Jena 6 All-purpose thread

[andyouare?]

Does it matter to anyone that the white kid who got beat up didn't have anything to do with the noose incident?

If you read the story, he was boasting about how one of his friends was involved in another racial incident when the fight started. It's funny how quick you are to view the white kid as an angel.

Also, nothing has ever been printed saying this fight was a direct result of the noose incident. But, again, it's convenient to make an argument based on a point no one is making.

That's funny because the impression I'm getting from all of the civil rights activists is that the noose incident and the beating incident are related.

They're related in that the noose incident was the first step in an escaltion of racial tension.

Sometimes you can learn more about a subject by reading about it. It's called research.

On December 4, in school, a group of black students attacked a white student, Justin Barker, after they heard him bragging about a racial assault his friend had made. Barker, 17, had a concussion and his eye was swollen shut. He spent a few hours in the hospital and on his release went to a party, where friends described him as "his usual smiling self."

 

[93Devil]

Does it matter to anyone that the white kid who got beat up didn't have anything to do with the noose incident?

If you read the story, he was boasting about how one of his friends was involved in another racial incident when the fight started. It's funny how quick you are to view the white kid as an angel.

Also, nothing has ever been printed saying this fight was a direct result of the noose incident. But, again, it's convenient to make an argument based on a point no one is making.

That's funny because the impression I'm getting from all of the civil rights activists is that the noose incident and the beating incident are related.

They're related in that the noose incident was the first step in an escaltion of racial tension.

Sometimes you can learn more about a subject by reading about it. It's called research.

On December 4, in school, a group of black students attacked a white student, Justin Barker, after they heard him bragging about a racial assault his friend had made. Barker, 17, had a concussion and his eye was swollen shut. He spent a few hours in the hospital and on his release went to a party, where friends described him as "his usual smiling self."

I think the point a lot of people are making is that if you did not read 40 - 60 column inches on Jena and instead received your news from the TV, you would think what many of us are/were thinking.

 

[Bill Brasky]

I grew up near Jena -- within an hour or so of the place. If it ain't the absolute asshole of America, it's damn close to it. Jena is one of those places if you have half a brain, you leave town after high school graduation and only come back to visit Mamma and Daddy at Christmas. It's not surprising that crap like this jumps off in such an ass-backwards area.
The sad thing is, Louisiana has changed a lot. The state is on the verge of electing a 37-year-old Indian-American governor, Baton Rouge and Shreveport have youngish black mayors....the mayor of Baton Rouge is a darling of the business/downtown crowd. It's just that you have these pockets of ignorance.

 

[dog428]

This is so stupid. All the way around. Everybody involved. And that includes everyone here, if you're taking a side.

Jesus. They hit a kid from behind, knocked him down and then kicked the **** out of him. Six on one. Excuse me for not giving a damn what happens to the little assholes or what prompted such a pathetic display. This was not a "schoolyard fight." This was the kind of **** that gets somebody dead or eating through a straw.

And the folks at the school deserve to spend a little time in jail, too. This **** should've been squashed with the noose incident. If the punishment for that dumbass move had been severe enough -- and had the punishments for any subsequent actions from either side been severe enough -- none of this would've happened.

The "all-white jury" is bull****. It's a term used by Jesse and Al to add another element of shadiness to this thing. Like Whitlock said, it's not like they weren't allowing blacks on the jury. None showed. You wanna ***** about the racial makeup of the jury, call the dumbasses who ignored the summonses.

And when, exactly, do Jesse and Al lose credibility? They haven't been right about anything since 1967. And here they are -- AGAIN -- glossing over important facts and completely misrepresenting other facts to make their "this is just like Selma" case.

 

[93Devil]

This is so stupid. All the way around. Everybody involved. And that includes everyone here, if you're taking a side.

Jesus. They hit a kid from behind, knocked him down and then kicked the **** out of him. Six on one. Excuse me for not giving a damn what happens to the little assholes or what prompted such a pathetic display. This was not a "schoolyard fight." This was the kind of **** that gets somebody dead or eating through a straw.

And the folks at the school deserve to spend a little time in jail, too. This **** should've been squashed with the noose incident. If the punishment for that dumbass move had been severe enough -- and had the punishments for any subsequent actions from either side been severe enough -- none of this would've happened.

The "all-white jury" is bull****. It's a term used by Jesse and Al to add another element of shadiness to this thing. Like Whitlock said, it's not like they weren't allowing blacks on the jury. None showed. You wanna ***** about the racial makeup of the jury, call the dumbasses who ignored the summonses.

And when, exactly, do Jesse and Al lose credibility? They haven't been right about anything since 1967. And here they are -- AGAIN -- glossing over important facts and completely misrepresenting other facts to make their "this is just like Selma" case.

I agree with everything you typed.

 

[Johnny Dangerously]

Thank you, Jason.
Thank you, dog.

 

[Ace]

dog,

You are correct that there is plenty of blame to go around.

The problem, however, is that only the black kids are held accountable or -- depending on your view -- more than accountable.

No question the school super blew it big time from the start.

 

[Armchair_QB]

dog,

You are correct that there is plenty of blame to go around.

The problem, however, is that only the black kids are held accountable or -- depending on your view -- more than accountable.

No question the school super blew it big time from the start.

And the DA.

And the people who didn't show up for jury duty.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

what I've found interesting is the DA stating that he couldn't find a crime to punish those who hung the noose with. Do they not have harassment or indimidation in Louisiana?

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

Unless Jason was there for the voir dire, he doesn't know **** all what he's talking about. Again. There are any numer of studies demonstrating that the resegregation of juries is continuing apace because judges are unable or unwilling to enforce precedents regarding what can or cannot be used for challenging a juror.
This was a slow simmering race riot for three months and nobody in local law enforcement seemed to give a damn until a white kid, who was bragging about his part in one of the earlier racial incidents, got beat up. And the catalyst was that two black kids had the audacity to sit under :the white tree."
Welcome to 1952.
(Wow, four replies since I started typing.)

 

[Armchair_QB]

Unless Jason was there for the voir dire, he doesn't know **** all what he's talking about. Again. There are any numer of studies demonstrating that the resegregation of juries is continuing apace because judges are unable or unwilling to enforce precedents regarding what can or cannot be used for challenging a juror.
This was a slow simmering race riot for three months and nobody in local law enforcement seemed to give a damn until a white kid, who was bragging about his part in one of the earlier racial incidents, got beat up. And the catalyst was that two black kids had the audacity to sit under :the white tree."
Welcome to 1952.
(Wow, four replies since I started typing.)

Didn't read Whitlock's piece but it's been reported in other outlets no African-Americans showed up for jury duty.

 

[dog428]

dog,

You are correct that there is plenty of blame to go around.

The problem, however, is that only the black kids are held accountable or -- depending on your view -- more than accountable.

No question the school super blew it big time from the start.

That's not entirely true. The white kids were punished. Certainly, an argument can be made that they weren't punished severely enough. But they were punished. Also, I believe I read that another white kid was arrested for attacking a group of blacks kids going to a "white" party.

I'd also like to point out that the media isn't helping **** any either. All of these stories that are slanted in one direction or the other are only adding to the problems. These are freakin' high school kids. There's no such thing as a "white" party. And blow me for writing that dumb ****. What did happen -- the same as it happens in thousands of towns all across the country -- is that a white kid threw a party and his white friends showed up. Works the same for the black kids. 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.

People act like all of this **** was premeditated when it obviously wasn't. It was simply a societal norm: White kids and black kids don't often hang together. Doesn't mean they hate on another. Doesn't mean they don't like one another. Kids hang in groups in which they feel most comfortable. That's the way it works.

That, of course, makes it easier for **** like this to spiral out of control quickly. Someone might want to mention that.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

How many nooses did you hang from a tree the last time two black kids sat under "the white tree" at your local high school?

 

[andyouare?]

Unless Jason was there for the voir dire, he doesn't know **** all what he's talking about. Again. There are any numer of studies demonstrating that the resegregation of juries is continuing apace because judges are unable or unwilling to enforce precedents regarding what can or cannot be used for challenging a juror.
This was a slow simmering race riot for three months and nobody in local law enforcement seemed to give a damn until a white kid, who was bragging about his part in one of the earlier racial incidents, got beat up. And the catalyst was that two black kids had the audacity to sit under :the white tree."
Welcome to 1952.
(Wow, four replies since I started typing.)

Didn't read Whitlock's piece but it's been reported in other outlets no African-Americans showed up for jury duty.

Oh so it's their fault. Because, white juries are incapable of making fair decisions. The only way to avoid biased judgements is to have black people on juries because white people are inherently racist and we shouldn't expect them to make the correct decisions.

 

[Ace]

dog,

You are correct that there is plenty of blame to go around.

The problem, however, is that only the black kids are held accountable or -- depending on your view -- more than accountable.

No question the school super blew it big time from the start.

That's not entirely true. The white kids were punished. Certainly, an argument can be made that they weren't punished severely enough. But they were punished. Also, I believe I read that another white kid was arrested for attacking a group of blacks kids going to a "white" party.

I'd also like to point out that the media isn't helping **** any either. All of these stories that are slanted in one direction or the other are only adding to the problems. These are freakin' high school kids. There's no such thing as a "white" party. And blow me for writing that dumb ****. What did happen -- the same as it happens in thousands of towns all across the country -- is that a white kid threw a party and his white friends showed up. Works the same for the black kids. 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.

People act like all of this **** was premeditated when it obviously wasn't. It was simply a societal norm: White kids and black kids don't often hang together. Doesn't mean they hate on another. Doesn't mean they don't like one another. Kids hang in groups in which they feel most comfortable. That's the way it works.

That, of course, makes it easier for **** like this to spiral out of control quickly. Someone might want to mention that.

Being suspended from school = being charged as an adult for attempted murder?

One is school discipline and the other is the judicial system being involved.

So, no, I wouldn't say the original pricks who started this were punished at all.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Unless Jason was there for the voir dire, he doesn't know **** all what he's talking about. Again. There are any numer of studies demonstrating that the resegregation of juries is continuing apace because judges are unable or unwilling to enforce precedents regarding what can or cannot be used for challenging a juror.
This was a slow simmering race riot for three months and nobody in local law enforcement seemed to give a damn until a white kid, who was bragging about his part in one of the earlier racial incidents, got beat up. And the catalyst was that two black kids had the audacity to sit under :the white tree."
Welcome to 1952.
(Wow, four replies since I started typing.)

Didn't read Whitlock's piece but it's been reported in other outlets no African-Americans showed up for jury duty.

Oh so it's their fault. Because, white juries are incapable of making fair decisions. The only way to avoid biased judgements is to have black people on juries because white people are inherently racist and we shouldn't expect them to make the correct decisions.

Ummm...no. Jesse and Al are up to their race-baiting best implying that the jury was rigged because it was all white, when in reality the only reason that happened was because none of the black people called for duty showed up.

 

[Terence Mann]

There are problems, small-minded people, racist people and all manner of ugliness in Jena. That doesn't change the reality that what Whitlock wrote needed to be said.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

Given the history of that place, and given the demonstrable and obvious disparity in the enforcement of the law -- something that even the appeals court repeatedly has noticed -- and given this little episode from the local prosecutor:

"According to testimony in a later motion in court, the D.A. reportedly threatened the protesting black students, saying that if they didn't stop making a fuss about this "innocent prank I can be your best friend or your worst enemy. I can take away your lives with a stroke of my pen." The school was put on lockdown for the rest of the week."

...I'd say the "all-white jury" in Jena means pretty much what it's always meant.

 

[Armchair_QB]

The DA is a racist piece of **** but he's not the reason it was an all-white jury.

 

[dog428]

How many nooses did you hang from a tree the last time two black kids sat under "the white tree" at your local high school?

Blow me.

Is that how you do it? When you can't come up with good answers to the questions, you toss out a backhanded racism charge?

They beat a kid. Six on one. Tough to spin that ****.

And Ace, same answer. They beat a kid. Hanging nooses is hanging nooses. Beating someone in a six-on-one attack is a whole different matter. Schools have started doing this now. Whenever there's a fight, even the standard one-on-one, the cops show and fill out a juvenile offender report.

Seems right to me. Having the police involved often stops the escalation. Now, the charges are a different story. Those were bull****. The white kids should've been punished more severely. The black kids should've been punished by the precedent set. Surely this isn't the first fight in the town. There has to be a precedent.