I don't know if you girls keep up with the news or not, but have you heard the story about the "Jena 6"? In case you haven't, here's the story.......At Jena High School in Louisiana, there was a tree under which white guys were known for 'hanging out.' One day, some of the black students asked administrators if they could go under that tree, and they were told that was fine. Before the black students got under the tree, they saw that a group of white students left nooses hanging in the tree to taunt them. Days later, six black students beat one white student to the point of unconsciousness. The white student, however, had not played a part in the hanging of the nooses. Now, the black community is in an uproar because they say the black students, who are being accused of attempted murder, are being treated unfairly and getting an undeserved, harsh penalty. Since the occurrence, people have protested the treatment of the students, and the infamous tree has been cut down.
First of all, why do we still have idiots who can't accept people just because they are of a different race? The white guys who hung the nooses are stupid--plain and simple. And the black students had a right to be angry and even to confront the whites for their stupidity. But six guys beating one guy until he was unconscious?? That's outrageous--and the fact that the person they beat wasn't even involved?? How does that make sense--even to those who committed the act?
The people who beat the victim should be convicted of attempted murder--I don't care if they're aqua colored with purple polka dots! I find it hard to swallow that some black people would support these thugs just because they are black people who were offended by something other people (not the victim) did. I don't say, "Hey, let so-and-so-white-guy out of jail after he beat up a black person just because he's white, and I am too." I say, PUNISH THE GUILTY. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, as usual, are standing up for the wrong things for the wrong reasons and leading some of the African-American community astray--others, thankfully, think for themselves and know that the black students in this case were in the wrong no matter what.
Violence like that which has occurred in this case should be punished severely. The black students had nothing but hate in their hearts as they kicked one helpless guy until he was out like a light. I also think the white people who put up the nooses should be put in jail for a hate crime. What is wrong with these people? Seriously?!
As for the tree, I don't like when people cut down trees. Couldn't they have just planted flowers all around it, so students couldn't congregate under it? :-P
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That was a nice summary, blogger. Here is another article related to the Jena 6 saga that I think makes some very salient points. Here are some highlights:
"The demonstrators have plenty to be upset about: racial segregation; racially disproportionate arrest, prosecution, and incarceration rates; and a pervasive societal racism that is passed from generation to generation. But because none of these sadly common racial injustices have a discrete cause, none are likely to respond to the type of quick and specific reform that a demonstration can demand. As a result, the march on Jena was a bit unfocused. It's telling that the demonstrators moved between the courthouse where Bell was tried for an offense no one denies he committed and the site of the "white tree" that, with all-too-fitting symbolism, has since been cut down. "Free the Jena 6" has become a rallying cry, perhaps because, "Stop Informal Segregation and Prosecutorial Overzealousness That Disproportionately Affects African-Americans Here and Elsewhere" won't fit on T-shirt or a placard. (And the Rev. Sharpton, who has led rallies in support of self-segregation in ethnic theme houses at Cornell University, is especially ill-positioned to lead the way forward in this respect.)
The 21st century's civil rights movement will need more sympathetic poster children than the Jena 6. These young men weren't exactly engaged in peaceful civil disobedience when they ran afoul of the law. The injustice here is not that they are being prosecuted for their crime—it is that the many other wrongs that preceded the assault have been inadequately addressed. When you think about it, the logic that underlies the demand to free the Jena 6 comes down to this: These six young men were justified in kicking their lone victim senseless because other people who shared his race committed offenses against other black students. This sort of racial vendetta is diametrically opposed to the message of social justice and cross-racial understanding that underlies the civil rights movement of the last century."
http://www.slate.com/id/2174600/nav/ais/
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