Self-reported drug distribution differences between races are too small to explain arrest disparities

Evidence

Evidence of a racial crossover effect in drug distribution is also evident in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (“NLSY97”), which collects yearly data from a national sample of U.S. residents, who were between the ages twelve and sixteen in 1997 when the data collection began. This survey reveals that, at age sixteen, 7 percent of White and 5.3 percent of Black NLSY97 respondents indicated that they had sold illegal drugs in the past year but, at age twenty-six, these figures were 4.2 percent and 5.1 percent for White and Black respondents, respectively. Again, these differences are too small to explain the large race differences in drug distribution arrests and imprisonment. — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 1056

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law: A Definitive Look at…, 1056
• XREF: connects to: Crack cocaine sentencing disparity is racially discriminatory in practice — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education: Toward Diverse,…, 1231; Drug-war arrests and imprisonment fell disproportionately on Black Americans — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law: An Introduction, 1435