Jena 6 All-purpose thread

Dog, what about the gun incident where the black kid is charged while the white kid isn't? What about the kid that got jumped (certainly something that shouldn't have occurred) bragging about his involvement with the racist activity?

 

Maybe if ever guy who bragged about being a bigot got blasted by six guys there's less racism.

 

Apparently there is quite a precedent, since the Civil War, apparently.

Which side are you arguing on, anyway?

 

Blow yourself, dog.
This is what you wrote:
"Sometimes, there's some intermingling of the two groups, but not often. And that doesn't necessarily mean that the two groups dislike one another. They just don't want to hang out together. BFD."

If I read that right, your contention is that this is a fairly typical example of a widespread high school dynamic that is being exaggerated by outside agitators into a racial issue when it is a straightforward assault case resulting from a prank.

I'd say hanging nooses from "the white tree" in reaction to some black kids standing under "the white tree" is a fairly clear statement that it;s more than "two groups" who "dislike" each other.

 

The kid wasn't bragging about his part in an earlier assault he was allegedly boasting about a friend.

 

I've been following (unfortunately) this Jena thing since last year when it all happened. My personal opinions don't really fucking matter, because I'll never be called to sit on a jury in Jena. But since this is the Internet and I'm allowed to say what I feel, here goes.

The three students involved in the noose-hanging incident should have been expelled and charged with hate crimes or whatever intimidation law this silly state has. The six students involved in the beating of another student should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, if found guilty. The district attorney should resign immediately for making such a stupid and bullish statement. People who are wearing T-shirts that say "Free the Jena 6" should re-evaluate what message they're sending.

With that said, let's say the three students are expelled. How does that stop the 6-on-1 fight from ever happening? The kid that got beat down wasn't involved in the noose-hanging incident. His crime was bragging about one of his friends beating up one of the kids that eventually jumped him and stomped his lifeless body until another student stepped in and stopped them from killing him or rendering him permanently disabled.

Whatever happened to "sticks and stones." Should every Jew go on a maniacal rampage everytime someone brings up the Holocaust? Should every Irishman(woman) start stomping people out when the potato famine is brought up? Racism will always exist as long as races exist. Sexism will always exist as long as there are two sexes. NOTHING will ever erase that. NOTHING. You can preach all you want and march all you want, but somewhere in this world, someone will hate you simply because of the color of your skin, or your gender, or your sexual preference, or because you're fat. Thinking that one day all of this will go away is believing in a utopia that will never exist. Sorry, but it's the truth.

Whatever happened to turn the other cheek? I'm a fat guy, with a hint of nerd in me. I got picked on all the time growing up. Did I ever think about taking a baseball bat to the skull of the person picking on me? Yeah. Did I do it? Nope, because I didn't want to go to fucking jail. It's not that hard of a decision to make. You CAN avoid confrontation, it's rather easy.

Now to address some of the factual errors being made repeatedly in the media. This beating that took place was NOT connected to the noose incident. It took place months after the noose incident and the kid that got beat was not one of the individuals involved in the noose-hanging incident, as has been reported in various media outlets. There has always been racial tension in Jena and there will probably always be racial tension in Jena. Secondly, it was an all-white jury because only 1/3 of the summoned parties actually showed up for jury selection. If only 50 people show up out of 200 summoned, and those 50 are all white, what else can you do? And thirdly, the kid did not attend a friend's party after being beaten. He attended a school ring ceremony. Some media outlets are making it sound like he got his ass whipped, went to the hospital, then immediately went back to partying it up again.

Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of people who are guilty of something in this situation. What bothers me is these people who are only reading one side of the story. Like the people walking around with "Free the Jena 6" T-shirts. What kind of a message will that send? That beating a kid to the point of unconsciousness and continuing to stomp him is OK? What if, for the sake of argument, the roles were reversed and that kid that got beaten was black and the kids doing the beating were white? Would those T-shirts then read "Fry the Jena 6". What if the black kid had been joking about how one of his friends had kicked one of the white guys' asses the night before? Is it OK then to beat and stomp him then?

And why aren't Jesse Jackson and Sharpton in Lafayette Parish right now? In the first month of school, there have been 129 total arrests. Recently, 24 students were sent to alternative schools after back-to-back brawls resulted in the arrests of 30 students. A couple of days ago, nine more students were arrested at a different school when a brawl broke out across the street from the school. Could it be because all of those fights were black-on-black fights and Revs. Jackson and Sharpton don't really care about brothers fighting brothers. They only care about their political agenda and making it seem like every single problem black people face these days are brought on by the white man. I call bullshit.

 

Snakes, both of them.

 

Which story garnered more attention?

Jena 6 or the Knoxville murder/rape where 5 blacks killed a white couple?

 

Poverty pimps.

If they don't keep stoking racial hatred they'd have to start working for a living. They need as many African-Americans to stay as poor and under-educated as possible for as long as possible.

 

Considering I've never heard of the Knoxville murder/rape incident, I would say Jena 6. Of course, I live in Louisiana, and it's all over the news. Then again, it's been on CNN for a couple of days now too.

 

Are you saying that hanging a noose in a tree, dumb, stupid and racist as it is, should be punished with the same jail time as for assault and battery?

 

I just don't see how a noose equates to a schoolyard prank, but a schoolyard fight is attempted murder. The community leaders sure found a way to turn a teachable moment into a trip on the wayback machine.

There is no excuse for the noose or the fight. Stuff like this doesn't just happen out of nowhere though. This whole mess is clearly the result of many people failing to act properly.

This community clearly has issues. The whites I saw interviewed on TV had the attitude of it's the outsiders stirring things up that have caused all the problems. It might be true. But if your drinking is causing problems in your life, you have a drinking problem. If there are problems (perceived or real) relating to race in your community, you have a racial problem.

Nothing like having your town's name linked with Selma, Philadelphia Miss., Birmingham, Montgomery, Boston, Little Rock, and Jackson.

I always wished I was old enough to enjoy the 1960s and now the 60s are back.