>People of color are disporportionately jailed and punished for
>crimes that white people walk away from. Of course, they are also
>poor. But if poverty were the only variable, then there wouldn't be
>the disproportion.
>
>How do I talk about this without talking about prejudice against
>people of color?
By bringing in history. The disproportion is not recent. Angela Davis and others argue that it started with a program to continue slavery under another system, with prison labor. Christian Parenti now argues that is a result of a plan to deal with a "reserve army of the unemployed" that was becoming increasingly radicalized in the '60s.
It is also a bit of an exaggeration to say that white people walk away from punishment routinely. There are a lot of white meth addicts cycling in and out of jail, and they are disproportionately without resources.
http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/gilmoreprisonslavery.html
http://www.versobooks.com/authors/620-christian-parenti