Sunday, September 23, 2007

Thoughts about Jena, LA. --6 to 1

I wish the African-America/black community had chosen a better cause than the defense of the six black teens who beat a white boy until he was unconscious. Some of them were charged with attempted murder. Why would a DA think that six beating one to the point that he loses consciousness is attempted murder??? They are all lucky that the white boy recovered that day --given the obvious beatings to his head.

I've read some accounts of this story and have yet to understand why the African-American community thinks this crime is not a serious crime--just like they thought O.J. was innocent.

You've all read about the previous incident in Jena involving the white students and the nooses hanging from the school yard tree --because the black students asked school authorities if they could sit where the white students normally did--under that tree. The administration rightly said yes. The next day the nooses appeared hanging from the tree. This is a reminder of the ugly racist past --when southern lynchings of blacks by whites were far too common. The students responsible for the nooses had to serve in-school suspensions, as I understand it. I don't know for how long.

No account I've heard or read tells us what these 6 who attacked one had to do with the other story, but they are always linked by the media. One wonders if these 7 students had anything at all to do with the other story.

Some wonder if hanging the nooses wasn't a hate crime. Have they considered that the 6 on 1 beating was definitely a hate crime?

The nooses in the tree were a mean gesture, menacing and racist. The students were rightly suspended for a malicious gesture, threatening to racial harmony. (One might say that when the blacks asked to integrate or take over the tree spot, that they, too, were threatening racial harmony --but I will agree that they had a right to sit under the tree if they got there first, if there truly was room, etc. They had a right to be there, same as the whites.) But hanging nooses in the tree was not a crime, unless they used them--unless toilet papering the school trees is a crime --and fooling an opposing team's cheering block into holding up cards that say, "We suck," for which the prankster was suspended. They don't suspend for toilet papering --or for wrapping the principal's car in saran wrap, etc. But schools did suspend for the trick with the bleacher cards and the nooses hanging from the tree--and rightly so for the nooses. It was not a harmless prank in the same category as TP and saran wrap --and that is WHY they were suspended.

But beating someone until he's unconscious in a ratio of 6 to 1? That's a crime. A Hate crime. Attempted murder might be overstating the purpose of the teens --but any time 6 beat up 1 --it's not a fair fight --and it could end up in death for the one.

The nooses were a sick racist joke, and thus, deserving of school punishment. The beating was a racist hate crime. And definitely a legal issue for law enforcement.

We just read in the Blade an article on marriage statistics. The poorest groups identified by race are the least married. Blacks are the least likely to get married in their lifetime --yet they have many children out of wedlock who end up committing crime and being incarcerated. What ought we to do about this?
The black community needs all the help they can get to stop the inter-generational cycle of unwed teens parenting children. Education and entertainment media COULD help to affirm the ideals of morality and marriage --and church programs and better (abstinence-promoting) sex ed as well. And there need to be lots of supervised activities for youth.






"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

4 comments:

mud_rake said...

Your lily-whiteness drips from every word you wrote.

Anonymous said...

I think since you are a W.A.S.P you see something wrong with this and not a legit civil case.

I mean c'mon who still has a tree that only "white" people can sit under.

Oh white, people when will you stop being so prejudice.

Anonymous said...

u dumb as fuck with a narrow ass mind. its white people like you that give white people like me a bad name

Barb said...

I didn't defend the whites' only tree --nor did I say the kids shouldn't have had their punishment --which suspension was.

What I said is that when 6 people beat one person unconscious, this is a crime --and should be treated as a crime --juvenile for juveniles and adults for adults.

In this case, it would appear to be racially motivated and thus a "hate crime." But I think that's irrelevant --the point is that 6 beat one unconscious. And whatever penalties apply should be applied.