Friday, June 29, 2007

Racism in Jena, Louisiana

Racism endures

As Rick Perlstein noted, “The ‘racism isn’t a problem any more’ trope is a perennial in America. Next time you hear it, send them the news from Jena, Louisiana.”

In September 2006, a group of African American high school students in Jena, Louisiana, asked the school for permission to sit beneath a “whites only” shade tree. There was an unwritten rule that blacks couldn’t sit beneath the tree. The school said they didn’t care where students sat. The next day, students arrived at school to see three nooses (in school colors) hanging from the tree….

The boys who hung the nooses were suspended from school for a few days. The school administration chalked it up as a harmless prank, but Jena’s black population didn’t take it so lightly. Fights and unrest started breaking out at school. The District Attorney, Reed Walters, was called in to directly address black students at the school and told them all he could “end their life with a stroke of the pen.”

Black students were assaulted at white parties. A white man drew a loaded rifle on three black teens at a local convenience store. (They wrestled it from him and ran away.) Someone tried to burn down the school, and on December 4th, a fight broke out that led to six black students being charged with attempted murder. To his word, the D.A. pushed for maximum charges, which carry sentences of eighty years. Four of the six are being tried as adults (ages 17 & 18) and two are juveniles….

The mind reels.

via Crooks and Liars

theteach

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't know if you're merely regurgitating the leftwing propaganda surrounding this issue, or if you are intentionally lying. Regardless here are the FACTS of what occurred in Jena, LA:

1. Jena H.S. blacks took over the picnic tables, the grassy area by the gym, etc. and pushed the white kids out. The white kids then gravitated to the end of the campus and sat under a tree at lunch. The blacks dubbed it "the white tree", and they decided to push the white kids from there, too. Three white kids hung nooses from the tree in protest, and they were suspended from school.

2. A group of black kids attempted to crash an off-campus party attended by black and white kids. One of the black party crashers was kicked and punched.

3. A group of blacks jumped a lone white kid at a convenience market. The white kid ran to his pickup truck and retrieved a shotgun (not a rifle) to defend himself. The blacks assaulted and beat him anyway...and then stole the shotgun.

4. Finally, six blacks jumped a white kid in a school hallway and beat him into unconciousness. After the white kid was on the ground and unconcious, Mychal Bell continued to kick him in the head until dragged away by teachers.

The only "racism" I see in this issue is black on white racism. Shallow thinkers blindly swallow the propaganda they're fed. Intelligent people do some research before forming their opinions and before repeating lies all over the internet.

maryt/theteach said...

Anon, I don't know where you're getting your info but you are so wrong and way off base I'm not going to bother arguing with you.

Here are links for you to get your facts straight:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?
sid=07/07/10/1413220
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/
324177_amygoodman19.html
http://electronicvillage.
blogspot.com/2007/08/
jena-6-american-tragedy.html

And, you know, why did you think you had to remain anonymous when commenting on my post. I'm out there and so are hundreds of others supporting the Jena Six and Mychal Bell.

I can only think that maybe you come from Jena, maybe you're trying to defend a town that can't be defended.

maryt/theteach said...

Oh and BTW, anon here's another post of mine about chopping down the "white tree" that white students hung 3 nooses from.

http://maryt.wordpress.com/
2007/08/30/save-the-jena-6/

Unknown said...

Anon - Your spin on the facts is the first that I've seen of its kind. I accept that you beleive what you've written. High school hi-jinks, high school fights. Nothing that warrants hundreds of years in jail. And even you would acknowledge that placing the nooses in the tree was beyond the pale ... wouldn't you?

peace, Villager

maryt/theteach said...

Thanks Villager, I appreciate your visiting and posting.