In several Jena 6 posts, I advised anonymous commenters claiming to be from Jena to “put up or shut up.” One reader from Jena did, and that person is my source for the documents now posted by Joe Carter at Evangelical Outpost. (My reasons for getting help from Joe for this are here.) Please read the rest of this post, and examine all the documents before you comment here.
My source and I do not agree on every aspect of this case, although in some areas my source was correct and my opinion was changed by what I’ve read. In other areas, my opinions were affirmed. I’ll post more on that separately soon, but I’m going to keep my source’s post on top for at least a day or two. For now, since my source has so generously “put up” and worked to get these documents out there so the rest of us can have an informed opinion of the Jena 6 case, I’ll “shut up” and let you read my source’s post yourselves:
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I am from Jena, LA. Due to the sensitivities of this case, I have chosen to post this anonymously. Though I can’t say I don’t know anyone involved with this case (the town is only composed of 3500 people or so), I can say that I do not know anyone in this case well enough to distort my perspective about the situation.
Many of you reading this may live in a small town such as Jena. If not, you may live in a neighborhood or apartment complex that has tightly-knit neighbors. Like many small towns, Jena has its share of rumors and gossip. In fact, I’ve always thought it was very bad. When this case started to materialize, many rumors about the case were swirling around town. This case as a whole has so many instances and facets to it that rumors seemed to show up every day.
When I began my mission to defend my home town, I was confronted by several people (including this blog owner, Laura) who called on me to present proof of what I was saying. In this process, I began to understand that town gossip was not good enough for most people, as it shouldn’t be. I have pulled the eye witness statements and many related documents that Laura is now posting on this site. After carefully looking at all the incidents, I cannot say that I know everything; only God knows exactly what happened. But I feel I have a very firm understanding of both sides of the story.
As nearly everyone in Jena knows, the town has been unfairly characterized in the media. There are some racists in this community, like all communities in this area of the country. The town is mostly composed of good, hard-working citizens who judge based on the content of one’s character, not race. I myself felt Jena had a certain “backwoods” feel to it until this case surfaced. I have been forced to confront my own worries that I myself maybe racist, or that my town is racist. In my soul-searching, I have arrived with a new sense of pride for my hometown. People who most Americans would peg as racist rednecks have close friends who are black. Our town, along with the NATION, has made huge strides in the fight for equality. No, we are not there as a country yet, but we have made strides. To characterize Jena as a town stuck in the ‘60’s is very naïve to assume.
These eye witness statements are what were reported to the police. They were written down by people who actually witnessed several events that took place in Jena, mainly the Justin Barker beating. Once you read these statements, you will realize that the media has left things out (perhaps intentionally) to keep their story themed appropriately. I know specifically that CNN reporters have been in the courthouse several times and have read the eye witness statements, yet they fail to mention many key points mentioned in these eye witness statements. This is why I feel they are important to release. These statements were edited to exclude phone numbers, addresses, and names of individuals not mentioned yet. This is what I derived from reading these statements:
The Justin Barker Beating
1. According to multiple eye witnesses, the Jena 6 (and a few others) had threatened several other students before they targeted Barker.
2. Many eye witnesses allude to a list created by the Jena 6 of male white students they had planned on beating up.
3. According to multiple statements, one of the Jena 6 told another white student “You’re next!” after they beat Barker.
4. According to multiple statements, another black student who is not a Jena 6, walked over Barker’s head and, some say, stepped on it.
5. Only one eye witness statement points to Bryant Purvis (a Jena 6) as a perpetrator. Three students say he was with them when the fight broke out. One student says he was not near the fight. Based on the eye witness statements alone, it appears that Bryant Purvis was not an attacker. I’m unsure if other evidence exists of his possible guilt.
6. Mychal Bell is the only one who fills out a statement saying Justin Barker said the “n” word. Personally, I feel Bell’s honesty is in question. As you can see, he places himself at the scene within arm’s reach of Barker and claims he is trying to help him. He claims he sees several black guys kicking Barker repeatedly, yet reveals no names of the attackers. Also, if you’ll notice, an unidentified female black student was apparently very close to the events that happened that day. She says that Barker flipped Mychal Bell the middle finger, but she doesn’t mention anything about him saying a racial slur. As another black student, wouldn’t you think she would mention this in her detailed statement to the police if she heard Barker say the racial slur aimed at people of her own race?
7. Carwin Jones wrote in his statement “I didn’t hit him.”, yet 6 people directly state that he was kicking Justin Barker and was part of the attack. Several others report he was over or around Barker’s body at the time the crime was committed.
8. Eleven eye witness statements state that Robert Bailey either kicked or punched Justin Barker.
9. Multiple students implicate Bell as the initial attacker, “sucker” punching Barker in the back of the head after he walked past Bell. A coach who witnessed part of the fight from a distance claims he saw another black student (not one of the Jena 6) throw the initial sucker punch.
Justin Barker’s Medical Report
1. As you can see, his injuries may not have been life threatening or lifelong (as far as we know), but it is clear that he was injured rather severely. When he attended the ring ceremony that evening, he was helped up the stairs, took his ring, and went home. There was no partying. There are rumors that he is expecting to undergo surgery for one of his ears. There is another rumor saying his parents are filing a lawsuit against the hospital for the quick discharge. I have no verifiable proof of either, though.
The Gotta Go Incident
1. Though the statements filled out by Robert Bailey and Theo Shaw aren’t identical, they seem similar. Their story is what has been largely reported by the media and racial activists.
2. As you can see, two other eye witnesses clearly had a different perspective about the events that evening. Two say that Bailey, Shaw, and the other student were the aggressors and the white student pulled the gun to defend himself. I personally lean towards their side of the story. Bailey & Shaw’s story say the shotgun owner pulled up to the store and brandished his weapon. For someone to brandish their weapon, it wouldn’t be very intelligent to brandish it while the target is feet away from him. Bailey & Shaw would have HAD to be within reaching distance of the weapon to wrestle it away from the gun owner. So I feel that, since the gun owner and female witness say they were attacking him in close proximity, it is most likely what happened. My opinion is based on logic, not fact.
The Fair Barn Incident
1. According to the records at the courthouse, the only eye witness statement available for this incident is Robert Bailey’s. My theory is that, since the instigator of the fight plead guilty to assault, that statements were not given by the other parties because they were not necessary. I’m not familiar enough with police procedure to assume this, though. So Robert Bailey’s version of the story is the only one that is represented in these statements. Keep in mind that there are normally two sides to every story.
2. If you’ll notice, claims that Bailey was “beaten” just like Justin Barker seem farfetched. Bailey himself contends that he was attacked by one white adult, then another jumped in and the fight was broken up. Then several white guys jumped he and two of his friends. The label I would attach to this scenario is a “brawl”, not a “beating”.
3. It has been widely circulated by the media, including repeatedly by CNN, that Robert Bailey had a beer bottle cracked over his head during the Fair Barn incident, but notice that he mentions nothing about this in his eye witness statement. It appears very suspicious to me that he left such a crucial detail out of his statement. He was also never admitted to the hospital that night.
If you are looking for the truth about what happened in the Justin Barker beating, look no further than the eye witness statements (shown here) and the court transcripts. It is evident that some Jena 6 supporters are so keen on furthering their cause, they attempt to discredit anything that they disagree with. I agree there are valid racism issues in this country. I believe that punishment for crimes should always be equal. If these students are punished more severely for the color of their skin, an investigation should be conducted and corrective action will be necessary for the culprits responsible. To tell the world that the Jena 6 should be set free and all charges be dropped will not solve the problem, but only foment an ideology that violence in our school system is okay.
If you wish to fight for racial equality, take up the fight. I feel it is a valid issue worth addressing. But another serious issue looms in the wake of these events: Will we let this kind of violence go unpunished in our school system?
Thank you for posting these documents and this statement. There really isn’t any new information, but it is good to go to the source. Do you happen to know where I can get a copy of the court transcript? At a minimum, I’ll put in a request to the county clerk’s office, but I’m hoping someone has these online somewhere.
Most of this information should be accessible via request since it is public information. I am curious as to who this person feels they have to remain anonymous.
It’s unfortunate that the material you provided was incomplete. For instance, in the section on the DA arguing why bail should be denied Mr. Bell, you cut out the proceeding arguments, and then the defense attorney’s response. I would have assumed, for completeness, you would have, at least, provided the pages following where the defense attorney responds.
A half truth is worse than an out and out lie.
Good grief, shelley, no new information? I’m *amazed* that you think that.
If you want the docs, you have to go in person to the courthouse and pay for them. As we did. But you can call the La Salle Parish courthouse to verify that.
Not really, Laura. Many of the other Louisiana weblogs basically reported all of this. They didn’t link the documents but I they read the court transcripts and admitted witness statements and reported on these. You realize that most of this is nothing more than he said, she said stuff. Most court systems wouldn’t go to court with just these eyewitness accounts, because they all contradict each other, and many have references to their ‘friends’, where we can assume bias. The physical evidence doesn’t support a lot of the statements.
I’m not only amazed that the DA took this to court, but that he won.
I’m not knocking the work, and appreciate the effort. Especially putting the medical record online. I do think that your mystery poster should have provided all of the document for the bail hearing — the fact he or she only included that small portion doesn’t necessarily speak well of their intentions.
As for the transcript, I rather hoped that someone would have a copy of the transcript online for folks to download, or that the court system would have online access. I have access to court documents here in Missouri, as well as the PACER system for federal documents. As you said with these, the more people have access to the actual documents, the more they can form an informed decision. Too bad.
shelleyp:
These documents cost $1.00 per page. In a perfect world, people could pool together with unlimited funds and get this entire case online, but it isn’t a perfect world. So until someone who has alot of money is willing to pay money out of their own wallets to get the rest of the documents, you’re not likely to see them. So costs were prohibitive when this research was conducted. In my opinion, someone like CNN or ABC who have millions of dollars at their disposal should be doing this, but it seems as if the truth is too boring for these companies. And if fifth-rate (no, second-rate does not do them justice) news outlets such as Democracy Now! and Collateral News would do the same thing that is being done now, people wouldn’t have been mislead about what actually happened in Jena. Instead they chose to click the 12x zoom lens into gear and focus on one side of the story, allowing plenty of room for even bolder assumptions and theories that were way off-based. They also have money at their disposal that few people have.
Even if not EVERY SINGLE ounce of information is being released about this case on this site and EvangelicalOutpost.com, that doesn’t mean the information being supplied is not valid.
In summary, be happy that you are now allowed to form your own judgment. It’s just sad that so many people have hardened their stance on this issue so much that, when the truth stares them in the face, their already-hardened assumptions will override their ability to change their stance in the order of fairness and balance.
shelleyp:
Also, Shelley, I strongly disagree with your case that all of the facts are contradicted in the eye witness statements. Eleven people say they saw Robert Bailey kick or punch Barker. Seven report they saw Shaw and Bell. Six report they saw Jones. Three report they saw Beard. I have not heard that mentioned by ANY news source or blogsite yet. That is hardly contradictory. Bell throwing the first punch has been contradicted. Purvis’ involvement in this attack is contradicted. I’m sure there are more, but these eye witness statements point to a very OBVIOUS overall theme. These guys were planning on doing what they did to Justin Barker that day. It’s difficult to argue this.
I have also not yet heard ANYWHERE except from these eye witness statements that:
1.) Some students mention a “hit list” that the Jena 6 had.
2.) Three or four students report these guys threatened them before AND AFTER the Barker beating.
3.) Only ONE eye witness statement points to Barker saying the “n” word. That one statement was Bell’s, who’s story that he was not involved has been contradicted by at least 7 eye witness statements.
4.) Robert Bailey never said a WORD about a beer bottle in his eye witness statement regarding the Fair Barn incident. There is also no medical report to prove such claims.
5.) Several have stuck to claims that there are contradicting statements regarding who threw the first punch and this is why Bell’s guilt is in question. Notice that at least one (maybe more, I forget) eye witness statement says they heard Bell saying he was gonna “knock his block off.” This should be factored in when determining his guilt and involvement in the situation. It proves intent.
There are SEVERAL other arguments that haven’t been brought to light until these eye witness statements have been put online for all to see. I will not list them all. To downplay these statements and to say they don’t shed some new light in the eyes of the public does not make alot of sense to me, personally. If this is your train of thought, you must be either:
1.) a very informed individual about this case, or
2.) someone who is intentionally downplaying these statement to detract readers from what they say
I will make no assumptions to this, as I don’t know you. Nevertheless, the public now has access to what the DA had to work with when the case first evolved. THAT is very new.
I’m writing on this at my site, and will pingback or post a link here. In the meantime to respond to your note:
A favorite tactic of those who teach police science and law is to stage an event, such as having a supposedly armed man run in and do something, and then collect the memories of the people in the room. Almost every witness will contradict the others. Witnesses are notorious for allowing their biases to influence their perception, and their perception influences what it is they ’see’.
The Coach sees one student punch Barker to the ground, other students see a different person, including Bell. Some say it was a person in a green hood.
Even Barker’s girlfriend — one guy stated that he moved her out of the way of harm, but she testifies that she was also attacked, and had her hair pulled.
People agree that Barker was knocked down between the door and a cement divider or wall — I’ll have to go back and check. Yet then six big guys all moved in at the same time, and proceeded to stomp on Barker, kick him, and punch him — all the while several teachers are moving in to break all of this up.
I found a picture of the door — it’s impossible for more than a couple of people to have been able to get into to attack the guy at one time. The physical evidence does not match what the eye witnesses state.
Only one person, who didn’t witness the event, was able to mention all six of the Jena 6 guys. Most witnesses say that people moved in to punch and kick Barker in the face. They all say the same thing, the face. Why? Makes no sense. If you were going to kcik the guy, you wouldn’t play mother may I have a turn to kick him in the face.
But I bet the kids saw Barker being hit in the face, knocked down, and one or two guys continued to hit him, one punching, another perhaps kicking (or was it? Or was it just moving in?) and they extrapolated from that to all six men moved in to punch stomp, and what not Barker all on the face only!.
Really. How amazingly selective of these young men. Most young men when they kick, they kick the body. Better target.
Any decent lawyer, in front a truly unbiased court, would have had this case dismissed, or at a minimum, would have been able to take apart the eyewitness testimony, especially when the physical evidence doesn’t support it, and the eyewitnesses contradict each other.
It doesn’t matter when you have five who say one thing, and four another, and eight something else — this is conflicting eyewitness testimony, and should all have been suspect.
Let’s also look at the inherent bias. People said “a bunch of black guys”, or we found out that at least one of those who testified against Bell also hung one of the nooses — this does show that there is a pre-existing bias in the witnesses perception that should have rung bells.
Our courts are based on a system of reasonable doubt. It doesn’t matter what people have done before, or who they are, or their color–all that matters is that it’s the job of the prosecutor to prove his or her case beyond a reasonable doubt.
DA Walters cherry picked the witnesses to present to the court. He failed his duty to the community. He made an assumption of who was supposed to be guilty, or who he wanted to be guilty, or who was most expeditious for the first trial, and then cherry picked the evidence presented. He even acted in violation of Louisiana law, which states that the only way that a juvenile can be tried as an adult for second degree aggregated assault is if the juvenile used a gun.
It’s just a pity that Bell did not competent counsel.
It’s also a pity that the people of Jena are willing to settle for so little from their legal system.
Shelley:
Yes, I agree that it is reasonable to question the initial punch being Bell’s, but if you’ll notice that an eye witness who was in the lunch line near Bell said she heard him say “I swear on my Mama I’m gonna knock his block off.” Two or three people say they heard BELL say “I’ll teach that mother f***er to run his mouth.” More heard the words said but didn’t precisely implicate Bell. It’s not only people who viewed him throw the actual punch, it’s the instances that were pegged by eye witnesses that led UP to the initial punch that adds evidence towards the initial attacker being Bell.
As Laura and others have said, you’ll often find different versions of events when something goes down. Slight variances in stories. Eye witnesses view crimes differently. In fact, if everyone said the exact same thing, it’d be obvious that they were coached or were colluding to concoct a false report. The fact that so many pegged the SAME people at the scene so many times is very damaging to the defense.
Barker’s girlfriend wrote one thing, the guy who either helped her out of the way or pulled her hair wrote another. Who was this guy? Where did you get this information from. I haven’t read this side of the story yet.
If you’ll notice, few people peg more than 2-4 attackers in their statements. Students were walking to class, they all got different views from different angles at different times. Yeah, it happened fast, but I don’t understand why we should assume that they ALL kicked him in the head at the exact same time. Is it not possible for them to all take turns? They are football athletes and all of them appear agile. It would be very easy for them to do. Maybe this explains why no one listed every single attacker in one statement, because they DID take turns.
And I TOTALLY disagree that any decent lawyer would have had this case dismissed. The evidence is laid before us, and SEVEN PEOPLE implicate Bell in the attack. I forgot the exact number, but at LEAST 2 or 3 people say they saw Bell KICK Barker. Even if he WASN’T the initial attacker, others still wrote down that he was involved with the kicking. So it appears to me as if the evidence DOES support it. Just because one contradiction exists doesn’t mean the whole case collapses.
I agree, our courts are based on a system of reasonable doubt. But just looking at the eye witness statements and the repetetive nature of MOST of the details that are written in them, it appears that the prosecution has a very valid case. Bell was convicted by a jury from this evidence before his case was thrown out. Let’s not assume that, just because this jury was composed of “backwoods racist redneck Jena white folks” that they didn’t look at the evidence laid before them and make a truly unbiased judgment.
Reed Walters’ job is to gather evidence, arrest the people he feels is responsible for a crime, then make sure that they are punished appropriately. This is what he did. It is not the District Attorney’s duty to hold the defense attorney’s hand and guide him to evidence that will show a valid argument against his own case. I DO think he was off-base by asking for attempted murder charges, but aggravated battery is very appropriate for the crime in question. Of course, everyone’s opinion varies on that, but that one is mine.
“If you’ll notice, few people peg more than 2-4 attackers in their statements. Students were walking to class, they all got different views from different angles at different times. Yeah, it happened fast, but I don’t understand why we should assume that they ALL kicked him in the head at the exact same time. Is it not possible for them to all take turns? They are football athletes and all of them appear agile. It would be very easy for them to do. Maybe this explains why no one listed every single attacker in one statement, because they DID take turns.”
With a coach right there? More teachers coming on the run? How long do you think they had, to take turns like this?
And why only the head? Why not the body?
And the physical injury? One of the written reports mentioned that the swelling on his eye was going down even before he was checked out a couple of hours later. His injuries were not consistent with being hit, kicked, and stomped by five football players, and six fine athletes.
As for the jury, now exactly who was the classmate of whom, and how many of the jurists knew how many of the eyewitnesses or other participants? You’ll have to excuse me if I find their ability to weight the evidence impartially a little suspect.
I don’t want to take up more of Laura’s comments. I’m aware that she hit bandwidth limits a few days ago. I have a feeling that nothing I will say will change your mind, FromJena. But I also have a feeling that you’re personally involved with this in some say, and so you’ll have to excuse me if I feel that you have a bias as to how the people in this event are perceived. In particular, Reed Walters.
As for eyewitness testimony, can I recommend a couple of readings? They’re very interesting.
Errors in Eyewitness Identification Procedures
Eyewitness Fallibility
Eyewitness Recall
Why Eyewitnesses Screw Up
There’s another good report, but I couldn’t find it. A couple of good books, too.
Shelley:
I don’t have time to respond to every part of your post yet, I just want to say:
There is AMPLE evidence to prove what they were intending to do that day. None of it is contradicted. Many students gave details about how they threatened other students that day:
1.) Several male black students approached a male white student (eye witnesses name at least 3 who were threatened).
2.) The same 10 or 12 names were repeated as being the instigators, as well as the same names used during the attack.
3.) They made some comment alluding to a fight or that student being beat up.
4.) Some sort of physical contact was attempted or made by the male back students.
The beating that is being described is very likely what would have happened in the other situations had it been accelerated by some response from the student being bullied. That can definitely be inferred. I’m sorry, the fact that they just attacked his head and that they their time was rather limited to do damage doesn’t convince me that they are not guilty. Their actions before the fight speak volumes about their intentions, that were clearly carried out in the Justin Barker beating.
Hi, I am a 41 year old Cherokee/Irish/Austrian Jew-American, since that is the way we are doing it these days. I consider myself a Native American or American, because…bingo, I was born in America, this is my native land. Most people who would meet me on the street would simply call me white…and they would be right, my skin is white. I will get back to that. I have in my family a Cherokee man, my great grandfather, who married a girl of LEGALLY immigrated Austrian Jews My Grandfather, a bit of an Archie Bunker, had a brother who surprise, married a black girl…when that sort of thing was not hip, and he wasn’t the first in the family. My cousins are black, I have black friends, I have black bandmates…all of whom I love dearly. My best friend in my youth was a black kid. I studied black music my whole life, and made it my own. I was the first white guy invited to perform at a historically exclusive black club in Baltimore, maybe the only one invited. So trust me when I say I am not prejudiced, I have everything in my family, even nut jobs…including myself, I am bi-polar. Get it? Now, with that said….I have issue as I read all of these listings in my sleepless night of curiosity concerning this case. Americans of all races have this arrogant need to label themselves as “something”-Americans. We are simply American’s my friends, if you would rather be somewhere else you have my permission. This form of self segregation is the root of all evil. Beware! Be brave, be Americans, proud, simple. Sure, be proud of your heritage…I am, but don’t let it define you. We are much more than that label we carry. In reading I have heard a lot of troubling words, words of fear, words of arrogance, words of truth….a familiar theme was weaving it’s way thru the postings…us against them. What white people can say, what they can’t say. What black people say, and how white people should handle that. I cannot remember any time when one of my family or friends or bandmates ever had a problem with me calling them black, or my ever being angry for them calling me white, or cracker for that matter…and they did. We were/are brothers, friends family. We ate together, we played together, we worked together with respect of each other and our collective as a whole. We cracked on each other, we had a sense of humor about all of the racists concerns from every corner…trust me, every group has their fanatics…most of them in my family. We had many serious conversations too that ran long in the night, it was beautiful, we are all so different, so many things to learn and understand. Too often in our time, as mentioned in other postings, well meaning groups of people make bad decisions on who to stand behind. This time there is no one to stand behind except the victim. Now you may argue who the victim is….there is the rub. What was done, as far as I understand from reading, this was a bunch of bad decisions made by a bunch of testosterone pumped young men, some with nasty habits and ideals on right and wrong. And let’s face it, they are kids…no older than my oldest child. Reasonable punishments would be appropriate, on all sides. One thing that sticks out is that the black/African-American (mocha, as I call my most dear elderly friend) kids were just as racist in their behavior and websites (myspace), as the white (should I be offended by that?) kids are reported to be, along with the rest of the town by everyone that wants to be offended and make a statement about how oppressed certain folks are, before even knowing what it is they are protesting about (mob mentality). Offended is the key word, and we must stop looking for things to be offended about. We are a country stuck in a politically correct muck of insecurity, unknowing, constant levels of offensiveness and mistrust with a little constant contradiction which in turn gives life to segregation, bigotry and distasteful behavior by all sides. Those among us (of all races, creeds and religions) that choose to be offended or find offensiveness and push it in all of our faces daily only breed more offensiveness. A wise man said, “if you want to be against racism, be pro integration…learn about each other, we are different and it is wonderful, yet beneath what you see-down to our smallest parts, we are all made of the same energy.” …oh yea, that was me. By the way, I am not a Christian…for what it is worth.
I just want to say that I find this whole story to be pretty sad. Both groups of kids, white and black, are young people in need of guidance. Kids are easily influenced and easily manipulated. They need to be given love, taught discipline, respect for themselves and for others. Personally, I think more than one adult is responsible for allowing this situation to fester into an infected sore. I believe that these children are simply parroting the talk and behavior of the adults they see around them. Remember Bailey was attacked in the Fair Barn incident not by another teenager but by an adult. This caused a brawl to ensue. Great role model there! School officials knew exactly what would happen under that tree and sat back and watch it all unfold. These people should be fired. There not fit to teach dogs!! I don’t blame any of the kids. I blame all the adults who allowed their children and the children of others to become embroiled in this mess. Now what, Jena, La. has Al Sharpton up their ass. I am a black woman and personally I think he’s a bottomfeeder. He’s simply been in Jena to pour salt on an already open wound. I don’t see him marching down the streets of the ghetto shutting down crack houses! I don’t see him marching down the streets of the hood telling kids to stay in school, not get pregnant, don’t join gangs! He plays the blame game. He fosters a “victim mentality” in my people that I feel is counterproductive and downright dangerous. I believe this man is out for his own agenda. Now, I’m not going to say that everyone in Jena is racist, but there is an old saying that goes “the only thing necessary for evil to exist is for good people to do nothing”. So, young people of Jena, black and white, call a meeting (young people only), talk to each other, make rules, like no fighting or name calling. Talk about how you see each other, what scares or angers you about each other. Talk it out. I think that people, all people will go far if they practice the teachings of Martin Luther King as opposed to Al Sharpton. Might as well give dialogue a try. As my mom use to say, “might as well learn to live together, cause ain’t nobody goin’ nowhere!”
None of the hate-mongers will remember this first paragraph, so please remind them. Laura has been awesome in providing us a venue to openly and honestly discuss this issue — so please don’t crucify her for what you read here. I’ll debate with you openly. Please do contact me at txwritergirl74@yahoo.com.
That said…
I am, as likely is everyone else, worn out on this being a race war. Okay, yes… Reed Walters was out of line filing the initial charges as he did. Recall him. Vote his ass out. This is still a democracy, and the people still have the power — if they choose to use it.
Injustice here? Perhaps. But the “Jena 6″ as innocent victims railroaded by the system? Please. The truth of the witness statements can’t be denied. Freedom for the Jena 6? By the time the rally took place last week (lf the accounts I read are true – five of the six were no longer incarcerated – only Mychal Bell – who had a violent history – remained behind bars). Even if this were not the case, these people enacted a serious assault on another.
I wonder if the facts of the case were different. I wonder if six white kids had beaten up on a black kid… and the charges were second degree attempted murder with no hate crime statute attached. Would the charges be to tough, or not tough enough?
Rev. Sharpton?
Rev. Jackson?
What of it? Is second degree attempted murder too much, when six white boys beat a black boy? Now go to Jasper, Texas and say that. I dare you. And then cry to me about how the justice system isn’t fair.
You don’t want the system to be fair, you want “black rage” to be an excuse.
There should be no excuse. Dumb is just dumb, and ugly is just ugly.
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Now, to those that would jump up and wail that I have no idea what it means to be opressed… Third generation American. Grampa was fighting in the South Pacific when his Pops (my great-grandfather == who disagreed with the politics and fled the Kaiser) was killed on the streets of Jersey for being German. Gramma was Creek Indian – Born in 1932.
‘N’uff said.
I usually do not worry myself with the troubles happening outside my own door, but this whole thing has got the attention of the entire country(including mine). The first thing I would like to say is I am deeply sorry for this community. There were lots of incicdents that led up to the boiling point we are seeing now. It actually is clear what is going on here. There are two groups of young men here that just don’t want to get along and play nice. It seems that every incident was provoked verbally before things got out of control. This country needs to stop using words like racism and racist. Punishment should be delivered without regards to race, religion or creed. We all need to start treating everyone as human beings. There should be no mention or race in our judicial system. The way we can make a change is to stop the name calling and taunting of our fellow human beings and the way to stop the ones that won’t is to ignore them. Let them bask in their self ignorance. All they wanted from you was a reaction anyway. Without your anger and animosity to their taunts they soon become powerless. So be kind and compassionate to everyone you meet.
To Jena 6 source: Good job finding more valid info. I appreciate being able to read more into the situation. I think the racial divide comes into play because people are talking about two different issues. It seems to me that people from Jena are saying that the boys planned on doing this horrible thing and did it. What blacks and others are trying to say is that this case is a joke. The reason people are screaming, “Free the Jena 6,” is because they shouldn’t be punished under an unjust system. None of the six young men should have to serve anytime given by the D.A., judge, or jury. The case against the boys and the way it was conducted is a disgrace to the judicial system and should have angered anyone who is a fan of justice. Black people are not marching because they think the boys did nothing wrong, they are marching for equality. Because the inequality that exists in Jena is unacceptable. Beating someone is wrong, but the authorities in Jena, LA are obviously not the ones who should be handing down the punishments. I think all people of all races should agree with this but for some reason there is a racial divide between blacks and whites. Some whites keep saying how bad some of the boys were and how they beat the hell out of Mr. Barker. And some blacks keep saying how the boys should be let free. Everyone should be saying a great injustice occurred and something should be done where everyone in Jena and many other places feel like they are equal citizens in this country. We should all agree on that.
Laura: It’s not easy fighting for justice. If it were, more good people would become great people. It’s not easy doing what you do but you seem built for it. Keep it up and give yourself pep talks. Many, many people really appreciate what you do.