Matthews' coverage of Jena Six limited to Jackson's Obama comments
SUMMARY: Hardball addressed the so-called Jena Six case for the first time on September 19, but the report focused only on Rev. Jesse Jackson's reported comment that Sen. Barack Obama was "acting like he's white" in his response to the matter. By contrast, the same edition of Hardball spent nearly 14 minutes on the O.J. Simpson case. The September 20 edition of Hardball featured no coverage of the Jena Six despite a thousand-plus march in Jena that day.
On September 19, for the first time since the story first broke 10 months ago, MSNBC's Hardball addressed the case of the so-called Jena Six -- a group of six black high school students in Jena, Louisiana, arrested in December 2006 and charged with the attempted murder of a white student following a schoolyard fight, charges that were later reduced to battery and conspiracy. The fight followed weeks of racially charged incidents -- including the hanging of nooses in a tree at the school, fights, protests, and arson -- which have sparked ongoing civil rights protests over the charges and allegations of vastly disparate treatment of the black and white students involved in the various incidents. However, despite Hardball's previous lack of coverage and a major recent development in the controversy -- an appellate court's dismissal on September 14 of a battery conviction against one of the Jena Six -- host Chris Matthews' treatment of the Jena Six incident was limited to Rev. Jesse Jackson's reported comment that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) was "acting like he's white" in his response to the Jena Six matter. Matthews offered only a brief explanation of the facts surrounding the Jena Six, instead focusing the discussion on Jackson and Obama saying: "Jackson doesn't like the fact, apparently, that the Illinois senator isn't down in Jena, Louisiana, with him and Al Sharpton protesting the arrest of several black juveniles for attempted murder."
In contrast to his brusque treatment of the Jena Six case, Matthews opened his September 19 show with a nearly 14-minute report on the recent arrest of former football player O.J. Simpson in Las Vegas. The September 17 and 18 editions of Hardball also featured lengthy reports on Simpson's arrest.
Furthermore, the September 20 edition of Hardball featured no coverage of the Jena Six despite a rally in Jena that day in which more than 10,000 people were reported to have traveled from across the country to attend protests over the treatment of the six black students.
As The New York Times reported on September 19, the series of events that led to the arrest of the Jena Six began in September 2006, when a black student at Jena High School sat under what was known as the "White Tree" -- named so "because of the kind of people who typically sat beneath its shade" -- and "[t]hree nooses quickly appeared on the tree a day after the black student sat under it." The Washington Post reported on August 4:
A few weeks after the nooses were discovered in September, an arsonist torched a wing of Jena High School. Race fights roiled the town for days, culminating in a schoolyard brawl that led the LaSalle Parish district attorney to charge six black teenagers with attempted murder for beating up a white teenager who suffered no life-threatening injuries.
[...]
The white teenager who was beaten, Justin Barker, 17, was knocked out but walked out of a hospital after two hours of treatment for a concussion and an eye that was swollen shut. He attended a ring ceremony later that night.
District Attorney Reed Walters said in December that his decision to prosecute the black teenagers to the full extent of the law had nothing to do with race. He would not comment further on the case while it is pending. But black residents in Jena said issues of race permeate their town, 230 miles northwest of New Orleans.
Several other racially charged incidents preceded the fight, including one in which one of the accused reportedly wrestled an unloaded shotgun away from a white student who was brandishing it at him. The black student ended up being charged with theft of a firearm, while the white student was not charged at all. According to a July 30 report on NPR.org:
The day after the nooses were hung, they reportedly organized a silent protest under the tree.
The school called an assembly and summoned the police and the district attorney. Black students sat on one side, whites on the other. District Attorney Reed Walters warned the students he could be their friend or their worst enemy. He lifted his fountain pen and said, "With one stroke of my pen, I can make your life disappear."
That evening, black students told their parents that the DA was looking right at them. Walters denies that. Billy Fowler, a member of the school board, doesn't believe it, either.
"He said some pretty strong things," says Fowler, "but I don't think he was directing it to anyone in particular. I think he just wanted people to calm it down."
But things didn't calm down. Some whites felt triumphant; some blacks were resentful. Fights began to break out at the high school. But that year, the football team was having an unusually good season and the black athletes were a major reason why. So while there were fights throughout the fall, nobody wanted to take any action that would hurt the team.
When the season was over, so was the truce. On Nov. 30, somebody burned down Jena High. Whites thought blacks were responsible, blacks thought the opposite.
Charges and Public Outrage
The next night, 16-year-old Robert Bailey and a few black friends tried to enter a party attended mostly by whites. When Bailey got inside, he was attacked and beaten. The next day, tensions escalated at a local convenience store. Bailey exchanged words with a white student who had been at the party. The white boy ran back to his truck and pulled out a pistol grip shotgun. Bailey ran after him and wrestled him for the gun.
After some scuffling, Bailey and his friends took the gun away and brought it home. Bailey was eventually charged with theft of a firearm, second-degree robbery and disturbing the peace. The white student who pulled the weapon was not charged at all.
As the September 19 Times noted, the attempted murder charges drew outcry from civil rights groups, who claimed the charges were excessive and racially motivated. According to the Times, "the charges of attempted murder have been scaled back to offenses like aggravated battery and conspiracy," but civil rights advocates maintained that the scaled-back charges are still disproportionate to the offense, and organized a September 20 demonstration "against what they say is the unfair treatment of the black students."
On September 4, 17-year-old Mychal Bell, the only one of the Jena Six to actually be tried and convicted -- on charges of battery and conspiracy -- had his conspiracy conviction thrown out by Judge J.P. Mauffray, who ruled that a juvenile cannot be charged with conspiracy as an adult. Mauffray, however, upheld the battery conviction, rejecting arguments that a juvenile can not be tried as an adult for battery. The Associated Press reported on September 5:
A judge has thrown out one of the two charges against the first black student tried for beating up a white student at Jena High School, saying juveniles cannot be charged with conspiracy in adult court.
But Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr. rejected arguments that, for the same reason, he should throw out the aggravated second-degree battery charge on which Mychal Bell also was convicted.
[...]
Murder and attempted murder are charges on which a juvenile can be tried as an adult, but aggravated battery is not, defense attorney Bob Noel argued.
He said LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters used "bait-and-switch" tactics to try Bell as an adult. Bell was indicted on a charge of attempted murder, but Walters changed to the battery charge before trial, as he did Tuesday with the charges against two more students, Carwin Jones and Theo Shaw.
But Mauffray agreed with Walters that, once a case against a juvenile is in adult court, reducing the charge did not automatically return the case to juvenile court.
Walters quoted state law: "The court exercising criminal jurisdiction shall retain jurisdiction over the child's case, even though he pleads guilty to or is convicted of a lesser included offense."
On September 14, a Louisiana state appeals court overturned Mauffray's ruling and threw out the battery conviction, finding that juveniles cannot, in fact, legally be tried as adults for battery in Louisiana. The Washington Post reported on September 15:
A Louisiana appeals court yesterday overturned the aggravated-battery conviction of a black high school student who was found guilty of attacking a white classmate after a racial incident that raised tensions in their small town.
The state's 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that Mychal Bell, 17, should not have been tried as an adult by LaSalle Parish District Attorney J. Reed Walters, and that the trial judge erred in allowing Bell to be tried as an adult on charges of aggravated second-degree battery. Under Louisiana law, teenagers can be tried as adults for certain violent crimes but not battery, the court said.
Matthews covered the Jena Six controversy on September 19 after a September 18 article in the newspaper The State (Columbia, South Carolina) reported that Jackson, after a speech at a college there, claimed that Obama was " 'acting like he's white' in what Jackson said has been a tepid response to six black juveniles' arrest on attempted-murder charges in Jena, La." The State later updated the story on September 19, reporting that "Jackson said he did not recall making the 'acting like he's white' comment about Obama, stressing he only wanted to point out the candidates had not seized on an opportunity to highlight the disproportionate criminal punishments black youths too often face."
The Obama campaign issued a statement on the Jena Six on September 10 which read, in part: "When nooses are being hung in high schools in the 21st century, it's a tragedy. It shows that we still have a lot of work to do as a nation to heal our racial tensions. This isn't just Jena's problem; it's America's problem." In the statement, Obama called "on the District Attorney to drop the excessive charges brought in this case." The Obama campaign issued another statement on September 14, after the Louisiana appeals court threw out Bell's battery conviction:
I am pleased that the Louisiana state appeals court recognized that the aggravated battery charge brought in this case was inappropriate. I hope that today's decision will lead the prosecutor to reconsider the excessive charges brought against all the teenagers in this case. And I hope that the judicial process will move deliberately to ensure that all of the defendants will receive a fair trial and equal justice under the law.
From the September 19 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:
MATTHEWS: Time now for the politics out there. Jesse Jackson, who has been low-key of late, reverted to the old firebrand yesterday, saying that his candidate, Barack Obama, is -- quote -- "acting like he's white." Jackson doesn't like the fact, apparently, that the Illinois senator isn't down in Jena, Louisiana, with him and Al Sharpton protesting the arrest of several black juveniles for attempted murder.
Probably because Barack Obama is far more reasoned and far less inflammatory than Jesse Jackson is.......which is another reason that Obama is a major contender for his party's nomination, and Jackson's White House runs never got off the ground.
So does this mean your going to vote for my boyfriend?
The one thing I have against Obama is his inexperience....but I am willing to listen to him because he is smart, seems honest and so far, a straight shooter.
Who knows at this point, too early.
I've said it before. Obama has my vote right now. I am very impressed with him. The smartest candidate by far in either party at this point hands down.
If the Dems choose him, he will win.
Definitely the most talented candidate. And really smart. And seems like he has good intentions in what he does. People like to see his face on the teevee. Thinks on his feet. Doesn't roll over or flame out in the face of the most unreasonable criticism. That's almost a guarantee that the Democrats will take a pass on giving him the nomination.
Duh uh I'm worried about his uhh lack of expuriunce just like what I hurd on the teevee.
I agree with the basic theme of your comment, but I'm willing to bet that Jesse Jackson won more primaries in 1988 than Barack Obama wins next year.
maybe if jena six was name britney spears or nicole richie,it would have gotten alot more coverage than tweety bird was willing to give
Jena Six could be the name of a pop singer.
Winner and losers...
O.J. is a black man that beat the system.
The Jena Six are young black men beaten by the system.
Channeling Chandler Bing: "Could Tweety be any whiter?"
O.J. is a black man that beat the system.
The Jena Six are young black men beaten by the system.
Channeling Chandler Bing: "Could Tweety be any whiter?"- draftedin68
You left out an important line:
The Jena Six are young black men who viciously beat up an innocent teenager who happened to be white.
But, who cares about Justin Barker.
As incredibly sad as this entire situation is, nobody should be above the law or urged to be set free by anyone until their alleged crimes are adjudicated by a court of law.
Everyone deserves justice.
If they did, then they should be charged with aggrivated assult. The teens who hung nooses in those trees should be charged with hate crimes. The kid who brandished a shotgun weapon at someone should be charged. The kid who took the gun in deffence should not be charged. Note the abscence of black and white in these statements.
Any laws that were broken by anyone regardless of their race should be prosecuted appropriately, all victims deserve justice.
That should be the message from everyone in Jena, and throughout our country.
Conscious soul...
I agree with what you say EXCEPT the 'hate crime' of stringing nooses. That's just bad behavior and those responsible should be expelled from school. It would be wrong to equate hanging a noose on a tree limb with the brutal beating of an innocent person by a gang of thugs.
your right, it should be regarded as far worse. They are purposely instigating a fight using a racially insensitive prop whose sole purpose was to remind black americans about their place in society relative to the supreme white race.
The hanging of nooses is a threat, a Threat of death by lynching. Whenever I see a noose I think of horrific images and stories of lynchings. There is a dark corner of my personality that that saw justice in the beating of that young man. . But reason, like a light reclaims that dark corner and I am immediately shamed. That is the lasting scar of racism. I hope my future children, maybe grandchildren never have to bear the rage sorrow needlessly bore by myself and other. I want my children to know what I had to discover. Black, white and yellow are colors, nothing more; race is ambiguous; And that alls triumphs and tragedies, past, present and future, belong to all of humankind.
"The hanging of nooses is a threat, a Threat of death by lynching. Whenever I see a noose I think of horrific images and stories of lynchings." Conscious soul
Actually, stinging up a noose is a vile statement from a bunch of idiots. But not illegal and probably a form of expression protected by 1st amendment rights. Its as vile as burning the American flag or a Robert Maplethorp piece of artwork: To some HIGHLY offensive. But should we make it illegal? I don't think so.
Umm... I don't think you can argue that an explicit threat is protected speech. Do you have a precedent you can cite for that? I would be really interested in reading that one.
It is a pretty clear-cut example of assault at best and terrorism at worst.
Wait a minute...how can I cite you something that is NOT a crime? Why don't YOU show me something or cite an example that the simple act of tying a piece of rope into the form of a noose and displaying it is a crime?
It's a vile act and should not be tolerated, but I don't think it's illegal . But, hey...I could be wrong.
But not illegal and probably a form of expression protected by 1st amendment rights.
Actually, that sort of activity has long been described as terrorism. You think burning a cross on someone's lawn is just a form of expression protected by the First Amendment, too? Or maybe it's tresspassing, right?
Violence wasn't the right response, in my opinion. But brushing off a hundred plus year old symbol of terror as just "bad behavior" is a little naive, seems to me.
Marv, don't be surprised at his response. The fact that he skipped right past a valid argument shows he can't respond without his copy of Rushnotes for idiots.
Okay...I'm going to shut up about this because I find myself defending a hangman's noose - which as I've stated, is indefensible. Those who engage in such vile behavior should be shunned by society and, as even I can now see, could be interpreted as a terroristic threat - not unlike burning an American flag.
Actually, of course, the young white men who hung the noose could be charged with a number of crimes under Lousiana statute, particularly criminal intimidation and threatening with a bias motive, i.e., a hate crime.
GF,
Could you explain to me your analogy between hanging a noose and burning an American flag? I am not sure I see the connection you are trying to make here.
To me, the noose is a threat because of what it symbolizes to individual people Lynching, as you probably know, is a sick part of our past and the nooses are reminders of the individual injuries that have occurred.
The flag burning, while I don't agree with it, seems far less harmful to me. I could be wrong though.
FBB
Regarding the hanging noose and flag burning analogy...Both acts are symbolic in that the act in itself is not harmful. i. e. Tying rope in a certain way and setting fire to a piece of cloth are not harmful (well, be careful with the open flame), but a veteran or a relative of someone who died fighting in an American war could be every bit as terrorized by the burning of an American flag as an African American seeing a noose in a tree.
Both are vile acts that should not be tolerated in civil society.
Snoop - I don't listen to Rush but thanks for the compliment
They would have charged the boys with a hate crime but they were too young. THAT is the ONLY reason that they were not charged!
Goodfella, how many people in the history of this country have DIED from the burning of the flag? How many black people have DIED from the noose? You really need a American history lesson for you to even suggest than the hanging of a noose is simply "bad behavior" similar to burning the flag.
Lynching is a form of violence, usually execution, conceived of by its perpetrators as extrajudicial punishment for offenders or as a terrorist method of enforcing social domination[citation needed]. It is characterized by a summary procedure ignoring, bypassing, or even contrary to, the strict forms of law, notably judicial execution. Victims of lynching have generally been members of groups marginalized or vilified by society. The practice is age-old; stoning, for example, is believed to have started long before lapidation was adopted as a judicial form of execution
Conscious soul
BRAVO, that is an excellent post!!!!!!
The three white kids should have certainly been tried by some jurisdiction here.
Hanging the nooses is not just a lapse in judgement, it is definitely an explicit threat to the black students - which would be assault as I understand it if anyone felt threatened by it - which would seem to be the case here.
It can also be seen as a "terroristic threat". Nooses are an obvious and explicit reference to lynching - which cannot be misinterpreted by the black population at the school as a reference to the terrorist tactics of the KKK and other ultra-conservative white superiority groups.
GoodFella,
I agree, there is another victim here, but do you think the crime was attempted murder like the Black students were charged with originally?
Do you know all of the stories?
Have you heard about the jury in the Bell case?
friedbergboy...
Yes...I know about the Bell jury.
I'm not sure what that has to do with anything.Indeed, the jury was all- white but doesn't make them all-racist. Apparently, 150 notices were sent out without regard to race, only 50 prospective jurors showed up, NONE of whom were black. It appears the prosecutor may have been overzealous in stating that Bell's tennis shoes were "deadly weapons", but worse than that, Bell's public defender did nothing to defend him - no witnesses - no cross examinations - no nothing.
I also know that the conviction has been overturned so I guess it's all academic at this point.
GF,
I think the first charge of attempted second-degree murder was a bit overzealous too.
"I'm not sure what that has to do with anything.Indeed, the jury was all- white but doesn't make them all-racist." --GF
Of course it doesn't. But it would seem obvious that it would be much less likely they could relate to the accused and his situation.
Maybe Matthews didn't spend enough time on the story - I wouldn't know. After the OJ story on MSNBC, I was all like "Whoa! Whoa! TMI, dudes. TMI!". Like, I just need to be told enough so that I can start a conversation and so chicks think I'm worldly and not a total idiot, and then somebody to tell me what to think about it. I mean, dudes... how long am I supposed to pretend that I'm interested? So I went back to Fox news.
Whoa! Righteous speech Spicoli! Mr. Hand would be most impressed. Way to go dude!
Why am I not suprised that Matthews would spend time quoting statements that may not have been said, rather than talking about the real issue, the racial injustice that's going on in Jena? But I guess I shouldn't be surprised, the media lost interest in New Orleans and the Katrina victims pretty quickly.
Bootsy,
Not to change the subject or anything, but what racial injustice do you feel is going on in New Orleans after Katrina?
Actually AA I stated that the racial injustice going on was in Jena, not New Orleans....I said the media lost interest in New Orleans pretty quickly, despite the fact that there are still so many people who are waiting to get help that was promised, all the red tape they're forced to go through, etc. I'm not just picking on Matthew's here or one part or another because I think the help and attention has been lacking on all fronts.
This may not be a critical point persay, but this whole "white tree" really bothers me. I know it has been since cut down, after the nooses were so hideously hung from it's branches, but why was it not cut down a long time ago.
Now I know students have the right to sit where they want, and there probably is no legal justification for cutting down a tree - but it just seems to me that in a racially charged atmosphere like Jena, Louisiana apparently is - one would hope that city officials would recognize this tree as a "white tree" only and make some sort of statement in cutting it down and proclaiming that this form of segregation is no longer welcome in this town, or any town.....these were young people who should be benefitting from adult direction. If their parents aren't teaching them tolerance and acceptance of other races, then maybe the city officials need to step in and provide some leadership.
Who knows if it would've mattered, those that hung those nooses probably would have found somewhere else to do it, but sometimes being a leader, even a mayor or official in a small town, demands being proactive and highlighting this blatant form of bigotry and remove a "white only tree" from public property.
My thoughts.......
Your right tommy, like oh, say on the back of a pickup truck...
you talk about demanding equal justice for all, including the jena 6, but why should justice only be for the AA community? These white students are clearly instigating a fight.
Snoop, I don't really know what you are saying here, but I very clearly said that everyone deserves equal justice and treatment, regardless of their race.
If you are somehow advocating different punishments for different races, then we don't agree.
Those who break the law should be punished appropriately based on the crimes committed.
Tommy, no worries. I missed your qualifier 1st time around. But thought it was important to show that we have another noose incident. These white kids in Jena are clearly trying to pick a fight.
Gosh darn it, what is wrong with the darned republican base? Can't you true conservatives marginalize these morons???
Having only heard about this recently, I am saddened but it does look to me like there is a racial divide in Jena. The prosecutor's heavy hand and over zealous prosecution is yet another example where the prosecutor has made racial tensions worse when he could have made things better.
You are right Tommy, the tree is unimportant and basically a non issue. What is important is that in 2007 white children know enough about American history to use a noose as a threat to black children. The know enough about the history of this country to send a message to black children through a noose. If the white children of this school know how to send a message with a noose I wonder if the school board, police department or Dist. Attorney’s office will be different.
Both the school board and school superintendent felt that the noose was a “prank” or “non threatening” once again pretending lack of knowledge of what a noose hanging from a tree is suppose to mean to black folks. I’m sure there is a history book somewhere that shows plenty of white folks hanging from a tree by a noose and plenty of black folks dressed in their Sunday best just watching. Sunday best of course cause they just returned from church.
And then we have the police officers. White student’s get battery charges, probation and no charge at all for a gun possession. Black student’s get charged with theft of a firearm, second degree robbery and the most insulting of all disturbing the peace. Oh and attempted second degree murder.
And then we have the dist attorney, the person who’s job is it to seek justice, not just for white folks but for all of the citizens of Jena. J. Reed Walters addresses the students and for some reason feels the need to point out to the student that if they didn’t stop fussing over this "innocent prank",(guess he couldn’t be talking to those white students since they weren't fussing at all) he could be their friend or their worst enemy and with the stroke of his pen he could make their life disappear. I guess he followed through on his threat since he definitely applied the stroke of his pen to charge a black student involved in a school fight as an adult with the possible sentence of 50 years. I guess he’s applying justice to all of the citizens of Jena by keeping this same black student in adult prison since December 2006.
So back to your point that the “city officials” need to step in and provide some leadership. I’m afraid that will not happen and you’re right they have found somewhere else to hang the noose. As of today, someone hung a couple more on the back of a truck traveling through town. As for demanding proactive and highlighting blatant forms of bigotry, I’m afraid that won’t happen either. You see those white children that sent the message with the noose are children of the school board members, school superintendent, police department and dist attorneys of this town. They learned their American history from them.
The tree? Just a gift from mother nature.
At this point I think this is overblown and people on both sides are losing sight of the real issue. The Kids were wrong, but the punishment was overboard. The one kid has been in jail for about a year for a fight (a vicious one).
They should be punished, but the whole series of events that led up to it makes this whole thing so ugly.
I'm all for justice, ut it should be equal justice.
I tire of Jackson and Sharpton because they are more self promoting agitators than activist. "Acting White" That is an inexcusable statement for anyone to say, particularly someone who claims to seek equal treatment for all people. It perpetuates the stereotype that certain genetic traits such as skin color are indicators to a person's thoughts and actions. That defies science. Race is a socially construct, not a biological classification. Humans have simply not been isolated long enough to produce separate species (races) of human beings. Our greatest differences are cultural, not biological. I encourage anyone reading this to find and watch the PBS Documentary Race: The Power of an Illusion The greatest threat to the existence of racism is knowledge. If people understood just how similar we are as humans believing in race would be as absurd as believing the world is flat.
Jackson rarely, if ever, gets called out by mainstream media for his racial slurs.....if he were conservative he would be hauled out immediately.
He and Sharpton is a sideshow. The same category as Coulter (not nearly as overtly hateful). Creations of corporate media seeking ratings and dumb down the discorse
Are we certain that Jackson made the comment?
"He's acting like he's white"
Jackson contacted the paper and the paper updated the article. Was this reporter "out to get Jackson"?
Conscious...
It looks at this point as if some very questionable actions and decisions have gone down in the small town. So far, it appears to me that these 6 kids were treated in a grossly unfair manner by the authorities.
In this case, we should thank Jackson and Sharpton for bringing this flagrant miscarriage of justice to public view.
On top of that, it's not even clear that Jackson made the "he's acting like he's white" comment.
So, I don't think it's fair to compare them with a ghastly piece of filth like Ann Coulter.
Tommy, can you give an example of the racial slurs Jackson has made? Just curious. Thanks!
This one, and "Hymietown", come to mind.
Tommy,
I do remember the Hymietown statement that he made back when he was running for President and was he said was wrong definitely. I don't see what you're pointing at in this particular instance though.
Well, Boots, one stupid comment 25 years ago by a man who apologized for it clearly destroys any and all credibility he ever had and makes it impossible for him to ever have credibility ever again in the future. There is absolutely nothing he could ever do to make up for that phrase.
</sarcasm>
What?? Jesse Jadkson does not get a free pass from the media. His (very bad) "h-town" remark was all over the media (rightfully so) and people still bring it up.
Yet matthews has time to talk about OJ.
I was most impressed with the whites, blacks and other races from all parts of our country marching together for racial justice for all our people.
Racial Hatred is still Here Now! It will show its ugly face until parenting of kids impoves. I'm sorry to say, I don't believe that will ever happen. Not in my lifetime anyway.
Matthews is just trying to make his show interesting. He isn't concerned about racism. Jackson, Sharpton and Obama aren't perfect but at least they're working on a good cause.
Witnessing comments of whites and blacks from Jena was very telling indeed. Many of the whites admitted being at fault. Others denied being a racist. One senior black man said about the march, "I'ts about time, maybe now there will be some changes for the better."
I't's not the kids faults. I't's parents, city office holders, law enforcement, school administrators, local prosecutor perhaps.
I don't like the blame game but those are the bad guys, not the kids.
Sam you're absolutely correct. The fact that they allowed this tree to be a "whites only" tree for who knows how long is very telling. The racist behaviour some of these students are exhibiting is something they've learned from their parents, who should be held accountable.
From the accounts I heard ,Sam, you allude to this in your posting, the problem has been simmering in Jena for a while.
I too feel that I won't live to see the resolution of these issues that still plague us with regards to race in America.
Then again, the things that keep us divided keep us under control of those with power. They could care less about any solution to social problems as such. I think they count on bigotry and hatred to distract us from them robbing us blind and keeping us all enslaved.
Not just Jena. Conservatives tell us all the time that racism is over, but it's not.
Bittermarv --
Remember Molly Ivins' hilarious story? Good ol' boy comes in to the Texas cafe for his chicken-fried steak. Says to his pals, "Y'know, Rush is right. There ain't no racism any more. NOW what do yuh s'pose the n-----s are gonna find to complain about?"
Sue,
Don't you know by now that O.J. is the embodiment of evil in the world? He's worse than Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and Hitler combined!!!!
Or so the media would have you think...(I hope you can tell the above is sarcasm, by the way)
I just find it interesting that whites get so angry about OJ, liberal and conservative alike.
OJ and the Jena Six are two of the many chapters in that book of race in America - we just don't know how it's going to end..
On This Day in History ...
1957: Federal troops sent into Little Rock, Arkansas
On this day in 1957 racial desegregation took centre stage when federal troops were dispatched to Little Rock, Arkansas, to maintain order and enforce the right of black students to attend the local public high school.
Today... Too many uninterested, uncaring people think the Jena 6 must just be another music group like the Jackson 5.
The noose-hangers oughta, yes, be charged with terroristic threats. The black kids who did the stomping oughta be charged like cowboys are in Wyoming, when they gang-stomp a Latino -- assault & battery, pleaded down.
This whole lousy business is about equal justice under the law, GODDAMMIT. THAT'S why thousands of Americans are down there protesting -- NOT because some white punk getting his ass kicked is RIGHT. No one should be saying THAT.
The Jena Six committed a racially motivated crime by by ganging up on one white student, beating him into unconsciousness.
The civil rights movement needs to find a better cause.
Both black and white students were among those invited to the private party that Robert Bailey and his uninvited friends attempted to crash. (The probable reason that more whites than blacks attended the party is that Jena is 85-percent white.) The white non-student who ejected Bailey and his friends from the part has been charged with battery. He should have called the police rather than physically confronting the party crashers.
Wittnesses in the convenience store incidence support the white student's version of the event. After the argument inside the convenience store, Robert Bailey and other black students chased the white student to his truck in the parking lot. Thinking he was about to be attacked, he pulled the shotgun from his truck. He wasn't charged with a crime because police agreed this was an act of self defense. Since the black students were the same students who were subsequently involved in the beating of Justin Barker at Jena High Schools, his fear of being attacked seem well-founded.
The local prosecuter did not charge the three white students who hung the nooses in the tree because the act did not violate any Lousiana law. The Justice Department investigated and decided not to file federal hate crime charges because the investigators determined the act was not meant as an actual threat. The three students claim it was done in jest. This seems incredible, but it is partillay supported by the local Jena newspaper chronology of events. According to the newspaper, the black student who asked permission in a school assembly to sit under the "white tree" asked the question as a joke. According to reporters, the auditorium erupted in laughter when he asked the question. The black student--and eveyone else--knew that anyone could sit under the tree. The three white students, who said they got the idea from a movie, say they hung the nooses as a continuation of the joke. Federal investegators determined that the incident did not qualify as a hate crime and that the three white students represented no actual threat. The suspension originally imposed by school administrators was shortened by school board trustees. I think they should have been suspended for the entire year, but remember, both local and federal officials determined they committed no crime.
The crimes whith which the "Jena Six" are charged have nothing to do with the noose-handing incident. They stem from the confrontation at the private party. The beating at the high school wasn't just a fist fight between students. According to witness tesimony, one of the students who assaulted Barker, who was not involved in the noose-hangining incident, stood on his head while he was unconscious while the other students kicked him in the head.
The attack on Barker probably doesn't qualify as a hate crime because the black students did not attack him just because he was white. They were angry because he had made a reference to the fight at the private party. It's just a case of assault and battery. However, once wonders if the beating would have been judged a hate crime if white students had beaten a black student.
Mychal Bell is still in jail because he was still on parole because of previous convictions that predate the noose hangining incident.
I am saying that 6 boys should beat up one boy. One boy said that he did not participate in the fight at school. He has not been to trail yet. Justin Barker used racial slurs to one of the defendants who had been beaten and hit over the head with a beer bottle. The people who attacked this Jena 6 defendant were not charged. A Jena Police Officer told them to get back on the black side of town. Justin was also making comments that he thought was funny when a shotgun was pulled on the defendants and when they took the shot gun away they were charged with theft. This incident is about equal justice. Justin brought a gun to school. Justin has appeared on nazi website. Everyone should receive equal justice. This is not about Jessie Jackson or Senator Obama. But Matthews is more interested in O J than real news that effects the nation.
As a 47 year old, white woman, who lives in Louisiana, I felt I had to post a statement about the mess going on down here.
I am a conservative. Please do not automatically assume that all racist are republicans and all democrats are not. Down here, a lot of white trash votes democrat just because their great grand daddy did; they do not even know what the candidate stands for. I am a conservative because of religious beliefs; last I checked, I still did have the right to vote for who I wanted.
To say that this mess in Jena is an embarrassment, is an understatement. To add to the embarrassment, is the horror over how many whites are coming "out of the closet," so to speak, and showing their true colors; no pun intended. However, these pockets of blatant, in your face, racism in the south, are unacceptable. There will always be prejudice; but if you don't want to be friends with someone because they are different than you, then that is OK; stupid, but OK; they probably do not want you as a friend either. However, thinking that whites should be exempt from the law, while blacks should be "over prosecuted" is disgusting and dangerous. Racism is not a southern problem; travel to the midwest; there are huge, white supremist groups, hiding under the guise of religion for tax free status. Let a black man walk down the street in certain Italian neighborhoods in New York or New Jersey; if he is feeling particularly suicidal, let him walk down those same streets with a white woman; he won't make it a half a block before he is assaulted. I am not picking on Italians here; I am just making a point. Stupidity is everywhere; there is a pestilence of ignorance flowing across this country. It is inexcusable in this day and age.
Most concerning to me is the surge of neo nazi types. They have "taken over" the white supremist bunch here in the US. One only has to look at the history books and see how many mentally ill, retarded, gay, Catholics, Gypsies, Jews, Jehovah Witnesses, etc., was killed during WWII to see that these people are hate mongers who have something against nearly everyone they can think of. Never mind the fact, that were Hitler in charge, the majority of our new age white supremist would either be gassed or sterilized over their low IQ's; they are too stupid to relalize that they could not score high enough on an IQ test to survive a world ran by true Nazis. As a mother of an Autistic child; I take great exception to people who think my child should be gassed for the betterment of the human race.
Anyway, I am rambling, as usual. My father, who is 82 made the statement weeks ago, that when Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and the media leave, these black families will be left to deal with the same low IQ'd, violent, white trash that started this mess. Knowing these tpyes like I do; I fear for these people's lives...I hate to say someone ought to have to pick up and move because of this mess; but then I think, "Who would want to stay in that hell hole, anyway, if given the opportunity to relocate somewhere better. After all this media attention, that while certainly well meaning, still, did in fact, put a bull's eye on these families for every nut job out there; shouldn't someone at least give them the opportunity to find another place? Shouldn't law enforcement and the government, who let them down in the first place, at least offer them a better life; or maybe even safety of being away from there?
I beg everyone's pardon for the spelling and gramatical errors, and also for going on and on, (as us Southerners are known for); but I am scared for these people; I don't want to see them harmed more than what they already have been; and yes, (and yes, of course I am talking about the black victims here.) The white boy that was beaten up will be fine and was fine even after being knocked in the head; you can not hurt him by hitting him in the head, for obviously he has no brain; no wonder he was able to go out two hours later.
Thanks Eveeve ...
I'm also from the South as in Texas. I grew up with racist kids from both sides of the Island (Repubs & Dems). I used to be a conservative racist kid myself.
I've traveled our entire country, Canada and elsewhere. Most racist I've known are, or were, Conservatives. But that's not why I became an Idependent voter. It was mostly a huge number of other issues.
On This Day in History ...
1957: Federal troops sent into Little Rock, Arkansas
On this day in 1957 racial desegregation took centre stage when federal troops were dispatched to Little Rock, Arkansas, to maintain order and enforce the right of black students to attend the local public high school.
Today... Too many uninterested, uncaring people think the Jena 6 must be just another music group like the Jackson 5.
Not caring is just one reason why the Mathews types of broadcasting spend more time on Orange Juice stories instead of more serious issues like War, Healthcare, Social problems, Unsafe Bridges and Racism.