"Outsiders need to stay away." That's what Billy Fowler of the school board in Jena, Louisiana, said about those who have raised concerns about the sentencing imposed on six African American boys -- ages 15-17 -- facing 100 years in prison.
Outsiders are always what people in the South have called those who challenge racism. But the story of Jena is not an outsider/insider story. It's a story about the worst tradition of what is known as Southern Justice. And like in the days of Jim Crow, it's a story where any shades of grey matter far less than black and white.
The issue by now has become well known: discussed on CNN and in the pages of USA Today. At Jena High School, a black student received permission from school authorities to sit underneath what was known as "the white tree" (remarkable that he felt he had to ask!) The next day, in retribution, three nooses hung from the branches, threats that they would soon be harvesting "strange fruit."
In protest black students collectively decided to sit under the tree. This a bold and beautiful act in the spirit of the best traditions of the '60s. They refused to comply with racist terror, even when those threats are as drastic as being lynched for simply not staying in your place.
And just like in the old South, the state made clear which side it was on. The town DA, Reid Walters, actually had the audacity to threaten only the black students, telling them that he had the power to ruin their lives with the stroke of his pen if they continued to make trouble.
Tensions escalated over the course of the semester. Two black students were beaten by a white student while another group of black students were threatened with a shotgun by a former classmate. Surprisingly, none of the white students or former students were punished in any way for these incidents.
But the following Monday when a white student was beaten up by six black classmates, they were immediately arrested and charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder, charges that would put them in jail for 100 years without parole. The Jena 6 ranges in age from 15-17. The white student spent three hours in a hospital emergency room and required no further medical care.
Mychall Bell was the first student tried. He was represented by a public defender that called no witness, and was quickly convicted by an all-white jury, white judge, and now faces up to 22 years in prison.
Recently, in response to a public outcry about the case, prosecutors have announced that charges against Shaw and Jones had been reduced to lesser felonies. But the need to be heard on this continues. Two other students, Robert Bailey Jr. and Bryant Purvis, still await trial for attempted murder. Bell's conviction has been allowed to stand even though the judge ruled he had been improperly convicted in an adult court when he should have been tried as a juvenile. Shaw and Jones still face years in prison.
As Billy Hunter, the head of the National Basketball Player's association, said:
"The situation in Jena, Louisiana is abominable and rotten to the core. The actions of the District Attorney demonstrate that "racism and bigotry are live and well in Jena ." As a former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California and Assistant Chief in the S.F. District Attorney's Office, it is my opinion that the District Attorney's has severely overcharged the case revealing his bias against the six black Jena youth. His actions should serve as a wake-up call for all Americans who believe in an impartial and fair criminal justice system."
This is a case that should outrage any individual regardless of the color of their skin. When the justice system can be a direct symbol of racism, injustice and terror, the very moral fiber of our society is threatened. This is not a time for neutrality. Insiders and so-called outsiders will be marching in Jena on September 20th. We will also be circulating a statement in the world of sports for those who choose to support the efforts to have the charges against the Jena 6 dismissed. The simple truth is that when it comes to issues of basic justice, there are no such thing as "outsiders."
If that's not what you meant, then I'm sure you get my point and I don't have to rant.
It always destroys itself eventually. That was the design plan.
A racist is a self-dooming device. An abused junkyard dog.
I've never seen a white tree in America. Could someone please place a short film of this unusual tree on You Tube to afford us the opportunity to see what all the fuss is really about?
The fact that educated people (school authorities) needed to apportion time for students to visit this tree must be an indication of either its' historical value or its' rarity as a plant. Let's not lose this opportunity to preserve the image of another forgotten piece of American lore, or maybe even a taxonomic rarity.
We all need to look inside ourselves rather than blame only the south. It is too easy to say "they" are doing it.
I understand the roots of racism-it is fear and ignorance. These are usually instilled at home. I know.
My parents came from Southern Illinois, as a small white kid growing up in California, I had to listen to them call blacks the n word. Even as a small child, this word wounded me in some way, but rather than make me a racist, it made me question my parentsʻ thinking and judgment.
There were no black kids in my school, one Asian, and numerous Hispanics. So when I went to college and saw actual black students, I was enchanted by their exotic difference and was attracted to them.
Meanwhile, my mother went to work with black women, and learned to care for and respect them, and stopped using racist language. However, when I brought home a black date, the fear emerged once again.
You see, where she grew up, her family was so racist that even the Portuguese neighbors were considered too dark to consort with. I remember her mentioning how handsome the Portuguese boys were, but that her mother would not allow her to date them.
She also told me how she and her sibs would tease black kids and get chased home from school every day. Her elocution lessons included a parody of black speech.
No matter how we are raised, as thinking adults we can all choose tolerance.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/14/jena.six/index.html
How any person of color could willingly remain in the South is beyond me. I would be scared to death every day of my life.
were do you think bush gets his hired guns?
how long did the blacks wait at the superdome after the flood? if those would have been white neo cons they would have been out in a day.
racism warmongering wars for profits corporate corruption, and corrupt congress and white house. looks like we Americans have some choices to make.
dont count on American standing up anytime soon. it took years to end the war in nam and there was a draft. No draft very little protest.
we Americans would rather spend time at the mall then protest or for that matter even take time to vote.
a lot of Americans don’t vote because they feel the system is so corrupt their vote does not matter.
We Americans love our war heroes even if they bomb women and children with napalm and the war was illegal like Vietnam. I.e. mc Cain. Wonder how many heroes the Germans had during world war II?
white-euro ethnic- People will never understand racism, since it was they who thrust it on Black People. Blacks never came to the USA hating whites or with predjudice. When white people scream about Black's being victims it's quite sad, there almost appears to be a sense of envy, because they-white folks- so desperately want to claim victim status for themselves. White people are angry over equal rights, fear/loss of skin privilege being dismantled, fear of a non white dominated nation, the fear that they too may be slaves...now that's a thought.
When white-euro ethnics-stop blaming others for their shortcomings then we may move on the path to healing, but until white -euro-ethnics-come to terms that they have benefited from slavery, their ancestors and themselves, then it's going to be a bumpy bad ride. And the whole when-my-forefathers-came-over here is so old, they didn't come over in bondage, they came over and became white, with all the benefits.
And remember one thing angry white folks, American culture was created by Black African people, if it wasn't for the Blues, Jazz, Ragtime, Be Bop, Swing, Funk, Ska, Reggae, and the creation of Black popular music, Elvis would probably be pushing meth somewhere, Jerry Lee Lewis would be lost in the Blue Ridge, and the Beatles would be out of work Dockers. White America didn't create American culture, they stole it. Slavery built America, prepped it for the Irish and the Polish and the Germans and the Jews and Italians etc; free labor created America.
Funny I would assume that a great majority of posters here can't count a single Black person as a friend, cause if you did you'd never call Black's victims. Black people never refer to themselves as victims, it's part of the white lexicon; Race Card, Chip on your shoulder, OJ, welfare cheat, urban, thug, gangster, Hip Hop, Gangster Rap, Inner city. I just love white folks who are such authority's on Black folk.
Mychal Bell's conviction was overturned earlier today!!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070914/ap_on_re_us/school_fight;_ylt=At2e2kX4jQmmgWGcNJN1geGs0NUE