The Jena 6 - It Can Only Happen in the U.S.

Our whole family's health has been in the crapper for the past few days, so I've been unable to formulate much of a coherent blog contribution. Now that I'm on the mend, there are a number of items on which I would like to chime in, not the least of which is the current situation in Jena, Louisiana. If this is news to you, this is essentially the gist of the story:

The town high school in Jena, for all intents and purposes is segregated. Not officially, of course, but you know how it is in certain parts of the U.S. (my brother went to Kentucky several years back and told me that he felt as if he was going to be lynched, and that was him being in the company of his mostly Caucasian friends with whom he travelled). Honestly, I've never really had a burning desire to visit the American South, and these types of stories just really re-iterate my perceptions, whether they are justified or not. I have spoken with enough people who live in the American South, both black and white, who have uniformly confirmed that racism is alive and well in that part of the country.

Anyhow, with the high school being unofficially segregated, there is this big tree under which whites predominantly gather. One day, so the story goes, some black kids want to sit in the shade of tree and so they ask their principal or vice-principal, who tells them they can sit wherever they want. So they sit in the shade of this tree. Shortly after (a day or so), three black nooses are hung on the tree. The white kids who were responsible for this act are discovered and the principal recommended that they be expelled. The school board disagreed and in the end they received three day suspensions.

All of this may have triggered a number of other racial incidents, one of which involved a white boy who was beaten up badly by six black youths, who became known as the Jena 6. While I can detail the other incidents, the problem I find is that there are conflicting stories on either side (like, with the arson done to the school - both sides are blaming each other). The media, unfortunately, being its liberal self, chooses to make these black youths like victims. Don't get me wrong - I think to a degree, they are, as there are some clear injustices done here with the white kids not being charged with hate crimes (which I believe they should have been)...but remember, these six black kids beat the crap out of the white kid because of an alleged racial slur (which again would qualify for charges stemming from a hate crime); last I checked, it is not kosher to attack someone unless it's in self-defence, which this doesn't sound like it was (six on one?). So let's remember, that no matter what injustices were done to these black kids, they are still responsible for what they did to the white kid. Do I sympathize with their reaction? Absolutely. If there is anything that can make me violent, it is calling me racial epithets - and yes, I do realize that how I react may potentially land me in jail, and these kids should know that they committed a crime (the severity of the charge may be debated, but it was a crime nonetheless), and those reporting on this case should at least not glean over this fact.

Does there seem to be racist overtones throughout the events? Absolutely. The white kid went to court in front of an all white jury with all white witnesses called by a white prosecutor in front of a white judge. Normally, such details would be lost on me, but in the American South, when you have six black defendants in front of a white jury, prosecutor and judge, and the white plaintiff does not get any type of charge or reprimand for using the "n" word, but the six blacks face attempted murder charges (they should face assault charges for sure). Apparently, even in court the blacks and whites sat on separate sides. Sheesh. What I don't get is the overwhelming media and politician response to free these six guys. They freaking attacked someone. Unless it can be proven it was in self-defence, these guys aren't exactly innocent. However, the white guy who instigated the attack should be charged with a hate crime.

The media is not reporting this right. In a lot of reports, it is stated that the D.A. addressed a school assembly and looked directly at the black teens (who of course, were on one side of the gym) and indicated that he can take their lives away with a stroke of a pen. What the media fails to report is that this incident is hotly debated, and there are a number of people who are willing to come forward to contend that this never occurred in the assembly. Yet the media seems to indicate it as fact, since it is fashionable to call for the instant release and the dropping of all charges against the Jena 6. Even in my reading of this case, something doesn't smell right with a lot of incidents. It seems like some of this is taken out of context. Back to my point about the six youths - the media does not place much emphasis on the fact that they attacked that guy. The media also gives more attention than it should to those big mouths Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who of course, can find nothing wrong with any black youth. They will, of course, be involved in the march on Thursday in Jena protested this whole fiasco. There is apparently a petition going around too.

I think in this case, there was definitely wrongs done, but I believe it was on both sides.

I'm not done on this race theme. More tomorrow, with a sports twist.