I've refrained from discussing anything concerning the Jena 6 case primarily because I wanted to see how (or if) any mainstream media outlets would pick up on what's going on and give some accounts from the students, residents and law enforcement officials. Aside from NPR, most of the MSM outlets have been late to the game in their coverage, perhaps because of the outcry of injustice from members of the blogosphere on their preference to talking about Black celebrity goof-ups, like Michael Vick, Whoopi Goldberg and O.J. Simpson.
But aside from all that's going on with the case, I've noticed there's been a recent surge in the number of racial incidents, snafus, faux-pas, uh-oh's and other foolishment which have been reported. Here's just a small sampling from the past six months:
- A Black woman in Logan, WV was tortured and sexually assaulted for at least a week at the hands of six White people, forcing her to eat rat and dog feces and drink from the toilet.
- A noose was hung in a tree at the University of Maryland outside of the school's Nyumburu Cultural Center, which some students refer to as the Black Cultural Center.
- A cartoonist was forced from his post at the University of Virginia after depicting an "Ethiopian Food Fight" as loinclothed people in a brawl using chairs, boots and tree branches. Ironically, this story came out the same week Ethiopia celebrates their millennium.
- Rush Limbaugh creates and sings a song on his nationally syndicated talk show called "Barack, the Magic Negro". Unsurprisingly, he still has a job.
- A Christian academy celebrates their graduation with a big ol' Blackface party…with pictures on the web! How 'bout those Christian values?
- University of Maryland students host a Cinco de Mayo party where people dress up as gardeners, construction workers and cleaning people…then post the racist pictures on the web!
- White Harvard students, alarmed among seeing several Black people on the quad playing flag football, call the police on them. Only those Black people are Harvard students too. Oops, my bad!
- Don Imus. No link necessary, really.
If you're a minority in America, shit like this has to make you wonder if anything has really changed in the grand scope of race relations in the past forty or so years. For every link that's here, there are probably tens of hundreds of other incidents which haven't been reported that are going on every day.
Perhaps what's worse than this reality is the atmosphere of intolerance towards those who speak up against it. They're called race baiters or asked why they can't just "get over it" (the "it" being slavery/discrimination/getting called a racial slur, etc.). Well it's kind of hard to get over something when you're always under some kind of discrimination based on your race, either overt or covert. And it's not just a "Southern" thing, as evidenced by the links above; it seems the further removed the offenders are from the source of their offense, the more it's deemed "OK" and "not a big deal".
America seriously needs to have a knock-down, drag-out, 12-round honest discussion about race and race relations. Otherwise, incidents like Jena and Logan, WV and the countless college "race themed" parties are going to continue to happen, and people will keep wondering why.
Name's Karsh. 27. Country-born, city-raised, 
& you blks dont have a collage fund just for u & blks frat houses just for u and so many blks have to be working in a place acorrding to the EEO.. give me a break!!! pull your pants up and wear a bealt
Said by shea — 9/20/2007 @ 4:14 pm
Sheila, you need to take your poorly spelled opinions elsewhere, because that tripe don't fly here, sister.
Said by karsh — 9/20/2007 @ 4:16 pm
These guys are not innocent even under their supporters' account. They were provoked by words and responded with a six on one beat down. These are not good people and they don't belong on the street. The murder charges have been dropped, so this whole thing is moot. In what world does such a violent assault go unpunished?
PS It's still legal under the First Amendment to show nooses on a tree or dress as a gardener and all the rest. It might mean you can get suspended from school–which the offenders were–but that's it. Maybe you should read the Constitution sometime.
Said by Roach — 9/20/2007 @ 4:41 pm
OK Roach, a couple of things to clear up for you:
I agree that the Jena 6 are not innocent; they are, however, being subject to discrimination under the city's judicial system, and that's where the issue comes in.
As to whether or not the Jena 6 are "good people" and if they belong on the street…well that's for the judge to decide. Given the already outrageous behavior based on the charges, it's hard to say if the decision won't be given with some form of bias. I don't know them personally, so let's not go there.
The murder charges have not been dropped for all the members of the Jena 6; they've only been reduced to aggravated second-degree battery for Mychal Bell, and aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy for Carwin Jones, Theo Shaw and Robert Bailey, Jr. The other teenagers are still being tried and charged as adults.
This "whole thing" is not moot; for every Jena, LA, there are other cases going on in this country which aren't getting this much attention from bloggers and/or the media and go largely unnoticed or unenforced. At least with Jena, should things go in the Six's favor, would set an established precedent.
No one is questioning the legality or constitutionality of using or displaying symbols of hate or scorn, so bringing that up didn't even make any sense. Don't insult my intelligence AND yours by spouting off nonsense.
Said by karsh — 9/20/2007 @ 4:56 pm
Holy cow Karsh the idiots sure do come out in droves. My 2 cents on the Jena 6 incident. Do the Jena 6 need to be punished….a resounding yes. They committed a crime and so they should be punished but within the limits of the law. I believe that they all should be charged with assault. The ridiculous part is that the school didn't exercise proper judgement after all of these events had been transpiring on their own grounds. Sad I must say. By the way Roach speech meant to incite hate (i.e., cross-burning, hanging nooses in a tree) is not protected under the First Amendment. So get your facts straight. Personally all the kids involved in should get a whooping and the parents should have been parents and exercised some parental skills.
Said by Damon — 9/20/2007 @ 8:40 pm
It's like I tell people when that ask why I've pulled the "race card". I calmly reply that the "race card" never left the table and I simply point to it's existence.
Said by JW Richard — 9/21/2007 @ 2:17 am
I totally agree with JW Richard. It's really interesting because in a lot of my classes we discuss hot button issues with race obviously being in the forefront. It's usually my white professors who are quick to lament that "race doesn't exist" because it implies that there is one group of people are better than the other… I find this incredibly offensive even though I know some people have only good intentions when believing this. Too bad the media reports these incidents as "isolated cases" when it's obviously rampant not just in the south and its environs but in largely diverse areas as well.
Said by Jesse — 9/22/2007 @ 5:53 am
Really, "hate speech" not protected under the First Amendment. No intimidation, "fighting words," and the like are not protected. But abstract "hate speech" is perfectly protected. The Supreme Court upheld the right of friggin' Neo-Nazis to march in Skokie Illinois in the late seventies, and America lacks the often abused "hate speech" laws common in England and Europe. So get your facts right. PS I'm a lawyer, I doubt you are. So don't talk about things you're not expert in and make sweeping and false pronouncements on Constitutional law. The US Attorneys and local prosecutors both investigated whether they could prosecute the noose folks and found they could not. Incidentally, I think that kind of speech is totally obnoxious and should be grounds for expulsion. But it's not a crime in America to spout hate of other races or ayone else. Indeed, if it were, where would Al Sharpton and Farrakhan be able to ply their own hate speech against white people. You all are focusing on something that is a minor problem compared to black criminality, black on black crime, the breakdown of the black family, and the other black-caused black problems in America.
Said by Roach — 9/22/2007 @ 11:44 am
Roach, your namesake speaks for itself. I've douchebagged your comments to reflect that. Don't come back now, ya hear?
Said by karsh — 9/23/2007 @ 12:34 am
"I agree that the Jena 6 are not innocent…"
Actually, they may be more innocent than the DA is willing to admit.
By all accounts from the Louisiana webloggers who have been following Jena and Mychael Bell's trial, there's a very good chance one or more, including Mychael Bell, had nothing to do with the white kid getting hit or knocked down. It may have been more 2 or 3 of the kids involved, but everyone just lumped all the black kids present into a 'gang' of attackers.
The only person who identified Mychael Bell as an attacker is one of the people who hung one of the nooses that helped start this chain of events. Not someone I would find credible.
Even now, Bell is being held for a 'conspiracy' charge. What conspiracy? That he showed up for school that day? That he wore tennis shoes?
That he's black?
People are taking this 'six on one' story the DA gave out and are accepting it as fact, when it's anything but.
As for showing the nooses being legal that's not completely true. Any act that's meant to intimidate or threaten members of a specific race or religion is considered a 'hate crime', especially since the nooses were hung on public property. The reason the FBI didn't go after the kids who hung the nooses is because hate crimes are harder to prove with kids.
Something about kids doing stupid things, which I guess is allowed for white kids, but not black.
Said by Shelley — 9/24/2007 @ 9:07 am
is shea literate? what gibberish was that?
Said by Catigula — 10/1/2007 @ 11:50 pm