Race and class in prisons

Re “AWOL in the real drug war,” Opinion, March 24

Arianna Huffington is on the money and exposes what this country is all about. Whites would not put up with sending their children to prison on outrageous drug charges. We are long overdue in having a real conversation on race and class as it applies to our criminal justice system. Americans are basically misinformed or lack courage. Whatever the case, we look like a dog chasing its tail. Let us be smart and bring these drugs inside of the law. This will make life better for all of us.

CLIFFORD WALLACE

THORNTON JR.

Hartford, Conn.

The writer leads a drug policy reform group, Efficacy.

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Huffington wants the Democrats to emphasize racial discrimination that exists in our prisons and underscores the 70% of incarcerated prison inmates who are black or Latino. There is no mention of whether those convicted criminals were rich or poor. But I guess if you’re obsessed with electing Democrats in national elections, it’s easier to interpret the issue as a racial discrimination problem. It’s easy to prove it statistically if you want to believe that it is just racial discrimination instead of wondering how many of those prison inmates were rich.

CLYDE FELDMAN

Sherman Oaks