A lot of white guys that sell dope don’t do drugs, but drink beer [in the bars where they sell] and look upon it as a trade, a different attitude from the black guys. These white guys are looking for the slow and steady traffic to keep themselves off the law enforcement radar.

White guys are just as likely to be dealing drugs than black guys, they’re just smarter about it. I’ve known many over the years who have dealt drugs for a long time and have never been locked up. But I can’t recall a single black dealer who didn’t get locked up.

The whites seem to get a reliable clientele and deal with them exclusively. They’re not out there on the corner, at bus stops, saying, “Yo, you wanna party?” to perfect strangers.

I don’t know the percentages. There are a lot white people in prison doing time, and I know there is more black, but there are so many more blacks doing it, and being flamboyant about it, drawing attention to themselves. I suppose there is a correlation with IQ to a certain extent, but a lot of it has to be cultural. Like Derrek the biker, most of the weed he sells he buys from hillbillies growing pot in the Appalachians.

The more you expand, the more you have to give responsibility to people who are going to turn on you. These criminal organizations start out with a bunch of homeboys who grew up together, might die for each other. But when you bring more people into the fold you draw attention and bring in traitors.

The black will try to get away with something in the hottest corner of the county and the white guys are mostly content to have a regular, discrete clientele. There are some, like Bill, who do their drugs out of their weekly purchase and still make a nice profit for themselves. Of course, there always comes a time to pay the piper and Bill ended up having a heart attack from doing his coke. A lot of people know crime from what they see on CSI and the news, but a lot of it is a lot more low key and practical than you might think.