No, they are not. As explained here, it was the outcry from black neighborhoods in the inner cities that gave rise to tougher sentencing in both state (see, e.g., the Rockefeller laws in New York) and federal law.
And it worked. As crime plummeted over the last quarter century, African Americans benefited tremendously. Indeed, because blacks are disproportionately victims of crime, reduced crime disproportionately benefits them.
Why people want to return to the crime-ridden soft sentencing policies of the past is a mystery. It is all the more mysterious for those concerned with the well-being of the huge majority in black communities who simply want to live in the peace and safety tougher sentencing and more proactive police work have helped bring them.
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