Okay, so you got arrested for possession of meth. You might have a fighting chance of getting a good deal with your freshly shaved inmate mug, if you didn't already have four previous arrests for possession of meth, possession of an un-licensed firearm, and shoplifting on your record! And your 25 years old! I don't care if you come into that courtroom with wings on your back and a halo glowing above your head. You still made the bed you're lying in now.
And no, sorry guys, it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that you are Mexican or black at that point. I'll admit, it probably didn't help you out initially being a "person of color" like the first time you got arrested.
But every time you got arrested after that was not "just because you are a Mexican" or "because you were black on a Thursday night." It's because you were breaking the law. The pure fact that you have been arrested for the same exact thing more than once should help you understand this truth.
I have met a lot, and I mean A LOT of white people that tell the same story. It's never their fault either it seems. They were in a "hot" area. Or some crazy obscure circumstance beyond their control or understanding led to their arrests. Is it ever the fact that you were breaking...er...the law?!
I am not in jail because my probation officer has it in for me, or because somebody who hates and envies me ratted me out, or because I just had a tough shake of things. I am in jail because I broke the law. Because it is illegal to do opiates, cocaine, and marijuana while drinking, whether you're on probation or not. If anything I am more deserving of being here because I was stupid enough to think I could get one over on probation. I had been clean for close to a year and a half, I had successfully completed a drug and alcohol abuse treatment program and had a certificate of completion to prove it.
I broke the law a lot more than I got caught for it. I'm not proud of it, but it's true. And when I was caught, my probation officer gave me the same chance to fix it she would have given anybody. It's nobody's fault but mine that I continued to use drugs, and smoked the "get out of jail free" card she offered me. So when I was in court, a white kid, from Yorba Linda, not in a gang, not black or Mexican, I was still sentenced to 180 days with good time/work time for my second violation. And you know why?
BECAUSE I BROKE THE LAW!
I may have been clean for a long time, but I was still taken to jail for violating probation again. I did the exact same thing that got me violated the first time! Just like an idiot!
I can accept responsibility for this fact. I realize I will never be able to successfully drink and use drugs without jail being a consequence. I am not smart enough to get away with anything especially on probation. I've proved it twice now! No matter how I spin it, I broke the law and that's why I am in jail. And if I get out, and break the law and get caught again, I will go to jail. It's that simple.
I am sleeping in the bed (or bunk) I made for myself. The system is not fair and probably never will be. Black and Mexican people in cars with tinted windows and loud sound systems playing gangsta rap will always be targets to get pulled over. Mexican males with shaved heads, tattoos on their necks and Dickies shorts, white pulled up socks and flannels driving cars with Raiders decals on the back will always be targets. Black males driving in any white neighborhood after a certain hour are a target. I don't like it either, but unfortunately that's just the way it is and I'm sorry to say that it doesn't appear as though it is going to change anytime soon.
I get pulled over too. And it doesn't bother me one bit, when I'm not breaking the law! I'm getting tired of hearing people talk about how it's BS the reason their in jail or how they got racially profiled, when they were in fact breaking the law. If you're complaining about always getting harassed by police because of the way you dress, dress differently! Harassed because you head is shaved, don't shave your head! Because you have gang related tattoos on your face and neck, well...damn, you should've thought that one out a little better.
Some things can't be helped, but don't complain about returning to jail if you're continuously committing crimes and risk getting caught for them. I complain about the conditions I am subjected to here in jail, because it sucks, duh. But I can't complain about the reasons leading to me being here because I put myself here. If I don't accept responsibility then I will not learn my lesson and I am doomed to repeat my mistakes and failures.
Patient: Doctor...it hurts really bad when I do this!
Doctor: Well...then don't do that anymore.
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