just transformed. The result, literally and figuratively (and ironically, since they're actually called chain gangs at Angola and across the country), is that nobody has been freed, nobody has lost their chains to this day, and as a result, getting over it or getting out is not a real possibility.

Finally, when you speak of nationalism, please realize that one of the main tenants of the concept is, and I'll Steven Grosby:

"The nation is a territorial community of nativity. One is born into a nation. The nation is a social relation of collective self-consciousness."

As such, nationalism demands not getting over it (being collectively self-conscious) equally as it demands not getting out (being born in, and of a territorial community)! I'm terribly afraid you are confusing nationalism and nazism, or maybe not confusing them, but purposely conflating them to polish an otherwise racist ideology with a veneer of respectability. Neither is admirable or acceptable. And maybe most surprisingly, not a single other person has taken the time to notice.

Since this land was conquered by false pretense , illegally stolen then perhaps the amendments may be false?

This article is a bit funny.... In 2010, the UN Human Rights Council conducted the first ever Periodic Review of Human Rights in the United States... The top three recommendations were:
1) Stop Executions.
2) Restore Habeas Corpus
3) Abolish slavery.
However, somehow, the exceptional people of the United States cannot internalize the message: IT IS A MEDIEVAL REGIME!

I grew up in Kansas, back then a Free state. When I moved south in the sixties, I was shocked to see separate water fountains and etc. Kansas is not that same state today, I doubt, since it is run by today's GOP. To know a place, you have to live there. I found that out when I had to live in the NW 20 years ago. I had worked 7 years at a Psych hospital in Dallas,and wanted to stay in the same field, Three women were interviewing me at this doctor's office,and in front of me said, " She's moved here from Texas, and we don't hire anyone from Texas or California. At that rude statement, I just walked out and thanked them because I told them that I would not want to work with them either. I did find a great job in Portland. My mother's side of the family, grandparents and all lived in the state of Washington. I lived, at that time in Vancouver, across the state line from Oregon.We will find prejudges by some people all over the US, sad to me that we cannot, as a nation, grow up.

"Capitalism, Slavery, Racism and Imprisonment of People of Color Cannot Be Separated"

The USatan is a giant open air prison. Best all Amurderklans escape whilst they can.

How Slaves Built American Capitalism
by GARIKAI CHENGU
http://www.counterpunch.org...

The Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC) of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) is organizing prisoners into an industrial union right now. The purpose is to radically transform the system through democratic direct action. Visit iww.org to support IWOC or to personally get involved in our anti-slavery revolution.

Done, Wayne!