Please read the latest Jena Six post here.
Blatant racism is exposed in a small town here in Louisiana, culminating in the burning of the high school and attempted second degree murder charges against six students (the “Jena 6″) for a high school fight. The high school in this 85% white town evidently self-segregated, as schools often do, but apparently it became less about choice and more about enforcement because a group of black students found it necessary to ask permission to sit under a tree where white students normally sat. The school administrator told them they were free to sit where they liked, and when they went to the tree the next day, they found three nooses hanging from the branches.
Three punks were “quickly” identified as the culprits, according to this Chicago Trib article. (I can’t help but wonder if they were quickly identified because they were bragging and laughing it up.) Result: 3 days suspension.
“Adolescents play pranks,” said Breithaupt, the superintendent of the LaSalle Parish school system. “I don’t think it was a threat against anybody.”
Pranks?! Roy Breithaupt cannot possibly be that stupid. But if he is, he’s not alone. According to , the three days suspension was justified by>
asserting that the noose were merely a silly prank inspired by a hanging scene in the television min-series ‘Lonesome Dove’.
Since when do teenage boys watch Lonesome Dove? Teenage boys watch MTV. They don’t watch western miniseries on the Hallmark channel. Give me a break. A noose is a statement, just as making a motion as if to slit your throat, or pointing your index finger as if it were the barrel of a gun is a statement. And in the south, a noose is a particular pointed, threatening statement. A prank is when you string some guy’s underwear up the flagpole so everyone can see his skidmarks. A prank is a water balloon or filling a locker with shaving cream. A noose? Not so much.
As they say at Fark, after the nooses, hilarity ensued. From the Trib article:
First, a series of fights between black and white students erupted at the high school over the nooses. Then, in late November, unknown arsonists set fire to the central wing of the school, which still sits in ruins. Off campus, a white youth beat up a black student who showed up at an all-white party. A few days later, another young white man pulled a shotgun on three black students at a convenience store.
Finally, on Dec. 4, a group of black students at the high school allegedly jumped a white student on his way out of the gym, knocked him unconscious and kicked him after he hit the floor. The victim — allegedly targeted because he was a friend of the students who hung the nooses and had been taunting blacks — was not seriously injured and spent only a few hours in the hospital.
But the LaSalle Parish district attorney, Reed Walters, opted to charge six black students with attempted second-degree murder and other offenses, for which they could face a maximum of 100 years in prison if convicted. All six were expelled from school.
Second degree murder charges for a high school beating? Reginald M., a Jena High School graduate, has a great summary of all this and some excellent links at Listen to me for a minute. And as one commenter put it, “it’s like the 60′s never happened.”
This is not just a school problem. It’s a town problem.
Jena and La Salle Parish have been heavily Republican since a two-party system took root in Louisiana. The town is 85 percent white, an unusual high white composition in Louisiana. In the 2003 gubernatorial race, however, La Salle Parish voted heavily for the Democratic Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, rather than the young Republican challenger Bobby Jindal, an Indian American now a U.S. Representative from Metairie in Jefferson Parish. Blanco received 2,974 votes (61 percent) to Jindal’s 1,917 ballots (39 percent).[1]
And the guy who pulled the shotgun on the students at the convenience store evidently wasn’t even charged. But then, if a noose is a prank, I guess that shotgun thing was something for America’s Funniest Home Videos.
A slightly different point of view – a local pastor acknowledges the racism, but reminds people that these events were spread out of the course of eight months, and says that the punks with the nooses -
were first suspended and then sent to an alternative school off-campus. They underwent psychological evaluations before being re-admitted to Jena High School and even then were separated from the student body at first.
Is that enough for the original offense? How much responsibility should these students bear for effects of the chain of events they triggered? I’m not at all sure, but even that pastor writes,
LaSalle Parish is awash in racism: True racism. Not the sort of affirmative action/name-calling/reparations-seeking fluff that keeps Jesse Jackson and liberal do-gooders in business, but a systematic, culture of bigotry, neglected by the scrutiny of time.
Here in the piney woods of central Louisiana, where some gentle, old, Christian, white women still call graying black men “boy” and some angry, young, Christian, black teens attack pizza delivery trucks that would dare enter their neighborhood, racism and bigotry are such a part of life that most of the citizens do not even recognize it. Cross Highway127 just south of Jena and you enter two different worlds, separated by class and race. If we as Christians face powers, principalities, and rulers of darkness in high places it is certain that part of the spiritual wickedness arrayed against the citizens of LaSalle Parish is hatred born of racism.
It’s not just some teenage punks, it’s town-wide. But… and it’s a big BUT…
All that may be suddenly changing. Through a series of events, which include white boys hanging a noose from a tree on school grounds, which infuriated some black parents, racial fights in various locations in town, the gutting of Jena High School by an unknown arson, and culminating with the arrest of several black boys for attacking a white boy, beating him mercilessly, at the high school, the ministers of Jena decided it was time to do something. A meeting was hastily called. White and black ministers met to discuss the problems facing our youth and to turn to the only One with the power to stop the hatred swirling around us. The ministers joined together to publish a statement in our local paper (this week’s edition can be found at http://www.thejenatimes.net/index2.html;) a walk-through prayer meeting was held at all the local schools on Sunday evening; the following Wednesday night, all the churches, black and white, closed so that everyone could meet at the Jena High School football stadium to pull together for our community to fight the real enemy of our souls. The local radio station broadcasted the service live for those who could not attend in person.
What an amazing sight it was! There was the United Pentecostal preacher standing with the Baptist pastor, seeking the hand of God for our children. There was the black minister lifting his voice with the white minister to sing praises to our King. The principal of Jena High School was thrilled to see us there on his campus, politically correct or not, calling on the Name of Jesus for mercy and for grace. The Superintendent of Schools caught the spirit and preached like a Bible-thumping evangelist from a rickety pulpit. The “congregation” of our city gathered together in one accord to fight the spiritual wickedness that has bound us for so long. Perhaps the most touching moment of all was when the students, black and white, suddenly joined together on the football field and sang the alma mater hand in hand, special emphasis given to the line that states, “God keep safe thy fame.” All convention was set aside for the higher purpose of finding answers. We called on our Savior to set the captives, all of us, free. In all my years I never saw it such in Jena, Louisiana.
Change comes in small steps. Time will tell if we have made any substantive progress. Perhaps, because we’ve waited so long to take up our weapons against racism here in Jena, change can come in this huge leap of faith that so many Christians of every race, class, and denomination have taken to save our children. Pray for us, and may God grant us success with each new step/leap forward in this battle for spiritual survival.
The trial, if the defendants choose to have a jury, may well have an all white jury in this 85% white town. I’m not going to make the trial because Jena is too far upstate – north of Alexandria – but I’ll be keeping an eye on it and posting updates.
Maybe the 60s are finally happening to Jena. If the Jena 6 do receive justice – and by justice, at most I mean time served, because they never should have been in jail at all for a high school fight without weapons, even a 6 on 1 fight – that will be a start. But only a start. Shall we overcome?
Trackposted to Perri Nelson’s Website, The Virtuous Republic, The Random Yak, guerrilla radio, DeMediacratic Nation, On the Horizon, Webloggin, Leaning Straight Up, Conservative Cat, The Magical Rose Garden, stikNstein… has no mercy, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, Pirate’s Cove, Blue Star Chronicles, The Pink Flamingo, Dumb Ox Daily News, High Desert Wanderer, Right Voices, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
It’s kind of ironic how every offense that whites were accused of in this story was written as an absolute, while the black violence was “alleged”. Sounds like the author is a bit racist to me.
Oh, they’re definitely on the Sharpton bandwagon, but in this case, I’m reluctantly joining them. The basic facts are pretty well documented in spite of the selective use of the word alleged. I’m familiar with that area of the state, the Klan has a decent sized following, and a lot of people aren’t members but tacitly approve of it. David Duke got a lot of support in that part of the state.
Why should these boy’s not be punished to the fullest extent of the law? They did not care about the extent of damage they were doing to the boy they were beating, provoked or not! Stop making excuses, and using the racial card. Let me ask you, what kind of punishment should these boy’s recieve? What if this were six white boy’s beating a single black boy? Would you think they should get away with it then?
Brenda, did you *read* these posts? A group of white boys DID in fact beat a lone black boy, and Were. Not. Charged. At. All. How many criminal charges do you see for a high school fight? Why was the guy who pulled a shotgun on several black students not charged, but the students who disarmed him charged with battery and theft?
Maybe we should go back to segregation. I mean seriously. It’s obvious people of different races can’t get along. Why force them to all live together? If people don’t want to live together, why force them? The Supreme Court has spent the last 50+ years forcing people of differnet races to live together against their will. The great experiment of inclusion has failed. Let’s go back to voluntary segregation.
I can kind of see your point about segregation. I am not a racist, but look at South Africa. They had segregation up until the early 1990s. South Africa went from being a 1st world nation under apartheid to now a 3rd world AIDS infested country that nobody in their right mind would want to visit now that the whites lost power.
More segregation is not the answer, and South Africa is not a valid comparison to central Louisiana. People can and do get along in other parts of the country, including in other areas of Louisiana. Even in Jena, not everyone is racist. I was raised in a home where the word “nigger” was used often. My aunt married a Klan member. (And believe me when I say I was glad to see Uncle Klukker go.)
Racism is learned behavior that can be overcome, not destiny.
If this were six white star athletes as were the Duke Lacrosse Team members that were acused of a far more severe crime of rape, not simply a fight in which the alleged “victim” was later smiling at a social event that day, you would have seen this case making national headlines and the District Attorney, responsible for this gross travesty of justice would have been attacked, as was the case for the white defendants in the Duke Lacrosse case. Its unfortunately obvious that in the United States of America, where some members(of African decent) have been here since the early 1700′s and other member of my family(American Indians) have been here for millenia, there is still no justice for African American males, the poor, and people of color. It makes me rather frightened as an African American male to think that this still happens in the twenty-first century in this socalled land of the free that countless generations of my forefathers helped(some slaving) to build. As an American I feel embarrassed and ashamed.
Ya’ll are all kidding right? Go back to segregation…? The whole reason why segregation is a no no is because slavery and the American capitalist system exploits people to make a profit… that’s what happened in slavery and that’s what continues to happen now… and unless some kind of equal pay/reparations/or equal dividing of businesses, resources, and land(which was stolen from another group of NON-whites) were going to happen, segregation will not work… hello! And I’m sure I won’t see anybody, white or black standing in line to say take my half so we can live in peace… it’s just not realisitc… Please wake up people… Jews were given reparations, Asian Americans were given reparations for their encampment, and immigrants of any race who become US citizens don’t even pay income taxes for their first few years when they come here… and blacks have to continually be beaten down physically and economically, then jailed… and for what? I keep seeing it and it amazes me that whites will tell me that don’t know why blacks can’t just move on… I just don’t get the hatred and I don’t get that whites still believe that somehow racism doesn’t affect blacks negatively… it’s one thing to say I’m not a racist, but it’s another to ignore the ills that have plagued the black community… The whole of America would be better if whites would realize that a wrong has been dealt to blacks that will never have their community equal to whites… it’s like the Holocaust except it goes on everyday. From the outside looking in I say whites need to apologize for slavery, give away free land(which was promised to blacks and taken back from them) and be given reparations… I think blacks should start marching for their rights in everything and get the attention of the world… we are watching, but for some reason white Americans are not!
Reparations are a lovely idea but ridiculously impractical. There is no possible way to collect and receive them fairly. Who’s going to do the genealogy to find descendants of slave owners? I have ancestors who fought on both sides of the war, does that mean I only have to pay half, because why should Yankees pay up when they fought and died to end slavery? What about people whose ancestors weren’t here prior to the civil war? Who owns this land now that you want to give away, and how do you select who will receive it? I wish the 40 acres and a mule idea had been fairly implemented 240 years ago but it’s just not applicable now.
If you can come up with an equitable plan, I’d be delighted to see it and promote it. In any event, I’m not apologizing for something I didn’t personally do and have spent my entire adult life rejecting.
Laura says:
Reparations are a lovely idea but ridiculously impractical. There is no possible way to collect and receive them fairly. Who’s going to do the genealogy to find descendants of slave owners? I have ancestors who fought on both sides of the war, does that mean I only have to pay half, because why should Yankees pay up when they fought and died to end slavery?
Okay, Laura. Blah blah blah blah blah! Reparations were a lovely idea but PRACTICAL when it came time to pay the Japanese and the Aluets. And, WE all did indeed pay them. I, who wasn’t even born at the time, paid them, and I who didn’t approve of internment camps paid them. But when someone brings up slavery and reparations for the descendants of slaves who were ALSO politically disenfranchised so could not fight for reparations after the legal end of enslaving people of African descent… then suddenly it is impractical.
As I said, Laura… blah blah blah.
I wasn’t around to put my 2 cents in when those reparations were paid. However, in the case of the Japanese (I haven’t studied the Aluets) it was given specifically to the people who were still living or to their heirs.
From Democracy Now –
I’d also like to point out that it was for something our government specifically did unlike the Confederacy government which is no longer in existence. Now, reparations to people who were living in the south during Jim Crow or their heirs, might be achievable. Like the Japanese Americans in WWII, they were harmed by our existing government, and it’s recent enough to be practical to find them and make amends.
Laura, the mini-discussion on reparations was interesting. I’ve been thinking about the points you raised. (Unfortunately I think slow, so everybody else has moved on!) Anyway, for whatever it’s worth, here’s my thinking.
You made some points:
and
But does blaming slavery only on the Confederacy really hold water? There was slavery throughout most of the Union, North and South, not too many decades before Secession. There was slavery in “border states” even after the Emancipation Proclamation (them not being then in rebellion against the U.S.), right up until the 14th amendment. Even after abolition in northern states, Northerners could invest in (and profit directly from) enterprises that employed slave labor. Not to mention tariffs that channeled the products of enslaved people’s labor through Northern ports, and profits from that. Northerners were required by law to return escaped slaves (the Dred Scott decision, for example) and I’m not sure but I imagine that mostly they did so. (We love to talk about the underground railroad up here, but how many people really broke the law? How many would today? I greatly admire those who did break the law, but let’s be realistic about how many folks it was.)
So personally I can’t make the jump to letting the Union government off the hook for slavery. Am I wrong?
Who reparations might be paid to … that is another issue. But I don’t think all those thorny ethical problems have to be solved at once. If we owe, then we owe. I’m leery of saying that I don’t have the mailing address so I’m not gonna acknowledge the debt. If you get me.
You make a good point about the complicity of some in the north – any idea what percentage that is? I googled to no avail. And those things were legal to do, which speaks volumes. One the other hand, that was the norm for the times. I think it’s worth noting that slavery was certainly not unique to the United States 18th and 19th centuries. It’s gone on for all of recorded history all over the world and it continues to this day, although few people know it and it gets no press; in my opinion because blacks and Muslims are the ones doing it and the soft bigotry of low expectations are applied to the situation. We should be up in arms about that like we were about South Africa, in my opinion. The whole issue is murky and it’s not getting better with the passage of time. I’m not sure what is owed, and to whom. The point of affirmative action, as I understand it, was to right this wrong. But even that is poorly run. Legal immigrants from Africa enjoy the same benefits American blacks do, merely by having the same color skin. That was NOT the point of the program.
I’m leery of saying that I don’t have the mailing address so I’m not gonna acknowledge the debt.
I love that. Very well put. But development of this country was done by many poorly treated minorities. Look how the Chinese were abused in CA. The Irish and Italians were abused right here in N’awlins, dredging canals. It’s true that slaves were the one group who didn’t come here purposely, and as such deserve special treatment. And I freely admit that the abuse didn’t end in 1864. As I’ve written before, we had Jim Crow laws in place in parts of the country *during my lifetime.* That matters to me, and I think reparations for that are feasible. It’s entirely possible to find Americans who are black who were alive in the 60s and lived in areas with Jim Crow laws, or their descendants. But as to slavery reparations – as a practical matter, it’s not gonna happen.
Reparation for African Americans do not have to be given out on an individual basis. People are correct when they say it would be difficult to trace the genealogy of Blacks who are ancestors of slaves; African Americans themselves would agree. However, this doesn’t mean that reparations are not due for the descendants of slaves and those who simply look like descendants of slaves. This country has and continues to systematically disenfranchise people who look like descendants of slaves. Today in 2007, those who look like descendants of slaves are still affected by the systematic discrimination and neglect by this country — just look at the inner cities, the schools, hospitals, jail cells and inadequate housing. I don’t think it is practical to send out individual checks for individuals who are descendants of slaves but it would do this country good (nationally and internationally) if all the leaders of the individual states and corporations who benefits off the backs of the disenfranchised publicly acknowledged that they benefited from slavery. Funds from the government and these corporations can be invested in the inner cities and rural areas where some of the poorest people live.
So do you suggest a special tax, with the proceeds going to, say, schools in communities where the average income is at or below poverty level? Also, will you comment on what we should do about the slavery which is going on right now in many countries of the world?
This discussion has been very enlightening. I just want to make a couple of references to earlier points. I do not have citations or years of research, but I will use myself as a primary example.
In response to Daris and Tommy, segregation is not the answer. It is not a failed “experiment.” There are plenty of towns across America, and the world, where people of black descent get along well with others of white descent. It is a matter of going into a situation with an open mind. I am from the South, Georgia, in fact, and I have seen racism, but I have also seen tolerance and togetherness. My white friends back home came from old Southern belles and Gents who did not approve of our friendship, but they, and their parents, never treated me like an outsider or a lesser being. Integration allows for a vicious cycle to be broken as well as let two groups have the chance to really see each other and dispell the myths and prejudice that comes with nonassociation. In my city, blacks and whites do tend to segregate themselves in where they live and what schools they go to (Black Neighborhoods, white schools, etc) but we are never barred to go into an area and be a part of that surrounding. That’s the big difference in legalized Segregation and integration. I may choose to live in a black neighborhood, but I can still go to that “white” school or that “white” church.
If we were still in segregation, I would not have the choice or the ability to try to get along with whites, because legally, I am held to certain confines. In South Africa, it was even worse. I am sad to see that you place economic wealth above the general humanitarian well-being of people made into lowest class citizens in their own homes. That’s like me invading your house, and then telling you that I owned what you paid for and lived in your whole life and that you had to wait on me hand and foot or you would be punished.
As far as the Jena 6 are concerned, I feel it is a misuse of legal power as great as the injustices during the 50′s and 60′s. If there were 6 white students beating up on a black student, yes I would be outrage and asked for them to arrested. But on a charge of attempted murder? That’s a little extreme unless they had really beated up the boy. I’ve had a friend die from being jumped in high school, in which they literally dropped him on his head on concrete. He was in a coma for a month. But even they did not get such a harsh charge. Then once you look at the vast gap between the charges made against white students and the black students, you realize that something is very wrong in their justice system. The boys should be punish. It is not okay to use violence if you’re life is not threathened. But the punishment does not fit the crime or the circumstance.
Laura,
Sorry to be slow getting back. No, I haven’t found any numbers on how much slavery benefited the North either. Still, slavery was allowed by the federal government until the fourteenth amendment took effect. To me the U.S. government does sound like a pretty good place to put the greatest share of the responsibility at this late date. (If reparations were actually paid, then, I agree, the way they were financed would become an issue too.)
Reparations for Jim Crow sound like a great idea. Reparations for other groups who were treated badly — especially if they’re still suffering from the effects — those sound reasonable too.* Native Americans, Chinese Americans, the list goes on.
You pointed out re affirmative action:
I agree partway. But Black immigrants from Africa do still face institutional racism. (Personally I think institutional racism is partly an aftereffect of slavery on our whole culture. I also think institutional racism is pervasive in the U.S. I don’t know how others feel about those two points.)
Of course slavery is wrong anywhere in the world. The current outcry is appropriate and should be stronger. I would say that we’re right to protest what’s happening in other countries, but we’re not responsible for what happens there. We are responsible for what happens here. So I worry about this trap: If my own kids are hungry while I spend too much time complaining that my neighbor isn’t caring for his family right, I’m probably not on the right path morally. It could be right, but in practice I’d be suspicious!
*Irish Americans… I’m one of those. A case has been made that we escaped racist abuses by becoming enforcers of them against others. (For example, How the Irish Became White.) And it rings true for me, unfortunately. And I don’t see us as disadvantaged today, certainly not subject to institutional racism. Perhaps we still suffer from some lingering trauma like higher levels of alcoholism and child abuse (tho I have no statistics on that either, I can’t imagine that it’s as bad as the effects suffered by groups that were hit much harder and longer). Plus I think a portion of Irish trauma may go back to colonialism in Ireland itself, which wasn’t due to the U.S.
Regarding the Irish… and that includes my family as well… I don’t buy into the concept of lingering trauma at this late date. Sooner or later you just have to get on with life and quit blaming others for the past (added: even when it’s accurate and justified, eventually it hurts you more than them), and I think the Irish (and Italians, and pretty much every other immigrant group) have reached that point. We all came here on purpose, and nobody promised perfect justice or a perfect society. That’s a completely unrealistic expectation. I don’t think people used to have that expectation, either, I think that’s recent. Our grandparents were a lot tougher than we are today.
In my experience, black immigrants don’t face the same issues as black Americans. The minute someone hears a hint of an accent, they tend to mellow right out and get cordial. I went to lunch with a black coworker from Nigeria and the waitress was as unpleasant as she could get away with… until he ordered, she heard the accent, and learned that he’d come to New Orleans to go to the seminary. I’ve seen that kind of thing happen several times and while it’s anecdotal, I think there’s something to it. I’m not saying its universally true, but I believe it’s more common than not.
I like your analogy about your hungry kids.
I brought up the topic mainly because it’s tiresome to hear from some quarters how America is the worst country evar for having had slavery, when most other countries did/do as well to one extent or another. It’s also not making light of Jim Crow or of institutionalized racism to say things ARE getting better. When I was a baby, we had whites only [bathrooms, water fountains, restaurants, insert item here...] Now that is illegal. That’s an improvement. Back then, by all accounts, people were MUCH more overt in their racism. Now that is unacceptable among civilized people. That’s an improvement. I think the Imus/Rutgers thing was overblown, but it’s certainly an example of the social pressure against racism. Now if someone refuses to hire a person based on race, they can be sued, and there are a boatload of similar laws that offer some protection from racism. Definite improvement!
But I also realize we have a long way to go, and I would like to see things move a lot faster. I have no idea how that can be accomplished. Mostly I’m tired of our flagellating ourselves about the past and I wish we would just fix the problem of what’s going on NOW! If we could get going on that I think we’d find people were less adamant about what happened in the past. But the problem is so multi-faceted and huge… it’s institutionalized racism, it’s individual attitudes, it’s generations of single-parenting, it’s glorification of the thug life, it’s decaying inner cities, it’s the universal fear of “other”… it’s beyond my pay grade. The more I consider the issue the more hopeless it feels. Well, I guess it needs to be tackled the same way you eat an elephant… I would dearly love to see some kind of clearinghouse of achievable, practical ideas, presented in a neutral fashion so that people will honestly consider them and not reject them out of hand because they feel attacked.
I’ve been looking up information on this story since I heard about it today. I did not know until I came across a few articles that the six being charged were attacking one white male. I have yet to see cause for such a large number of people to jump on one person. Nevertheless, I still feel there’s a siginificant portion of the story I’m not yet aware of. I’m not sure what prompted the fight and why this one person was made the object of their attack or how badly the person was injured. I do feel anyone who does something like that should be punished, but not getting a sentence of 22 years in jail. Also, I hardly think a tennis shoe should be considered a deadly weapon.
I’m not sure what perfect justice would be like, but from what I’ve read it is greatly askewed in the town of Jena. I’m also a bit disturbed at the idea
that it would be better if we had voluntary segregation. I’m not even quite sure how voluntary segregation works. If people are separated by economic class and if by those means there is a racial divide, I would not deem that voluntary. Furthermore, I think what is being asked is that for one group of people that hates another group(s) not to be forced to live with them. Frankly the only other option that I would see happening for that to work is that the other group(s) is forced to live in certain areas.
I can’t believe this. This article makes me burn with rage. Then I go to read the comments and I’m even further pissed off by the way most of you think! America is racist blatant or not. EVERY person of color is opressed in this country one way or the other. And whites don’t see it because it’s NOT HAPPENING TO THEM!!! I think it is absolutely FOOLISH of you to say that Africans don’t recieve racism i America because they are from Africa. If black Americans believed that don’t you think alot of people would be walking around here with a fake accent trying to get some equality? As a young American I was hysterical when I heard about the Jena 6 I did not want to believe that what MLK died for was in vain. But I see it was. And I see through these ridiculous comments that even though most of you “claim” to be Christians (definition Christ-like) and all about Jesus Christ you’re not willing to step outside your RACE and love people unconditionally as he did. As a black Christian it is a huge SLAP IN THE FACE to see people who worship the same God as I do make racist statements such as the ones I’ve read here today. WHITE AMERICANS NEED A SERIOUS WAKE UP CALL. I’m disgusted.
What MLK died for was certainly not in vain. We have a long way to go, and nobody with any sense denies that, but it is also undeniable that progress has been made in the last 40 years.
As to how black folk from other countries are treated – I’m telling you what I observed personally, and I did say it was anecdotal. Don’t like it, fine, but it doesn’t take away from what I personally saw. One banker from the Bahamas, and one seminary student from Nigeria were not treated the way local blacks often are. Maybe it was the accents, maybe it was the clothes which tended to be dressier than how locals dress. All I can tell you is what I saw, and they were treated very differently.
Laura, God Bless your Heart. You don’t get it. Most whites never will.
My grandmother told me when I was a little girl that the only difference between now and 1960 is that in the 1960′s whites wore their Klan attire proudly. Now it’s proudly nesting in the back of their closets and the only way anything will ever change is if they throw them out. Of course this is not a litteral statement, and I’ll leave it up to you to figure out what it means.
All this crap thats going on today God sees this. My mother always taught me to seek vengence through God. Whites using their majority status power to oppress minorities will all have their day before the King. I encourage you to read the livejournal commuity from the link I provided to you earlier. You might actually learn something.
With that said I’ll take this conversation with a grain of salt. I know all white people aren’t like this. “Big” difference from 1960 huh? My mother has Race: Nigger on her birth certificate for crying out loud.
And why in my comment is the word “c-r-a-p” starred out but the word nigger isn’t? I’m shaking my head. Yeah you’re right “we” do have a long way to go.
just saw your site.please check out reformed blacks of america
I have a plugin for curse words; evidently it includes one and not the other. I didn’t make the list, and it’s set to the default settings.
Yes, a “big” difference… what’s your birth cert say? Not that. That one word change is reflective of a lot of others – YES there’s still discrimination, but now it’s illegal. That matters, how can you imply that it doesn’t?? A lot of people are on the correct side of this argument – I have nothing to gain personally from gaining justice for the Jena 6, but this – it’s the right thing to do and that matters to me. Reading your comments, I guess either my views have to exactly coincide with yours, or I’m a racist – because “all white people aren’t like this.” Well, I’m sorry to have disappointed you. You’re going to find that change is a lot harder to achieve when you run off those who would be your allies because they don’t have the ideological purity you seem to insist on.
Glen, this site? I have to admit when I read the name of the site in your comment I was perplexed! I should have picked up on it sooner, I go to a reformed charismatic (Sovereign Grace) church myself.
By the way, here’s the plug-in for any WordPress users who are interested.
Making U-turns in Missouri is illegal but people still do it. Just because something is illegal does not mean people will not do it. They obviously don’t care about whats illegal in Louisianna because they are doing it, it’s blatant and it’s accepted. You have nothing to gain? That’s odd because if everybody spoke out against the crude laws in Lousianna eventually something will change and that will ensure proper justice for everyone. But you’re right you don’t have anything to gain because why should you care if the laws are corrupt in LA? You don’t have to live there and oh yeah you’re white. You could rob a bank there and recieve the same jail sentance as Paris Hilton.
It’s ashame because as corrupt and unfair it is I still love America.
too bad America doesn’t love me.
ever heard the saying “walk a mile in my shoes?”
Laura thanks for the response. In my humble opinion we should both really listen to Sequita now. “A mile in my shoes” is exactly on point, isn’t it?
You’ve mentioned that folks can feel “attacked.” I have seen a link that might be relevant:
When accused of racism.
Sequita thank you for the link.
You obviously didn’t read what I wrote Tom, otherwise you would know that I never accused anybody of racism. Personally, I don’t think she is racist, but another white person who just doesn’t “get it”. I have white friends who don’t get it and we still hang out.
Thats the thing, when somebody is throwing some truth in your face and making you think about racial injustice for a change you’re quick to accuse somebody of thinking you’re racist. Why do you care if I think you’re racist? I don’t know you from Adam. But what I do know is that you have a thick pair of blinders on. Go on and live your life and be free while the rest of us work for it. That’s what you do anyway.
Say what you want, I’ve said what I had to say and I’m done.
why don’t you waste your time finding a site that goes How to Deal: When Black People Make You Think.
Sequita,
I wasn’t trying to accuse you of calling “racist” on anybody. Either what I said came across wrong, or I’m even more ignorant than I realized. I’m sorry.
I am trying to get my blinders off. The link I posted was recommended to me by a Black woman doing anti-racist education. I guess I haven’t made much progress.
Sequita,
The link I posted was in response to Laura’s concerns about people who feel attacked when injustice is mentioned, at the end of her comments #19 and #26. I didn’t know whether she was personally feeling that way here, or just raising the concern in general. She mentioned the concern before you commented.
I was thinking abstractly about how pervasive racism is nationwide. I didn’t think enough about either your feelings or Laura’s. Again, I’m sorry.
Sequita, you and I are evidently talking past each other. I wrote
You wrote
I don’t really see that we’re disagreeing there, except you seem to think that making it illegal is not a step in the right direction, and I think it is. If I’m misunderstanding you on that point, please enlighten me.
I wrote (emphasis added)
You wrote
Again, I believe we’re agreeing, just phrasing things differently. And no, I don’t “have” to live here – I could move away I suppose, but this is my home, and I’d rather stay and try to make things better.
You wrote
What truth have you “thrown in my face” that I haven’t already written about repeatedly all over this blog? That racism is real? Yeah, I got it. I’ve written it repeatedly, long before posted on this blog. That racism is legally, socially, morally wrong? Yeah, I got it. I’ve written it repeatedly. That racism should be stopped? Yeah, I got that too. I’ve written it repeatedly. So why are you busting my chops when we agree on the essentials?
Let me first say I am against racist in any form and against any race. God put us all here and we really need to learn how to share his earth. Lets look at this story, ok the white boys how hung the rope from the tree were properly handled by the school system that our justice system and trusted board members set up. Black, White any race need to stop letting other people make them make bad decisions and then saying poor me they made me do it. These 6 black boys probably very promising students may have just ruined there lives as they knew it, now they will end up with a life like most LA blacks; poor and a criminal back ground, all because of what some country a** white boys did that made them mad. How many times have I gone to high school I am only 25, and black girls pick at me because I am white, what can I do? Beat them? Burn the school? what these black boys (allegedly, like always) did is UNEXCETABLE, and yes the white boy with the gun pulled it on THREE BLACK BOYS HELLO PEOPLE HE WAS SCARED FOR HIS LIFE! Self defense anyone every tell you there is a law protecting people when they need to defend there life? Stop using the race card what these boys did was wrong white and the black from the beginning and the whites who hung the rope have been punished to the odviously fullest amount of the school policy because there is no law against hanging rope from a tree. Now the black boys need to be punished for almost killing most likely a defenseless white boy, it did say he was a friend of the other boys, they picked anyone, now that is DANGERUOS it could of been YOUR child they picked now think of that! They picked a boy who had NOTHING to do with it. Also for the black boy beat up at a white party, well if he knows its segregated then he needs to know it, I WOULD never trout my white butt into a black part of the city into a black person’s home party! Are you crazy I would be shot! and you educated well mannered black/ white professionals may not want to admit it but its TRUE, try it, but kiss your family before you do. Blacks in other parts on the country are feared and can go to any part of the town they would like feared liked for hated and have now worry of there safety but white, we go to a black only area, be afraid you may just be hurt very badly or killed. Now it seems to blacks need to learn to be more like whites we may talk trash but sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me! Learn it, pass it around. God bless and stop letting other peoples actions make you be a fool
I almost didn’t approve this comment because it’s so offensive. You obviously are not informed of the facts in this story. The noose-hangers WERE NOT properly handled by the school system. While there is no excuse for beating Justin Barker, the charges are so far out of proportion for the crime of a high school fight that it is beyond ridiculous. If the white guy in the convenience store parking lot was afraid for his life, he had a variety of options, including going into the store for help. He didn’t have to point a shotgun at three unarmed minors. His life wasn’t in danger. Justin Barker was not almost killed; he was out of the ER in a couple of hours and attended his ring ceremony that night.
And your statement about Bailey going to the party, “well if he knows its segregated then he needs to know it,” etc… good Lord, do you even comprehend what you’re saying? God bless?? You can’t write these things and have any claim to knowing who God is. I would despise you for this comment if I didn’t pity you so much. You will be in my prayers.
I was really enlightened when reading the responses in this blog. I am a bit worried that some seem to be more concerned with pointing out wrongs that actually attempting to correct them. The first step is to admit there is a wrong. . . .with self. Being the first to admit that I am not perfect, I realized at some point in life that until I worked on me, my surroundings would not change.
To whomever is wondering, I am black. I am not a racist person, but I have what I call race issues. I can admit that I am uncomfortable in large groups of non-blacks but I am always respectful. I can admit that I make some generalizations when it comes to non-blacks, but I am not hurtful. Ex: Assuming that all white people love dogs. May not be true, but not hurtful either. Assuming that all Mexicans are hard workers. Not always true, again, not hurtful. I am working on those issues.
But I can tell you that I treat all people equally. And I expect to be treated equally as well. Not better, not worse, but equally. And we should all expect to be treated equally.
In the case of the Jena 6, I think that the treatment of them is absurd. I have been jumped on by multiple people myself on a couple of occasions and I can tell you, in all honesty, none of them served jail time and I didn’t want them to. It was a fight. It was stupid. I knew they weren’t trying to kill me. Speaking of which, it seems to me that if 6 people want to kill someone, that someone would be dead.
I think the way that the noose situation was handled was absurd. How can anyone honestly say that was a harmless prank? If the students who hanged them decided to dress in full clan uniform and march under the tree with torches, would that be a harmless prank? How can anything that symbolizes torture and murder and oppression of a people be considred harmless?
Before I go, I’d like to comment about reparations. I don’t see any harm in reparations being used to revitalize black communities (schools, churches, community centers, hospitals, etc). It amazes me that America can be quick to help all but our own. After the catastrophe that was allegedly the Hurricane Relief effort, do we really want to send the message that we care more about what happens in other countries than what happens here?
Crimes committed by the whites in this would be considered “alleged” is they where object of prosecution. No prosecution = no presumption of innocence.
I think this is an unfortunate case. As are most “racially charged” cases. I disagree wholeheartedly with Brenda. Punished?! To the fullest extent of the law?!? Come on! These are teenage boys, that are obviously outnumbered in that town. They are forced to stick up for themselves. I can’t belive you would say that. 100 years is the max. That is absolutely ridiculous, but I guess that still shows how people are still so blind to what is really going on. First of all, if in fact they WERE six white boys, I’m quite sure we wouldn’t hear about it, especially if it was a African American youth they were beating up on, second of all, if they WERE white (living in Jena, LA), it seems quite obivious they would have gotten a slap on the wrist, and a spank on the bottom, IF THAT. I seriously don’t think that they would have even SEEN a jail-cell, let alone a courtroom. It’s so unfortunate in this society that we live in, if you’re black, you already have 1 strike against you. Please don’t be a black MAN, OMG, that’s 2 strikes right there! Wake up Brenda!
Tommy, you said you’re not racist, but all I want to ask you is to reread what you just wrote. Come on people this is 2007 going into 2008. “Voluntary Segregation”? It was the Europeans who came over to the USA and brought, African Americans over here. Was that “voluntary integration”?
I finally just finished skimming through all the blogs. I just felt I needed to respond to what Brenda, and Tommy were saying. I just couldn’t get past that without voicing my opinion.
Benda…sweetheart… let me ask you something. If it were your white son and 5 of his white friends beating up on 1 black boy after a series of black on white attacks (not just now, but stemming from the 60s and 400 yrs prior) would you honestly feel that it be just to give him 100 yrs for a school fight?
I know I’m late but I’d like to comment on some of the things I’ve read here.
I’d like to start by first addressing Sequita….
I’m African American mother of a 16 son; a son that will one day be a black
man and regarded as threat many times simply because of the color of his skin or the way he walks, speaks or carries himself. So I feel your anger and share your frustration. But sometimes we allow our anger get the best of us and it overshadows any good we set out to do. When reading your post I hear your frustration because I know it personally but instead of projecting your
concern at what’s happening your coming across as the typical “angry black woman”. This is in no way meant to be an insult but an eye opener. We have every right to be angry and that’s exactly what they count on, black people getting angry and acting up. We have to be bigger than that…be more than what they expect us to be. So get angry but not so angry that you can only see what’s right in front of you. The world is a big and complicated place and you’ll find friends [and enemies] in the strangest of places but you have to be open mined enough to use the resources you’re given. Laura and Tom seemed to me to be genuine and in agreement with you.
To Brenda….
I hate to stoop to name calling but your post is plain idiotic, either you….
1.You didn’t read the post and still decided to make a comment.
Or
2.You read but couldn’t comprehend the story and still decided to post.
Or
3.You’re simply a closed minded racist that didn’t deserve a post.
Either way you’re an idiot!!!
To Nicole….
You started your post by saying “Let me first say I am against racist in any form and against any race. God put us all here and we really need to learn
how to share his earth”. However almost every thought that followed was racist. Being a racist doesn’t necessarily mean that you have personally been apart of the mistreatment of another race or even that you hate all people of another race.
A racist by the adjective definition is…
1.based on racism: based on prejudices and stereotypes related to race
2.prejudiced against other races: prejudiced against all people who belong to other races.
Your ignorance [lack of knowledge or unawareness] is prevalent all over your post. You may not be a racist but you’re definitely wearing the uniform!!!
Daris, Tommy & ANYONE who else may be wondering….segregation breeds resentment, social distance, distrust, hostility, and hate. It’s not only a bad idea but a huge step backwards.
[Oh, glory... clearly I'm going to have to go through and fisk this. But I'll do it in line for easier reading, my notes in bold and bracketed. - Laura]
First, read this article written in the Alexandria Town Talk. It will help clarify several things. Then read my response below.
http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070731/NEWS01/707310322
[I've already commented on this article. Read this. Read it as many times as necessary until you understand. Yes, there is dispute about what happened at the Fair Barn, the Gotta Go, and with regard to what happened immediately before and during Justin Barker's beating. But only one side has chosen to go on the record about it. So if you want any credibility, you'd better get someone to step up and be a spokesman to defend Jena, because you have very little credibility as an anonymous blog commenter.]
I am from Jena, and I will help clarify several things this article mentions:
“black students found it necessary to ask permission to sit under a tree where white students normally sat”
Just because he found it necessary to ask doesn’t MEAN it was necessary. What if a person who is generally regarded as a “skank” asked the principal if he could sit where the “popular” people are? This is the same thing.
[Yes, they found it necessary. Ask yourself why that is. Are you blind? Do you think this was just a mistake? Or some kind of grand conspiracy to set up the white people? I kind of doubt it.]
“Adolescents play pranks,” said Breithaupt, the superintendent of the LaSalle Parish school system. “I don’t think it was a threat against anybody.”
Alot of people in Jena disagree with his punishment. In fact, the principal recommended expulsion but it was overturned. Most people in Jena (INCLUDING white people) believe they should have been expelled.
[I have acknowledged that quite a few times, thanks.]
“Since when do teenage boys watch Lonesome Dove?”
Since when do teenagers listen to rap music? You shouldn’t judge cultures other than your own. The southern culture is totally different from your own. Yes, SOME teenagers watch Lonesome Dove here. Western shows are very popular in households in Jena. In fact, many teenagers love rap music AND western shows here.
[I live in Louisiana, "From Jena", and I have family in all parts of the state, including out in the boonies. So that "southern culture is different" dog just won't hunt. The whole point of the "Lonesome Dove" comment was that the excuse used by some people was that the movie inspired them to play the "prank" with the nooses. And that is quite frankly a load of steaming CRAP. So whether or not you know a few teenagers who have seen the movie is beside the point. The point is it wasn't a prank inspired by a movie.]
“Off campus, a white youth beat up a black student who showed up at an all-white party. A few days later, another young white man pulled a shotgun on three black students at a convenience store.”
These are hearsay statements, but most likely true. The whole picture is not displayed here, though. The black student who was beat up at an all-white party was one of several black students who were walking around town for awhile with a LIST of white people they were looking to beat up. They were the cause of other fights that haven’t been put in the media. They were also the same ones that had the gun pulled on them. Funny how they were just at the wrong place at the wrong time every time. Like I’ve put in the other blog, I am giving you hearsay based on people in Jena, but I am simply counteracting the hearsay put on this blog that hasn’t been verified.
[PROVE IT PROVE IT PROVE IT PROVE IT PROVE IT, DAMMIT! I'm not talking about legal evidence. I'm saying get at least ONE person to get on the record with these facts as you are presenting them. Because until that happens, I will continue to call bullshit on you each and every time you do it. I have reserved some skepticism - and I've downplayed aspects of this story as reported from the beginning, as you would know if you went through the archives - for those making the claims. But they are standing up and being counted and NOBODY ELSE IS. If you don't like what people are saying about Jena, then get out there and dispute it in a way that holds you accountable, or get someone else to do it, people who are in a position to know what really happened. Why aren't Matt Windham or Justin or Jessie Sloan talking? They're in a position to know, and it's a safe bet Abbey Brown would print what they said, as would other media outlets. If Robert Bailey is lying, he can be held accountable for it. You can't, in your current anonymous condition. Which is why Bailey has more credence than you do, no matter how many times you retype the same things.]
“Finally, on Dec. 4, a group of black students at the high school allegedly jumped a white student on his way out of the gym, knocked him unconscious and kicked him after he hit the floor. The victim — allegedly targeted because he was a friend of the students who hung the nooses and had been taunting blacks — was not seriously injured and spent only a few hours in the hospital.”
Notice how the word “allegedly” was put in this paragraph twice, despite the fact that SIXTEEN PEOPLE put their hand on a Bible and said this is what happened. No “allegedly” wording was used when they mentioned the white student pulling the gun and the white student beating up the black student. This is unfair bias.
[Don't like it, talk to the Chicago Tribune. It's their story. I didn't write it, I quoted it. And that story was printed LONG before this went to court, as was my post.]
“But the LaSalle Parish district attorney, Reed Walters, opted to charge six black students with attempted second-degree murder and other offenses, for which they could face a maximum of 100 years in prison if convicted. All six were expelled from school.”
Either way you slice it, 100 years in prison for these crimes are WAY WAY out of wack. Please don’t let the POTENTIAL prison sentences clout your judgement of the situation. Let the trials go through and see what the sentences are, assuming they are convicted. Then we can gripe about prison sentences. If they do indeed receive more than a FEW years in prison, I myself will be outraged.
[Are you kidding me? First of all the charges are ridiculous. Sneakers are a weapon? This wasn't planned, it was a high school fight. It was wrong, they were wrong, they should be punished. But not with felony charges, and not as adults. It's quite simply indefensible. For you to say, let these unfair charges go through "as is" and just HOPE that they get light sentences is ridiculous. Please, reconsider what you are saying. And even "a few years" in prison are way too much. Seven months for Bell is way too much. It was a high school fight, unplanned, with no weapons, and should have been kept at the school/juvenile justice level.]
“Jena and La Salle Parish have been heavily Republican since a two-party system took root in Louisiana.”
Does being Republican imply racism?
“The town is 85 percent white, an unusual high white composition in Louisiana.”
Does the percentage makeup of races in town have anything to do with people’s treatment of other races?
[In a town openly acknowledged even by several white people to be racist, a Republican town that elected Blanco, a Democrat, in favor of Jindal, a Republican, and in a parish that heavily supported DAVID DUKE of all people, indicates that a plurality of the people are racist. Being Republican, in spite of what many Democrats and leftists say, doesn't have a correlation with racism. People take it to be so because of the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" mentality, and because conservatives want the states to take care of things that the Democrats what the federal government to do. You personally may not be racist, but people in the town you are defending are, and you are by extension defending them.]
“And the guy who pulled the shotgun on the students at the convenience store evidently wasn’t even charged. But then, if a noose is a prank, I guess that shotgun thing was something for America’s Funniest Home Videos.”
I put a link to the article above where four FBI agents (two black, two white) pulled all police reports and conducted an investigation into all suspicious activities by the Jena PD, including this one. This article will give you a better perspective on WHY the white student wasn’t arrested. There were 3 black students and one white student involved. Since both stories conflicted totally, the officers decided to rely on the witness’ account. And don’t assume the witness(es) was/were white (I’m not sure if he was or not). Gotta-Go is a store heavily patronized by members of the black community.
[Quote me in that article where it says that the Justice Department or FBI investigated the Jena PD or Reed Walters. It's not in there. I'll assume you have poor reading comprehension and not that you are deliberately lying. Read it again.]
“White and black ministers met to discuss the problems facing our youth and to turn to the only One with the power to stop the hatred swirling around us.”
People of all races uniting under God to help bring understanding and compassion to the town of Jena. This was an amazing event.
Like I put in the other blog, I’m sick and tired of people putting hearsay into nearly every article I’ve read on here. The hearsay included in these articles are always the hearsay that paint the picture of a town full of racism and hate. The other side of the hearsay is never mentioned.
I am from Jena and if I read hearsay in a blog or article on the internet, I will counteract it with the other side of the picture and call you on it. There is plenty of room for hearsay to be sprayed all across the vast digital world of the internet. I look to respond to others in this room soon.
Be fair and disclose facts as facts; also mention when something in an article is just hearsay. Otherwise people will make assumptions.
[This isn't a court, and it's not hearsay when people say it happened to them or that they personally saw it. If you don't like what people are saying, get on the record and oppose what other people are saying ON THE RECORD.]
Laura
[I’ve already commented on this article. Read this. Read it as many times as necessary until you understand. Yes, there is dispute about what happened at the Fair Barn, the Gotta Go, and with regard to what happened immediately before and during Justin Barker’s beating. But only one side has chosen to go on the record about it. So if you want any credibility, you’d better get someone to step up and be a spokesman to defend Jena, because you have very little credibility as an anonymous blog commenter.]
I know you have commented on this article, but people who are reading this particular message board didn’t hear my argument. I read it once, which was the amount of times it took for me to understand it. Only one side has NOT chosen to go on record. I admit you’ve done alot of research on this issue, but I live here and have a better idea of what really happened. In the next few weeks (when I have time) I PLAN to go to the courthouse and do my own research. Then we can compare. You and me are both seeking the truth. I’m trying to look past town gossip while you are trying to look past the hungry media.
[Yes, they found it necessary. Ask yourself why that is. Are you blind? Do you think this was just a mistake? Or some kind of grand conspiracy to set up the white people? I kind of doubt it.]
No, I’m not blind. I just understand that some people in the community like to stir up trouble, black and white. What’s funny is that the media is making this out to be one “white” grand conspiracy, where the WHITE principal relayed the message to the WHITE kids who hung the noose. Then the WHITE superintendent decided it was a harmless school prank to protect the 3 sons he never had. This grand conspiracy was to scare the black students into “staying in their place”. It’s completely silly. And NO, I know this isn’t your beliefs, I am simply stating how most of the mainstream media is portraying it. I firmly believe that the superintendent used his judgment based on what he thought was fair. His decision was racially insensitive, no doubt. Does the decision make him a racist or prove he is a racist? I believe not. I apologize for diverting the topic a little.
[I have acknowledged that quite a few times, thanks.]
I know this but, again, I am speaking to a wider audience than just you. I’m trying to get the message out.
[I live in Louisiana, “From Jena”, and I have family in all parts of the state, including out in the boonies. So that “southern culture is different” dog just won’t hunt. The whole point of the “Lonesome Dove” comment was that the excuse used by some people was that the movie inspired them to play the “prank” with the nooses. And that is quite frankly a load of steaming ****. So whether or not you know a few teenagers who have seen the movie is beside the point. The point is it wasn’t a prank inspired by a movie.]
I rescind what I said about not understanding the Southern culture, but Jena is a subculture (like all the towns around it). I agree that they probably weren’t “inspired” by the movie when doing it. They would be stupid not to know the ramifications of what they did. We are in agreement here.
[PROVE IT PROVE IT PROVE IT PROVE IT PROVE IT, DAMMIT! I’m not talking about legal evidence. I’m saying get at least ONE person to get on the record with these facts as you are presenting them. Because until that happens, I will continue to call bullshit on you each and every time you do it. ...]
I plan to prove it, just give me time.
[Are you kidding me? First of all the charges are ridiculous. Sneakers are a weapon? This wasn’t planned, it was a high school fight. It was wrong, they were wrong, they should be punished. But not with felony charges, and not as adults. It’s quite simply indefensible. For you to say, let these unfair charges go through “as is” and just HOPE that they get light sentences is ridiculous. Please, reconsider what you are saying. And even “a few years” in prison are way too much. Seven months for Bell is way too much. It was a high school fight, unplanned, with no weapons, and should have been kept at the school/juvenile justice level.]
It’s not indefensible and it WASN’T a high school fight. Six boys attacked one boy, end of story. That’s not a fight, that is a beating. Maybe one day the pictures will be released and you’ll better understand. We’ll just have to agree to disagree on this one. I personally feel that we should show the parish, state, and COUNTRY that this cannot happen in our schools. I wonder if it was 6 white boys ganging up on one black boy, all variables remaining the same, that it would be garnering the same feelings from people?
[In a town openly acknowledged even by several white people to be racist, a Republican town that elected Blanco, a Democrat, in favor of Jindal, a Republican, and in a parish that heavily supported DAVID DUKE of all people, indicates that a plurality of the people are racist. Being Republican, in spite of what many Democrats and leftists say, doesn’t have a correlation with racism. People take it to be so because of the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” mentality, and because conservatives want the states to take care of things that the Democrats what the federal government to do. You personally may not be racist, but people in the town you are defending are, and you are by extension defending them.]
It’s sad that David Duke had an abnormally strong following in the parish, but keep in mind that about 75% of the parish live outside the Jena city limits. Also keep in mind that David Duke ran against Edwin Edwards. Edwin Edwards is in jail right now and has been for awhile. Maybe these people should have just stayed home instead of voting that time? Either way, the fact that David Duke was represented here in any fashion is embarrassing to me.
[Quote me in that article where it says that the Justice Department or FBI investigated the Jena PD or Reed Walters. It’s not in there. I’ll assume you have poor reading comprehension and not that you are deliberately lying. Read it again.]
I’ll choose the ummm “poor reading comprehension” bit!?
Those boys should not be charged that harshly. Yes, they did gang up on a white students, but they were basically being harassed and no one in the community was stopping it. After a while they probably just got tired of it and took matter into their own hands. I’m not justifying whatthey did, but those kids do not not deserve to go to jail. nd I think its really said how some people up here are making comments about these kids needing to be given the harshest punishment. They didnt kill anyone and it said in the article the boy wasn’t seriously hurt. I don’t understand why they need to go to jail for fighting. This situation is a load of bull! There is no way to justify how these boys could be chardged this harshly. Its unfair and injustified!
Shellynn:
“After a while they probably just got tired of it and took matter into their own hands.”
These guys have been perpetual troublemakers. Mychal Bell and Robert Bailey were involved with almost every incident that took place in town that was racially charged. They were ALLEGEDLY the aggressors on several occasions (again ,I look to get more factual information about these incidents). They were not good guys who were pushed to the edge, they were perpetual troublemakers looking for any reason to fight.
You say these boys should not be charged that harshly. I think it all depends on their past. The judge just cited Mychal Bell as having 4 prior criminal convictions in his past, repeatedly violating parole. You don’t think the judge is like “Alright, we need to show the kid that he can’t do whatever he wants.” This one judge has seen Mychal Bell more than once in the past.
It’s so sad that this guy had a college scholarship and chose to throw it away because of his actions. If anything, he is the one creating an injustice to the black community. He was the one who had God-given abilities that he chose to throw away. Instead of choosing to positively impact his community, he chose to ignore that ability that God give him and commit crimes, VIOLENT crimes.
Either way, the greatest possible sentence for Mychal Bell should be a fraction of what he actually receives. And I am pretty confident (minus the exception of maybe Robert Bailey) that the others will get a slap on the wrist.
My entire point is, we should let the facts unfold and let them speak for themselves. I agree with some people who have jumped the gun in this chat room. If the DA or ANYONE ELSE in this town has not done their jobs by the book, and made their decisions based on race, they should be investigated and held accountable. But so far, I’ve seen little evidence that points directly to that. All I have seen is assumptions and media bias.
I’m not here to defend people in my town because I live here, hell I don’t think the DA is very good at what he does to be honest. But I haven’t seen him do anything in this situation so far to tell me he’s a racist and his actions are dictated by his prejudice.
I have read this article and it makes me burn. I am Native American, a redskin, a damm injun. I grew up in the 70′s, and know a little of the racism that can be displayed towards non-whites. I lived in Los Angeles for most of my life – although I have spent time in Alabama, Michigan, and Arkansas. I never did live on “the right side of the tracks”.
The treatment those young men are receiving is deplorable. What is worse – it is not necessarily the community doing it, but the ones charged with protecting their rights as citizens of the United States. (there is no color mentioned in the Constitution did you know that?)
History aside, I just HAVE to make a comment to the people who keep calling for restitution – that 40 acres and a mule that was promised. A similar offer was made to the Native Americans – and look what it got them – forced to live in the harshest areas of the land, on reservations, in poverty. Be careful what you ask for, you may not like what you get.
To the plight of the Jena 6 – have you all written your Congressmen? Set up petitions to bring awareness of this to a higher court? Or simply write a blog about it? (No offense to the blog writer intended here)
Be outraged.
Be Concerned.
Be Horrified.
But its not going to MATTER if you do nothing.
i guess i did see things wrong. i guess i was really angry about what was going on. i wanted to believe the world i lived in was perfect and hate-free. i go to school at the univ of missouri- st. louis and u wouldn’t believe the extent of racial integration there. everybody of diff races hangs out and talks to everybody, it’s like we are all color blind -i don’t see any hate anywhere. so, being in this type of environment my entire life (ALL my schools were this way, even my highschool which was 75% black) i didn’t really expirience this type of hatred. whats going on in Jena is what i read about in history, heard from my grandparents/parents, saw on tv, and old books. never did i ever think that this type of racism was still alive in 2007. so i guess my shock and frustration seemed like ‘angry black woman’. i didn’t mean to snap at anyone.
I am personally confused as to why it is the noose hanging whites that are accused of starting this. Yes this was a horrible series of events, but why did the black people have to sit under the tree that has been historically white? What were they going to accomplish by sitting under the tree, other than piss off the whites?Its really a shame that its still looked at as the “blacks” and the “whites” but when you are in an area what that is very prevalent why would you instigate something?
I am in no way saying that I condone the actions by the whites that hung the nooses but who’s to say that they are the ones that crossed this line first?
Nate, when God created the Earth he did not say “I’ll make this tree white here in Jena” think about what you say before you post. That is one of the most idiotic things I have ever heard.
OMG, Nate you’re an ignorant person, and also an OBVIOUS discrimantory person. I can’t believe you would write that. I just hope after you typed that, you realized how ridiculous that sounded. Are you saying that a white person who lives in a predominately black town and goes to a predominately black school (and there are some out there), would they deserve to discriminated against if they went to, ummm, let’s say a school game. Well according to you, it would be right and just for the blacks to start something with the white students, b/c, according to you, they have clearly “instigated” the situation by going to the game. That is so STUPID! Your are condoning the noose hanging act, and if you’re not condoning it, you’re definitely making excuses for it. NOT ACCEPTABLE. “Historically white tree”?!?! Please get some education!
OMG, Nate you’re an ignorant person, and also an OBVIOUS discrimantory person. I can’t believe you would write that. I just hope after you typed that, you realized how ridiculous that sounded. Are you saying that a white person who lives in a predominately black town and goes to a predominately black school (and there are some out there), would they deserve to discriminated against if they went to, ummm, let’s say a school game. Well according to you, it would be right and just for the blacks to start something with the white students, b/c, according to you, they have clearly “instigated” the situation by going to the game. That ideal is so LUDACRIS! You are condoning the noose hanging act, and if you’re not condoning it, you’re definitely making excuses for it. NOT ACCEPTABLE. “Historically white tree”?!?! Please get some education!
Uhm that Daris person .. . you’re stupid. you need to think about what you wrote. Why would we go back to segregation.? Nobody is forcing all the differant races to be around each other. They choose to be where they are. If they don’t want to be around a certain race than they can keep themselves from being in their prescense. Racism is pathetic!! I feel extremely sick to read about these students. White or black, or whatever race you may be .. that doesn’t give you more or less rights. That “prank” they did, was nothing near funny. A prank does not get that serious and just for that, they should have been punished. These black students should not have to suffer and be treated differantly, while these racist white students get away with the same and even worse things they did. I believe that there needs to be a massive change in that town.
One thing that everyone needs to look at is that an injustice to one person is an injustice to all of us. It’s the color of skin one minute, what will it be next? The color of hair, eye color? When does it stop and who makes that decision? We, the people, must take a stand to fight injustice. At the time of this post, Mychal Bell has been released, and the charges dropped to juvenile offenses. Walter Reed (the DA) can make the decision to bring the charges to juvenile court. I strongly believe that it was the nation’s decision to take action that brought this about. It gives me pride, as a young black woman, to see people of all ages and races make plans to be in Jena on the 20th to rally against this injustice and stand up for these young boys. Because of our collective efforts we have prevented a wrong. However, it’s not over. The other 5 are still awaiting trial and it hasn’t been stated whether or not it will go through. Please keep your thoughts and prayers on these boys, their families, Jena and our country.
It’s funny people are really under the delusion that this is not about race. When those white boys at Duke were accused of commiting a crime it was as if the country went into an uproar. As if to say “these good wholesome boys” wouldn’t do a thing like that. Hummp. This is a shame. Now yea the boys should be suspended from school just like they would have done to the white boys had the shoe been on the other foot but no in a city full of racial tension they were sent to prison. If this were two separate group of black kids then they would have been suspended cause nobody would have cared. But since it was black kids retaliating to white kids then its a crime punishable by the courts. In the school I am in now in my sociology class it amazes me how some of the students really believe that racism doesn’t exist. My professor asked “why is it that people who commit the same crime both with no criminal backgrounds will the white offender get less time or even no time and the black offender get not just a time in prison but many many years.” There was a student who actually said that some people just need to be taught a harder lesson. That other people “blacks” deserve more time so that they can understand that they don’t need to commit the crime again.” I mean come on are you kidding me. I had to turn all the way around in my seat because I knew she just had to be joking. But she was serious as a heart attack. Where kind of ignorant statement is that to make that “Black people need to learn the hard way.” What amazed me more that some people were agreeing with her. I mean even college education can’t even cure ignorance.
Since no DNA or evidence was found, and the Duke players were exonerated, and of course, the white DA has ruined his career, what is being done to the black girl who started all this??????she lied to the DA to start with, but she is scott free because she is black……..Al Sharpton tried his best to convict those boys because they were white.
If the Jena 6 were white and the boy was black, you can bet Al would march on Thursday. Either way, Al Sharpton will defend his color, whether they are right or wrong.
Not one time has he ask about the health of the boy who was attacked. The young boy who stayed in jail until this week had at least four violent charges against him and was on probation and this is why he has been in jail longer..Six on one is a scary thing to think about, if you are the one…
After the Civil War, the Feds purchased land in Africa for black people and they were offered the chance to go home, and very few left, why? they had a better life here.
The Confederate Flag never flew over a slave ship, it was the US and British flags to name a few. The Confederate Flag is a battle flag. Only five percent of the Southern population had slaves and the rest were poor white tenant farmers. The War Between the states could have been avoided if Lincoln had paid the Southern Planation Owners the money that they paid the Northern Slave traders for their slaves, and he refused.. Lincoln paid the Northern slave holders, in order for them to free thier slaves.. The North was jealous of the prosperty in the South and the only way to shut them down was to free the slaves at a loss to the farmers. England offered to help the South win the war and we refused because our ancestors had fought hand in hand against Britain in the Revolutionary War. The poor men, both white, Indian, and black who served in the war didn’t own slaves..they were drafted by the South..
White men in the South were hanged many times for stealing a chicken or a horse, which was a crime in the 1860′s. When a black man was hung, what crime did he commit? Was he always innocent???just because he was black…In North Carolina in 1780, when the father died, the children were taken from the mother and indentured, so to learn a trade. They were indentured for seven years, and if the wealthy Planter wanted to keep them longer, he would punch them or knock them down and the courts would sentence them to another seven years. A suit of clothes is all he gave them. I know because I have an ancestor who was an indentured servant along with his brothers. Will I ask for reparations? No. My ancestors came here in the late 1600′s. After the Civil War, the Feds raided the South and stole my ancestors personal possessions and tagged the furniture and shipped it North to their homes on trains. They told the black families that they could have the pigs and cows and the black families refused and said they were not hungry..I suggest that young people read Civil War History and read the letters written about plantation life. It’s not as bad as you think..In the South, black people wouldn’t leave the master and his family, because they were a part of that family and both master and slave are buried next to each other many times….I sometimes feel that white and black people should be able to choose if they want to associate or not. You can’t make people like you. I am white, and I chose the black people in my life. Some black people are better friends than white ones….but don’t try to make someone like you. If people of different races group together, don’t try to join in unless invited…..it’s OK to be proud of your color and stay with your color. I have always admired the Indians because they have always tried to stay with their race… Yes, I was born before the days of intergration, yet, I have never felt hatred for black people, and neither has any family members. My people worked in the cotton fields during the depression and then in Cotton Mills in the South, yet we have overcome that with hard work, our children are professionals now and we are proud of them..To keep our minds on racism is just a waste of life, enjoy your life as the person God made you to be..
The Duke woman should be charged to the fullest extent of the law. It wasn’t even the first time she did it! Reparations is the biggest joke I’ve ever heard. Would you like to sift through mountains of genealogical papers to trace who owned whom back then? Is it necessary? No, it isn’t, and I’m black. Affirmative action is a joke as well, how about being hired on qualifications and who is best for the job instead of me getting a free ride to wealth for being black? Its called working hard to get to the top, the American dream. My ancestors came here by force, and they worked hard to free my people each day. Now I see my brothers and sisters trashing all of that by crying “racist” to our white brothers and sisters. We need to stop thinking about it as white and black, and start thinking about life as Americans, not African Americans, not European Americans, but Americans. Grow up, stop hating, and work hard to get where you are. Welfare should be abolished, I don’t want my tax dollars going to some crack dealer on the street who is using to fund his illegal business. It’s wrong! Now injured veterans or people without a job is a completely different story. This country is full of holes.