I just found this photo in the CNN article Residents: Nooses spark school violence, divide town, and my first thought was, “You have GOT to be kidding me. A felony conviction for THIS?” I knew Reed Walters didn’t have any serious medical testimony to back him up, but I figured the photos had to be sufficiently gory for the jury to come back with that verdict. How anyone can look at this photo and think “beaten half to death” or “stomped on face” or any of the other rhetoric that has been thrown around so liberally is beyond me.
Seriously, future comments where I see someone going on an on about these dire injuries and “bleeding out his ears,” I’m deleting it. I don’t care who it’s from or whether there is anything else of value in the comment. Whether the writer intends it or not, it’s a lie, and this photo proves it. And don’t give me the whole “$12,000 in medical bills,” either. Over half of that was the ambulance ride, ER and CT scan, and the rest was probably for more expensive testing in a desperate attempt to justify these excessive charges. I’ll put the best possible face on it and suggest it was CYA for the doctors or “concerned parent” medical overkill. That, or they flew him to the Mayo Clinic. Jeez. What utter crap. This really makes me mad.
Where did you get your statistics on white on black and black on white crime? Hey…didn’y you say you were any attorney..Boy I would never hire you, as you can’t even retrieve the correct data. Someone who hires you as their attorney will be truly sorry. Check this site
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/race.htm
White offenders represent 45.8% of homicides (that’s nearly half of all homicides are committed by whites in the US)
From 1976 to 2005 —
86% of white victims were killed by whites
94% of black victims were killed by blacks
Not much of a difference if you ask me (5%).
ROACH doesn’t know what the he** he’s talking about. Do your homework chump!!!!
EVERYONE – be careful of an attorney like Roach…dumb!!!!
Your math is flawed on its face. For starters, blacks make up 12% of the population and are committing 55% or so of homicides by your own math. Then, they’re comitting almost 100% of the crimes agianst blacks but 14% or so against whites based on your own numbers. But if they’re only 12% of the population and committing half the homicides, then their rate of homicidal violence is much much higher. They’re disproportionately violent people to the tune of 10X the white rate. Look up the “Color of Crime” when you get a chance on google.com.
What should I apologize for, incidentally? What did I do wrong? Speak the truth and support it with facts? This is the world we live in; God help someone who dares to “hurt black people’s feelings” he might end up in the hospital and black people who are bystanders won’t feel any sense that this wrong behavior.
Have anyone looked into why the white kids who hung the nooses have not been charge with a hate crime? Would that fall under the hate crime law? That would make it a federal crime right?
Roach,
Ur logic is full of Bull****, you may not have noticed but your comments seems to me a little racist I think….Your saying that blacks make up most of murders and charges if you think about it and I’m sure you should know because you stated that {your an attorney} the reason being blacks are being charged for murder, rape, gang related activities,etc. is because BLACKS are given more severe sentences then WHITES…{being that your an attorney im sure you already knew that}and yes I am black and if I was a bystander to someone getting hurt for no apparent reason {which you are trying to make it out to be} no matter what their skin color is, I would feel that their behavior was wrong. How can you say such a thing? Look at it from our point of view….White guy committed a crime just the same as a Black guy and look who gets slapped with a Life sentence{even though the trial has been updated}. If all colors of race received the same punishment for the same crimes….{sweetie, the white people would equal out to the blacks that are in jail}. Look it up, you should already know and if you don’t WAKE UP PLEASE!
Eric,
You said “They should be charged with a ‘hate crime’ their attack was racially motivated, they were six black students attacking a white student for no reason except for his skin colour”
NOT
Their actions were motivated by only a particular guy who taunted them and hung the nooses in a tree to symbalize HATE and pump fear into black students who sat under their precious tree. Sound almost like when they tried hurt and jail Ms Rosa Parks for sitting in the white mans precious front seat on the bus. They didn’t randomly select a white person, they went after the person who did the social and racial misdeed. So it was deliberate and specific and not a hate crime. Use your common sense. The hate crime was the nooses, the vegilantisim was the brawl (although I don’t support violence at all)..This was kind of like a passion crime to me..
[Actually, Barker didn't hang the nooses. He was good friends with those who did, though, and was reportedly taunting Bailey just before he was beaten. - Laura]
KUDOS to Laura because I don’t think no one is paying attention to your argument which seems to point out unfair and unjust which is the situation at hand!
First of all, I would like to thank Laura for making it possible for us to express our opinion and views. This blog has been about the Jena 6,but it is also about racism. I think that its good to be able to directly address the subject we have been skirting around for years. Some web sites allow such utter nonsense and trash talking. I think any intelligent person will turn away from those after awhile. Trmack, I so agree with your statement. Had this been handled from the beginning, I dont think those boys would be facing prison and justin would not have been hurt. I blame the adults,who turned their heads and allowed this nightmare to get bigger and bigger.
Laura, I appreciate your comments and realize you partially disagree with me; your commitment to open debate is laudable, particularly as I admit I am saying some controversial things. This change in tone, though, that calls my use of stats a hate crime and any deviation from P.C. orthodoxy an example of “hate” is a sign of the times.
Incidentally, the argument blacks are punished worse than whites because of their race and are not disproportionately criminal does not stand up to scrutiny as the NCVS (a crime survey) data accord with the BJS (jail statistics) data. The truth is, blacks are more violent. There are many reasons–including illegitimacy and an unfortunate culture that praises violence–but these facts are undeniable.
Finally, it’s notable that the use of taunting and vulgar speech–nooses–for which someone should probably be expelled from school is confused in the minds of your readers as a potential crime, as if we don’t have a First Amendment that protects even obnoxious speech such as this. The drumbeat of political correctness and equality is confusing many Americans about our traditions of LIBERTY, which allows “hate speech” so long as it is not connected with criminal actions.
The picture of Justin’s face does not do it justice. I saw his face personally and the picture does not at all show the severity of what he looked like. Besides if you can’t look at the picture and think “oh my God! He got the crap beat out of him.” something is wrong with peoples vision.
[Sorry - still not impressed. I've personally experienced a far worse beating. I know he was more swollen the next day than he was at the time of the picture. I'm sympathetic, I know he felt like total crap for at least a week, and bad for another week after that. But 2 hours in the ER and 2 weeks of feeling like crap does not attempted murder make. I personally could have done a LOT more damage to a person lying prone and not resisting in 3 minutes or less, and I'm a non-athletic middle aged woman. - Laura]
LauraGuess you didnt allow one of my last post, I dont see it anywhere. Whats wrong? You dont want people to know what these people are doing with their hard earned donations. I will find the site and let you see for yourself tomorrow. I guess I could just drive by and take a pic of he new jag sitting by the trailer. I tryly believe some who donated would be appalled dont you.[I've never blocked any of your posts, as far as I know. Please, send the pic, if it's the same trailer I saw on the news, I'll post it. - Laura]
[Added - I just checked the spam queue, nothing in there from you, James. - Laura]
hey, I agree with a lot of what Roach has been saying, but he seems to be a litte harsh on the blacks. I don’t think that the color matters as far as crime goes. I do think that a lot of blacks keep a grudge on things that happened in the past that didn’t happen to them but maybe there ancestors ancestors. Those days are over. Why keep bringing up those horrible things. And whites weren’t the only ones in the world who had slaves. And not all slaves were black. You don’t hear anything out of the indians, they just want casinos. As far as me and my family, we are not racist, but we do get tired of being blamed of it, just because we are white. It makes us feel like we’re the ones who’s being racially harassed. Oh, by the way, I’m from JENA!!! Who Cares. When I went to Jena High School, there were never any fights like that. There was a lot of intimidation from a few black boys. Those intimidations were toward me (sexually) and my boyfriend (my husband now) they blamed him for writing hate notes that he never wrote, it was hard enough to get him to write me a love letter, let along a stupid hate note, LOL! But I’m sure we weren’t the only ones they intimidated. But that’s all it was, intimidation.
This is why this is being taken so far, is because there has never, in my time in school, been such a beating with black and whites. Not in this town. I may not get out much. But I know it didn’t happen while I was in highschool. We always heard blacks just calling each other the “N” word. Which is definately not right, it’s not a “if we can’t say it, they can’t say it” thing. I think that word is just as bad as saying “F***” I don’t agree with it. I have 3 very young children 5 months, 2 years, and 4 years old that have already heard a young black boy say the word “ni**er” in front of them. Now what are they gonna do if my little boys say that word? They are gonna blame me for it of course! But if my kids ever say that word they will get their little butts whipped. They’ve never said it “thank god” but if they keep hearing it no matter who they hear from, they will wind up saying it.
The Jena Six intentions were to beat the boy up, I don’t believe that they were trying to kill him, I hope not. But the fact of the matter is, that Justin didn’t deserve a beating, why not an insult, if he even insulted anyone himself. He didn’t even take part in hanging the nooses. So what if he’s friends with the guys who did, that doesn’t make him like them. Do any of you have any gay friends? Well, just because you have gay friends, does that make you gay? No, it doesn’t. Just because he had racial friends didn’t make him racist either. The boys who hung the nooses by the way were punished. I know 2 of them are home schooled and are not allowed to walk with their class for graduation. To me, walking with my class was a very big deal. But it may not be to them, but they should’ve been made apologize to the congregation, not only did it affect the blacks but also everyone else and my kids future in school in this town. These white boys were ignorant in what they done. They are most likely racists and they will live with the burden of the war they caused on this town. My children and their own children in the future will pay for what the white boys done. Also the Jena Six is just as racist and has caused the same thing on their children. Our children’s future in this town is already at stake with the war all of these boys have caused. Notice: BOYS
I don’t ever hear of Black Girls and White Girls causing this kind of trouble. Men and their EGO’S!!! (you men don’t get offended now, just a figure of speech)
i worked with a couple of guys from jena who told me that it was okay to talk while on the job ,but if i ever pasted through jena and had a break down not to call on them for help cause blacks wasn,t welcome in jena
I find this case funny. Here I am, a black man, and after I received an email made up to support the Jena 6, I found myself doing what many of my brethren should have done, finding the facts out. Fact: Some of these boys have been found guilty of violent crimes in the past. The fact that the fight started as a one on one altercation, then the other 5 jumped him, it makes the case to ‘free’ these 6 young men, ridiculous. I actually thought by reading that these young men didn’t strike him at all and this was all a set-up. It wasn’t. I have family members from Louisiana and the best way to stay out of trouble with the legal system is to not get in trouble. I’m becoming a believer that if this was reversed it wouldn’t be a story. I understand that we as blacks cannot continue to act in violent matters and then look to the media to exonerate us. Attempted Murder? Possible. I’d have to see the medical report. Battery charges? File em. While I disagree with Roach on some of his assumptions about black people, and the impact of slavery, I don’t toe the line that many of you are proclaiming. I’ve done some things that weren’t legal in my time. NONE OF THEM WERE VIOLENT. That is the problem in this system. Violent youths become violent adults. Plenty of people may steal, but I really believe that violent crime should be judged differently. By the way, when did 17 mean you could be an idiot? i have a 9 year old boy so if these guys get off with this should I tell him it’s ok to join in on mob mentality? Just because some spew racist crap at us, does not give us the right to attack them. Only when they make it a physical altercation do you engage them. You engage them on equal footing. If it’s one man? Then meet him man to man. If they come in a group? Then meet them as a group. What these boys did had no honor.
Roach saying blacks are more violent than other races is equal and akin to saying whites are more evil, hateful, prideful and haughty (similar to their father Satan) than any other race. Both are backed up by statistics.
But the fact is that people act the way they do because of situation and circumstances. Whites are prideful and evil, but their culture and society makes them that way. Blacks are more violent because their culture and society makes them that way.
Roach’s words are based in his racial pride, haughtiness and feelings of superiority. Underneath the skin people are people, and scientifically, there is no such thing as the current racial divisions (google that). The divisions are cultural and an aftereffect from the evil, Satanical white rulership of this world.
God and Jesus will not judge by color as worldly people do. Satan has used pride-based racial supremacists to perpetuate his evil for millennium. It continues but won’t continue forever.
No one’s perfect. We all have original sin. We all commit wrong. But the question is one of culture and standards. Whites don’t rally around bad whites. We punish them. Once upon a time, we did not, particularly in the days of Jim Crow and the KKK when “Southern Justice” routinely let off violent KKK thugs on the thinking they were part of a broader movement to maintain white supremacy. This was wrong and shameful, in my view. It’s also almost completely disappeared. No whites will rally for the killers of James Byrd or for Ted Bundy or the average redneck bar brawler. But blacks are different. They and their leadership make a cause celebre out of their worst people who dishonor their entire group. Black juries in Baltimore routinely release violent black criminals to re-offend and terrorize their own community.
Blacks will be treated as a group so long as they treat their criminals as part of their group whom they should rally around. It may indeed be too harsh a sentence in Jena, but it’s the kind of error that none of us should worry too much about. We’re talking about violent predatory criminals. They belong behind bars for a long time. There are plenty of whites doing very long sentences and you don’t see too many national petition drives for them. We don’t have an Al Sharpton or a Jesse Jackson to muckrake every time some criminally minded white decides to act like a criminal.
I don’t think all blacks are criminals, or are bad, or anything else. These statistics are just that: statistics about a group. They don’t tell us whether any one white or black person is good or bad. But they do tell us about a trend, and that trend is that blacks are more violent in America today. There’s probably many causes, not least the breakdown in the centrality of the nuclear family in Black America. This problem is getting worse in White America too, and no doubt will bring with it a train of similar problems. But part of the problem too is this culture of not ostracizing criminals, and instead treating them as Robin Hood characters avenging injustice informally against a broader, unjust white-ruled society. They are in fact no such thing. They’re brutal and ruthless people that victimize more blacks than whites homicidally, with rape, and otherwise. They belong in jail and they belong to be ostracized by the black community or that community will suffer and whites will rightly perceive that entire community as one deserving to be treated collectively as anti-social because it provides moral support and justification to common criminals.
The blacks this and the blacks that….. Dear “Roach” (and additional relevant posters),
A generally acceptable phrase has been adopted by those familiar with this case and even those not so familiar to refer to the individuals held responsible for this incident. Here’s a hint: the phrase I’m referring to contains a number, not an epithet.
As an African-American female who has a clean criminal record, no history of violence, a law degree, and three siblings serving their country through law enforcement, I take pointed exception to the cavalier manner with which you hold the whole of one culture responsible for the conduct of six adolescents. Perhaps you are unfamiliar with a recent West Virginia case in which six white people were arrested for the week-long torture, sexual assault, and stabbing of a 20-year-old black woman. By the way, the Federal Bureau of Investigation declined to classify the case as a hate crime despite the fact that the abductors called the victim a ni**er during the course of repeated assaults.
And maybe the fact that the majority of Dhamer’s victims were black does little to awaken you to the violent tendencies of your own race. Moreover try as I might, I was just unable to locate multiple incidents of either school shooting or child molestation cases perpetrated by individuals of any races other than caucasion. Notwithstanding the overwhelming above-cited acts of violence committed by white people, it would be both irresponsible and downright ignorant of me to condemn the entire caucasion culture for the conduct of their less well-intentioned cohorts.
However, seeing as though virtually ALL school shootings have been committed by white people, I would haul ass out of class if I saw ‘Little Debbie’ turning the corner with an assault rifle slung across her shoulder. Similarly, since virtually ALL noose-hangings of African-Americans have been committed by the “good ‘ole boys down South,” I too would feel the heat rise within me upon discovering three nooses hanging from the “white tree”, on the “white side” of campus, down in the richly slave-enhanced State of Louisiana. And I would not look all too kindly on the braggart choosing to exercise his Constitutional right to call me a ni**er under those nooses.
I neither take issue with your stance on the Jena 6 case nor your opinion of black, white, green, or purple criminals. But if you would be so kind as to limit your references to the specific “blacks” I believe your comments to address, it would be greatly appreciated.
And ya’ll be sure to visit us someday up in Maryland ya hear!
[I cannot BELIEVE that you would compare criminal violence here at home to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. I deleted the text of your comment, and I absolutely will not allow similar ones out of moderation. It's utter garbage. While there have been isolated instances of violent crime - and a good deal of made up crap by the likes of Scott Thomas Beauchamp - our troops are NOT sociopaths and criminals. Death in war is NOT AT ALL the same as civilian crime. THERE IS NO COMPARISON. I'm shocked and offended that you would say such a thing. - Laura]
[Added - on second thought, you're banned. That's how mad I am about that crap you wrote. The rest of the comment would have gone through just fine, but those kind of slams against the troops are not tolerated here. - Laura]
I need an explanation to why my last comment has not been updated.
[If I knew what that comment was I might give you one, but my first guess is that it violated comment policy. If you want to be sure that your comments get out of moderation, then check the comment policy and comply with it. - Laura]
The plural of anecdote is not data. White crimes are unusual and they are reported to an extreme degree. The stats don’t lie here . . . and neither do the victimization surveys. This crime is important because it is typical, just as a white kid shooting up his school is quite interesting because it’s atypical. But if you don’t believe me just notice how many times movie theaters, bowling allies, restaurants, and dance clubs are shut down in the ghetto because someone needs to bust out a gun and shoot someone for dissing.
These stories are so easy to find (and never make national news) that it’s pitiful. You might think this is white racism, but I think it’s just as much white patronizing behavior in the face of patronizing black leaders that are more concerned with “airing their dirty laundry” than they are with stopping crime.
PS Look up the local sex offenders in your neighborhood online some day. Legions of black and brown faces abound. Whites too, no doubt, but it’s certainly not a white majority crime.
Roach, it is seems to me that you are a racist, because you have made multiple racist comments and generalizations about the black community. You are obviously NOT Black so I don’t understand how you can say that you should be allowed to say the n-word and hang confederate flags. Saying that Black should act like “more civilized groups” is a stereotype. Yes there are uncivil Blacks the same way that there are uncivil whites, but for you to imply that we are uncivil and follow “primitive rules” is purely racist. I would like to see one of you “Factual statistics” that state that the majority of blacks follow “primitive rules.” There is absolutely no truth to that, that is simply a racist statement. How would you define a racist, because, whether you wish to admit it or not people who make racist statements and believe racist things are racist. It seems to me that you are a bit…no a lot biased. (You say that you were beaten up by rowdy black kids at your high school (not that I can blame them) but maybe thats why you don’t like black people, i don’t know, I’m not a psychiatrist, I’m just saying maybe you should get some help from one.) “blacks hurt each other and other white people” Yes this is true but if you were going to say that then you should also have said that “Whites hurt each other and other black people” people in general hurt each other regardless of color, this is another reason why it is easy for someone to come to the conclusion that you are a racist. You are constantly focusing on all of the horrible things that blacks do and how whites are the victims but the color of their skin really is not the issue people in general are violent that is how our culture is today and you cannot blame that on black people. “THEY’RE disproportionately violent PEOPLE to the tune of 10x the white rate” That would be a prime example of a stereotype saying that “THEY’RE VIOLENT PEOPLE” implies that you are referring to all blacks which is a very common stereotype, if that is so then why aren’t whites violent people, don’t they also commit violent crimes. “God help someone who dares to hurt black people’s feelings, he might end up in the hospital” again implying that all blacks are violent which is something that a racist person would say. How can you say that blacks are “violent predatory criminals” but then admit to kicking a few asses, wouldn’t that make you a violent criminal also? I don’t understand what makes you any better than the Jena 6 boys if you said that you’ve kicked a few asses, maybe not to the extent that they had but the fact still remains that you beat someone up so why is your violence justified? if you feel that they should be in jail for up to 100 years then why shouldn’t you? Another statement that you made about hip hop sounded very ignorant, ” rap artists use it 50x in 1 song” As an African American teenager it is clear to me that you are purely going on hear say and assumptions. Can you please name for me the song that you heard that used the n-word 50x’s? I don’t understand how you could even try to use that as an excuse. If you are that weak minded that hearing a word in a song can influence you that much then you really do need help. There are many violent messages in rock music everything in hip hop is not bad, I have NEVER heard a song that used the n-word 50x’s (nor have I ever heard a song that says every single woman in the world is a hoe or a bitch,) this is just another one of your biased comments with NO PROOF, I WOULD TRULY APPRECIATE IT IF YOU COULD TELL ME NAME OF THE SONG YOU HEARD THAT USED THE N-WORD 50X’S!! And finally you say that ” that community will suffer and whites will RIGHTLY perceive that ENTIRE COMMUNITY as one deserving to be treated COLLECTIVELY AS ANTI-SOCIAL because it provides moral support and justification to common criminals” how can you possibly justify saying that whites will rightly perceive us a anti-social, what gives whites the right to deem blacks as anti-social that statement sounds like something a Klan member would say or someone who believes in white supremacy. After reading all of you racial comments how can you say that you are not a racist?
(I think that a lot of people that are really racist don’t want to admit it because it is such a negative thing to be but honestly you have to kind of think that the statements that you have made sound racist. I am not referring to the statements that you have made with evidence to back them up I ‘m talking about th statements that you have made without any proof to back them up, and if for some strange reason you still think that you are not a racist then please tell me what you think a racist is?)
My comments did not violate comment policy in anyway.
[Then the spam filter may have caught it, but I deleted all the spam comments last night so I can't get it back. Feel free to repost it. - Laura]
ROACH you make some valid and not so valid points. Everyone is going to have there individualized beliefs and understanding. We can go tit for tat and pull facts all day. The truth of the matter is that there is still an undeniable problem in this country regarding race, racism, and (in) justice. We need more solutions rather then trying to justify problems.
TRMACK makes a very valid point regarding consequences. As adults we need to begin to teach future generations the importance of respect, so that they will not endure the problems of our generation. We as black people definitely still have the cards stacked up against us. Knowing this we need to educate ourselves more, work cohesively to advance our economic conditions, forgive, become more accountable for the decisions we make, and raise our children.
I don’t understand why statistics are so difficult for some of you. A certain portion of any group is going to be violent. So when we’re judging a group’s rate of violence, we’re always judging a cohort of individuals within that group. So if you have two groups and one of them contains a much larger and much more violent cohort of violent individuals, we can say that that group is more violent than some other group. This is a proper generalization and an appropriate, fact-based statistical inference.
Here’s an analogy that should not be too hard to grasp: is it fair to say men are more violent than women. It’s true, some women are more violent than some men, and it’s also true that not all men are violent, but it seems a fair generalization to say men on the whole are more violent (or more likely to be violent) than women. In fact, it’s about 10:1 for the male rate of violence as compared to the female. Incidentally, this is almost the same as the 9.8:1 ratio of black violence to white violence.
So label these FACTS racist all you want, but reality is reality, and this reality also accords with most peoples’ intuition on the matter. You can’t run away from reality forever by crying racism, stereotypes, etc. Those charges were once labeled at UNREPRESENTATIVE and UNFAIR stereotypes, not generalizations in general. We’re told that racism is a huge impediment to blacks, was bad in the past, and is still a major problem. But consider this: 4,743 people were lynched in the United States between 1882 and 1968. How many blacks were murdered by other blacks? In 2005, about 7400.
It’s easy to pile on the alleged white racism that pervades our society, but it’s much harder to look at the facts in the mirror: black people are causing a lot of problems for themselves and others in the form of criminal violence and a lack of ostracism against the worst members of the black community.
Consider Jena and Jasper. Who came out to supporthe Jasper defendants; a few broke KKK losers. White racists are on the fringe of white society; they have no power and are completely ostracized. Black solidarity with criminals, however, ranging from these Jena Six losers to OJ is widespread and leads to almost zero opprobrium. It’s a joke and it makes the entire community and its leadership lose the respect they had, once upon a time, when young black men and women were exhorted to “be a credit to your race.” Now they’re exhorted to “thug ’til they die” and their parents (or more likely single mom parent) have little to say about it.
Roach i like the fact that you use facts to support your data. Based on those specific facts it appears african-americans commit more muders but the only conclusion i can conclude is you are more likely to get murdered by a african-american not that they are more violent! An likewise based on statistics you are more likely to be a caucasian pedophile. Now maybe you can go back to your statistics and find the rate of poverty associated with the high african-american murder rates and maybe that will shed some light on the murder rate and will take in account more than just skin color. An just maybe you can also see that not just african-americans living in poverty have higher crime rates but every race crime rates skyrockets up when you put in other factors like poverty! My opinion on the case is that the student who placed the nooses in the tree should have been expelled( maybe even ending this before it started). Now that the student was beaten I do believe they should face charges but charges that are appropiate!
what I love the most about this subject is how everybody is talking about this whole racism thing…i looked up the myspace page of Theo Shaw and certainly love the comments that his friends make about “screw the WHITE BITCHES”…. now excuse me… who is the racist here? They brought it on themselves not because of their color but because of that they did! You dont go against one person as a group no matter if you are white black green or freaking orange!!!!
Quote from the DA prior to the Jena 6 incident:
Last fall in Jena, the day after two Black high school students sat beneath the “white tree” on their campus, nooses were hung from the tree. When the superintendent dismissed the nooses as a “prank,” more Black students sat under the tree in protest. The District Attorney then came to the school accompanied by the town’s police and demanded that the students end their protest, telling them, “I can be your best friend or your worst enemy… I can take away your lives with a stroke of my pen.”
The boys that hung the nooses got suspended.Ok, justice was served.So why shouldn’t the six boys that caused a young man to loose is hearing in one ear permantly and partially lose his sight be punished.Justin barker was not one of the boys who hung the nooses, so everyone can stop trying to use that as an excuse.He can not be held accountable for the actions of his friends.Six boys have taken away one boys hearing in one ear which he can never get back and most of the vision in one eye.Justin barker has suffered more than anyone.Six on one is never a fair fight regardless of race,sex, or age.Mychal Bell is also being portrayed as a good kid.People need to know that he was already on probation, for what….you guessed it assault.I relate his case to OJ Simpsons.I belive if he is let go it will not be too much longer and he will do something else to be right back in jail. Its also funny to me how people talk about the DA in Jena.Well he has done his job fo over ten years and suddenly now everyone has a problem with him.He was first elected by a majority vote of both blacks an whites alike.The DA has even went with no one opposing him because he was well liked so much.I am not racist I just believe in right and wrong.These kids should be punished somehow for what they have done.I beleive they should be made to pay medical bills and serve atleast another year in a juenile facilty or prison.everyone coming to Jena to rally should stay at home and let the law who has done their job for years continue to do it.
[Permanent hearing loss and loss of sight? Proof, please. This has not been reported ANYWHERE. There's not a shred of evidence at this time - including the photos, his own testimony, the ER nurse's testimony, and what I have seen of his ER discharge papers to back up what you're saying. Also, Bell's priors do not include assault. He had two counts of battery. Finally, I say again, the American judicial system does not punish people for what they might do in the future. It punishes them for what they already did. I believe Reed Walters is going to retry him in juvenile court - Good! That's appropriate. These particular charges, and adult court, are NOT. - Laura]
I have been listening and looking up all the stories on the Jena 6. I believe they should be punished for what they did but it needs to fit the crime. They were involved in a fight and yes they beat up a student (lets forget that they are black and he is white, it’s 2007 and race should not be a factor anymore) but because of a fight they should not have their lives taken away. That’s ridiculous to try to charge them for attempted murder so I’m happy it has been reduced. It needs to be reduced more because aggravated assault does not fit what they did. It was assault and assault only. To give them the maximum because of race is un-humane. It’s childish and they don;t need the jobs they have if they are going to abuse them. If everyone who got beat up in a fight gets to send the person that beats them up to jail for life then there would be even more people in jail for the rest of their life for nothing. If they are going to jail for their life then the grown men that got in the fight with the teenagers at the barn party should go to jail for attepted murder. They were adults and those were kids. Now the photo shows him in the hospital the day of the fight and it shows nothing but a few bruises and a black eye. Everyone knows that the next day you end up looking far worse than it really is so please stop overexagerrating his bruises. It’s not accurate and it’s childish of you. And please stop refering to people by their race, it’s ignorant.
I’ve been following this story through this website (I think Laura has done an excellent job of trying to bring out the truth) and various others, yet I’m still trying to get a true grasp on what actually happened that day. I’ve heard no accounts of Justin having any other injuries other than those to his head/face. It’s hard for me to picture 6 people surrounding/causing injuries to his head ONLY. Does anyone know if he sustained injuries to his chest or body? Some accounts say this attack lasted for minutes, yet there was over 40 witnesses. Did they just “stand by and watch”? Who broke the fight up?
I saw Bailey (I think, pretty sure it was him) being interviewed on CNN; if I can pull up that video online I’ll post it on my next comment. According to him, he was not involved at all (this wasn’t the first time I heard that either; I’ve read on other news sites that at least 2 of the six claimed from jump that they did not participate). When the fight broke out (again, according to him), EVERYONE piled around (this does make sense; considering all the fights I’VE seen in high school, that’s what happens, someone yells “FIGHT”, and everyone runs over to see) . IF what he said was true, how can 40, or even 20, people piled around 1 person on the ground see who was kicking/throwing punches? If what he said was not true, I can’t picture 40 people standing at a distance watching someone on the ground being kicked for several minutes (“several minutes” comes from some posts of a few folks from Jena, at least they say).
Of these 40 witnesses, only 17 were called. Did each one specifically say they saw all 6 kicking, or did some witnesses indicate a couple of the six, and others indicate the remainder? I dunno, it’s frustrating trying to reconstruct it, based on what has been “proven” to be fact. Someone posted on another site that witness testimony has Bailey kneeling on the ground punching Barker, not kicking him. Roach, you’re the attorney here; if he did indeed punched instead of kicked, can he still be charged with aggravated battery, instead of assault or something else, even if he didn’t use a tennis shoe? Are human fists considered deadly weapons as well?
Someone, PLEASE shed some light. I can’t wait to see the 17 witness statements; hopefully it will help me better understand the sequence of events. I’m still having a hard time trying to place 6 athletes surrounding someone laying on the ground, and kicking the head ONLY. I can picture 4, with no room to spare, but 6 at once? Or did they take turns?
I just read the comment by cheesy hamburger posted on September 17th, 2007 at 1:32 am. Although I like to hear and respect everyone’s opinion I must stand strong on this. Number one we are no longer blacks. Seeing as you’re from Jena i’m not surprised you would we refer to us as such. I’m actually surprised you did not say colored. I am an African American female and I must say that we as African Americans do not hold grudges for the past but we do hold grudges for what is happening RIGHT NOW. These young men did not fight for their ancestors being slaves, they faught for the racisim and injustice they were facing in 2007, IN THIS DAY AND TIME. Lets review the facts that no one is really addressing to see if these young men should have been anything more than suspended.
1. The event started when an African-American young man asked the school’s principal if he could sit under a traditionally white only tree and was answered with “I don’t care where you really sit”
2. The next day the young man sat under the tree and was harassed.
3. the following day the young man and two of his friends once again sat under the tree in which was followed by the hanging of three nooses in the school’s colors.
4. The three white gentlemen that were responsible for the situation were suspened but the suspension was later over turned so they only stayed from school a couple of days which is wrong considering all three of the boys have criminal records and one has been expelled from another school before.
5. After the hanging of the nooses there became rising tension between the caucasions and african-americans in the school.
6. Due to the tension the DA comes to the school telling the african american students that “I can either be your friend or I can end you life with the stroke of a pen” (in which he has done)
7. Some caucasion male students beat up an african-american student.
8. In an effort to retaliate and after being called niggers the Jena 6 then beat up Justin Barker. As you can see Barker injuries were not as harsh as being stated and they really could not have been considering he attended a school event the exact same night of the incident.
With all that being said and to sum it up were ARE NOT angry for slavery, we ARE NOT angry for what happened to our families during the 60s, we ARE angry that it is 2007 and we have six young men that had never had criminal records and had bright futures ahead of them but they have been charged and arreseted for attempted second-degree murder for a fight that, if it would have taken place anywhere besides 4,000 in population, 85% Caucasion, Jena, LA, would have been considered a regular school fight and gotten the JENA 6 suspened for 3 weeks at the most. So please do not say we are holding grudges for what happened in the past. We are not holding a grudge at all. We are angry and stepping forth to fight the injustice and racism that is happening right here right now in 2007. How far have we really come?
It seems like these poor innocent boys wanted to sit under the tree, they are not innocent boys they are thug. There are plenty blacks and whites that sit under that tree it is bull all of it is. Whites and blacks get along with the exception of a view. Some of the Jena 6 went around being a bully to the white children picking on them wanting them to say the N word hitting them and knocking them around then when they would say it they would push or punch them it was a no win situation. It will be interesting to see how long they stay out of trouble, the will prove most of you wrong by thinking they are good boys. Mychal Bell is on probation maybe that had something to do with not getting out of jail. Watch out Jena he’s out of jail, let the trouble begin. He has a bad name in his neighborhood at least for alittle while they didn’t have to worry about 1 thug.. Maybe he can drive that new car yall bought his mom. Oh yeah the rims and all the extra’s you ordered hasn’t come in yet. Mrs. Bell you need to do the right thing for your son save that money for him. Shame on You……..If it had been 6 white boys and 1 black boy would you still be angry. It is never alright to put your hand or should I say your hand or shoes on someone. If everybody knew the whole truth I think it would change alot of minds. I was always taught it didn’t matter what someone said to you ignore it words can’t hurt you and it is never worth fighting over. If Mychal Bells mom had been there for him instead of doing things she should have not been doing or in jail or rehab maybe this would not have happened. I think she likes the money coming in. It’s really sad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!She will have to answer for what she has done one day
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.
Yes, how far have you come? I’d really like to know. You say, and I quote:
“With all that being said and to sum it up were ARE NOT angry for slavery, we ARE NOT angry for what happened to our families during the 60s, we ARE angry that it is 2007 and we have six young men that had never had criminal records and had bright futures ahead of them but they have been charged and arreseted for attempted second-degree murder for a fight that, if it would have taken place anywhere besides 4,000 in population, 85% Caucasion, Jena, LA, would have been considered a regular school fight and gotten the JENA 6 suspened for 3 weeks at the most. So please do not say we are holding grudges for what happened in the past. We are not holding a grudge at all. We are angry and stepping forth to fight the injustice and racism that is happening right here right now in 2007. How far have we really come?”
I take issue with what you say about them never having criminal records. Did you do any research or did you do what so many do and that is spout off the first thing that comes to your mind? Mychal Bell has the following record:
Battery – Christmas Day (December 25), 2005
Criminal Damage to Property – July 25, 2006
Battery – September 2006
Criminal Damage to Property, ALSO September 2006
Oh, but he’s INNOCENT, right? I’ll keep that in mind. I love how you folks seem to think assaulting someone is the way to solve problems.
Roach, you got a lot of statistics there and you got a lot to say about black people. And I admit that black people (who are not all African-Americans, mind you) cause alot of damage to themselves especially with bottomfeeders like Al Sharpton and Islamofacists like the Nation of Islam. But answer me this: Why are almost all serial killers white? Why are white killers more likely to store your head in the fridge and eat your liver for dinner? Why are white kids more likely to shoot up their schools and classmates, join vampire cults, become cult leaders, join organizations like NAMBLA (the North American Man/Boy Love Association) boy, where are your statistics that say that tell why your people seem to have a monopoly on outright insanity? Huh?
Im not condoning the Jena 6 but Justin Barker was not hurt that badly for such intial serious charges. This whole thing, I think was a collosal mess orchestrated by racist adults.
I will never be able to prove it, but I honestly and truly believe that you’ve got people out here (both black and white) whose sole purpose in life is to create chaos. These kids in Jena just got caught in the middle.
Racist town, stupid people.
I’m glad the Jena 6 are charged though. There is a consequence for your actions, and if the game is staked against you, you have to be smarter than the game. Not more violent. This was all predictable and avoidable.
Skhinson:
I disagree with several things you have said:
“Number one we are no longer blacks. Seeing as you’re from Jena i’m not surprised you would we refer to us as such.”
If you will read the eye witness statements, notice that even the black students who filled out eye witness statements refer to some students as “black”. If we are expected to call the black community something different, shouldn’t the black community set an example by doing the same? Or is this just the same old bag of tricks, here? Black rappers can say the “n” word all day long, but when a white American says it, they should be sent to prison for it. Again, racism is a valid issue, but it must be addressed ALONG SIDE the “victim mentality” that many black Americans have. This is the only true way to resolve the entire issue and stop blaming each other.
And I take offense to your snazzy comment about my home town. The facts are coming out and people are starting to realize that the story isn’t what it originally appeared to be.
“These young men did not fight for their ancestors being slaves, they faught for the racisim and injustice they were facing in 2007, IN THIS DAY AND TIME.”
It looks to me like they fought for neither. Judging by the eye witness statements, it’s very evident that they fought because someone smarted off to one of them. The CORE issue of this whole thing is the potential injustice created by the DA charging these boys too harshly. I would LOVE for an investigative team (unbiased) to come in and compare all cases which Reed Walters has prosecuted in the past to see if racism does indeed factor into his judgment. If it DOES, then the black community has every right to be angry, and Reed Walters deserves to be punished in some way. If it DOESN’T, the black community will have little to say about the charges that were applied to these students being too harsh because of their color, in THIS particular instance.
“The next day the young man sat under the tree and was harassed.”
I have heard nothing to imply that the young man was harassed in any way. Where did you get this information from? It would be news to me.
” the following day the young man and two of his friends once again sat under the tree in which was followed by the
hanging of three nooses in the school’s colors.”
Correction: Only TWO nooses were hung on the tree. If it WERE three, I’d be more convinced these guys were up to no good.
“The three white gentlemen that were responsible for the situation were suspened but the suspension was
later over turned so they only stayed from school a couple of days which is wrong considering all three of the boys have criminal records and one has been expelled from another school before.”
Correction: The three white BOYS (not gentlemen) were suspended for 3 days then received in school suspension for, reportedly, at least two weeks. The principal recommended expulsion but the school board voted 9-1 to overturn the principal’s decision.
“Due to the tension the DA comes to the school telling the african american students that “I can either be your friend or I can end you life with the stroke of a pen” (in which he has done)”
The DA spoke to the entire school in an assembly. Some say he was looking at the black students when he said it, but some say he wasn’t. Either way, there is little to prove WHO he was looking at, and it would be very easy to make assumptions about this. When asked awhile back about him looking at the black students, Walters says at one point he WAS looking at some of the black students close to the front row because they were being loud and not listening to him.
“In an effort to retaliate and after being called niggers the Jena 6 then beat up Justin Barker. As you can see Barker injuries were not as harsh as being stated and they really could not have been considering he attended a school event the exact same night of the incident.”
Mychal Bell is the only person who filled out an eye witness statement saying Justin Barker said “nigger”. He also says he was near the scene of the crime trying to HELP Barker and was within arm’s reach, yet he never points out the names of the guys kicking Barker. Very strange. Additionally, one female black student wrote DETAILS about the altercation that preceeded the beating. She says Justin Barker flipped Mychal Bell the middle finger, but she never says ANYTHING about the supposed racial slur aimed at her own race. Don’t you think she’d mention this in her statement? I’m not totally convinced Barker didn’t say “nigger”, but I strongly lean towards him not.
And yes, Barker could have been hurt ALOT!!! worse than he was. That is beside the point. Think about this: Someone knocks on your door, you answer the door, they pull out a gun and shoot at you, the bullet whizzes by you and scrapes your ear. The culprit is arrested, you go to an outpatient clinic and have some stitches to repair your ear.
Would you think attempted murder charges would be sufficient for this person who shot at you? So gauging the success of the attackers’ ability to do bodily harm has little bearing (in my opinion) on what the charges should be.
“we ARE angry that it is 2007 and we have six young men that had never had criminal records
and had bright futures ahead of them but they have been charged and arreseted for attempted second-degree murder for
a fight”
You have been factually proven wrong on this one. Bell has FOUR priors (read what the guy said above). The others we DO NOT KNOW because their juvenile records are still sealed. Some have turned 18 since this incident, though. You can go to smalltownpapers.com and click on “The Jena Times” below, then go down to the search engine on that page and type “Carwin Jones”. If you thumb down the list of papers he is mentioned in, you’ll stumble across one that says he was arrested on October 23rd of 2006 for aggravated battery, 2 months before the Justin Barker beating. So no, you’re theory about them having an unblemished record is far from the truth. In fact, their past and the eye witness statement show a clear propensity for violence for most of them.
I consider you part of a serious issue here. People are so misinformed that they angrily spout of completely inaccurate statements about this case, despite all of the information being available online to prove you wrong. If you feel so passionately about this case, take the time to read news articles in the Alexandria Town Talk, The Jena Times, and thumb through the eye witness statements. If you need links I can provide them for you.
Wow…What a joke! It doesn’t seem like we’ve come very far in this country. More like we’ve gone in a circle. This is less about race and more about plain violence and anger. Virtually all of the kids involved in this have some kind of previous history with crime or violence. If they were upstanding kids who had been raised properly they would have handled themselves better and not “reacted” to or engaged when “the other side” acted. But that kind of restraint and control is becoming less common in our society. It’s like putting candy in front of a toddler and saying “don’t touch”. These kids are very angry and are attracted to violence and alway will be. It’s in their programming – news, video games, t.v. shows (Sopranos, Dexter, CSI), community/neighborhood…. I mean look at the reaction it’s sparking across the country. It starts with one kid wanting to sit under a tree and ends with protestors, court hearings, Al Sharpton(he’s everywhere), bloggers, analysts, anchors, attornys, did I mention Sharpton… I mean kids are wearing Jena six t-shirts in private schools in Sacramento for cryin’ out loud.
The only ones who seem to be in the clear are the black kids who asked to sit under the tree. They knew they were poking the bear when they persisted and continued to sit under the tree. They were just trying to make a statement – mature or not. Of course they knew there would be some kind of reaction. But the punks who hung the nooses are the real idiots in all of this. I, as a white American, am embarassed. This reflects on the kids parents as much as it does themselves. Then we get to watch all of the “adults” act like kids themselves. Including the “press”. This is just another symptom of how the whole world is just spinning out of control.
I’ll put money on it that almost all of these kids are products of single parent homes. Cause/Symptom?
HI “FROM JENA,” I see you are at it again.
TO EVERYONE ELSE,
I JUST WANNA GIVE INSIGHT ON THESE FORMULAS REGARDING THE “BLACK LIVING SITUATIONS” IN AMERICA TODAY AND THESE AMAZING (INFLATED) STATISTICS THAT YOU GUYS HAVE SO INTELLIGENTLY CONJURED UP (OR CUT AND PASTED FROM ANOTHER WEBSITE). ACCORDING TO SOME, ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS WE ARE SO VIOLENT AND AGGRESSIVE IS BECAUSE WE ARE MOSTLY IN POVERTY, UNEDUCATED, BITTER, ETC:
WELL HERE’S MY FORMULA:
-I AM A YOUNG BLACK FEMALE (and ok with being classified as such)
-I was raised in Middle-Class America (Chicago near the South Suburbs)
-I went to a large, inner-city, diverse, public high school and graduated in the top 10 percentile of my class
-I was raised by BOTH affluent parents who are college-degreed and collectively accumulate $175k annual salaries
-I am a 3rd generation college graduates
-My 3 sisters and I attended a predominately White University (parents paid/scholarships) and recieved bachelor’s degrees in various fields of interest
-My Family owns property and cars
-I have been fortunate enough to have traveled all around the world
-I have a credit score of 750
-I am gainfully employed with no children
-Oh yeah, I have never been convicted of a crime
HOWEVER, IF I SAW A WHITE PERSON HANGING A NOOSE FROM A TREE OR UTTERING THE “N” WORD, I WOULD BEAT THE F…U…C…K OUT OF ‘EM. NO QUESTIONS ASKED.
What statistical facts do you have for ME?
ms_vaughn01@yahoo.com
tmoore….
In your post you say “WE ARE SO VIOLENT AND AGGRESSIVE IS BECAUSE WE ARE MOSTLY IN POVERTY, UNEDUCATED, BITTER, ETC”. Yet you didn’t grow up in that environment. Your anger and sense of entitlement are at the forefront. It is black Americans such as yourself that have the opportunities to help change things, yet you seem to be fanning the flames instead of putting out the fire.
Your final statement….”HOWEVER, IF I SAW A WHITE PERSON HANGING A NOOSE FROM A TREE OR UTTERING THE “N” WORD, I WOULD BEAT THE F…U…C…K OUT OF ‘EM. NO QUESTIONS ASKED.”….spouts nothing but anger and hatred which does all of us, including yourself, no good.
WE MUST BRIDGE THE GAP. WE ARE TEARING OURSELVES APART WITH HATRED AND ANGER. WHEN WILL IT STOP?!
tmoore:
Listen, lets speak frankly, okay? Violence, whether to a LARGE degree or to a small degree, seems to run a little more rampant in the black community. That’s looking at it statistically. That’s not saying all black Americans are violent and all white Americans are not; that is far from the truth. But every culture has its own issues to work through. This is one thing the African American culture needs to address. I strongly believe that racism DOES have an adverse affect on the black community. I also believe that often white Americans get the entire problem dumped in their lap because of the racism issue. I’ve said this many times on here, but WE CAN SOLVE SEVERAL ISSUES within the black AND white community if we just work together and take responsibility for our own actions. Instead of blaming the entire issue on the “white system”, you can realize that YOU ARE mostly in control of your life, not white America. In Louisiana, ANYONE who meets a criteria is capable of going 4 years of college for FREE. This includes black students. Everyone has an opportunity to better themselves.
If the white community finally says “alright, we have a racism problem and we plan to do something about it”; if the black community finally says “alright, we have to emphasize education more in our culture to give our young black Americans a chance to move away from violence and into a safer life”, then this country would be SO much better.
I guess what I’m saying is, you can’t dump the entire problem in white America’s lap, because white America’s just gonna dump it right back in yours. And who gets hurt more when this happens? YOU DO! Listen to Bill Cosby. He’s a great black American leader, not just a dried up comedian.
THE RACISM HAS TO STOP, AND SO DOES THE VICTIM MENTALITY. The black community needs some strong figures like Cosby to step up and hold the hands of young black Americans and show them “this is the way to go”. Right now it seems their role models are limited to sports athletes and rap music artists.
And to respond to your last comment about beating the f*ck out of somebody, THAT is exactly what I am talking about. If everyone in your culture feels this way, then we have a serious problem. You can’t resort to violence over something like that. You know? When someone calls me a liar, that probably pisses me off as much as the “n” word pisses you off!!! I get VERY mad, because I try to be an honest person, BUT I DON’T RESORT TO VIOLENCE to show my disagreement. Maybe you should consider other alternatives and be a good representative of your family, your town, and your race! It starts with one person at a time. Change is infectious. Preach peace, not violence.
I’m at work and I have a very busy day ahead of me so I will TRY to be brief. I am glad you have so conveniently come up with a synopsis of the “Black Problem” in the United States. Now lets see, the “White Problem”…So what do we [U.S.] have to do to get Whites to stop suicide stunts? Serial killing? School shootings? Internet predetors? Teen pregnancy(YUP, believe it or not), Majority welfare recipients? Guess we all got some work to do. Since we have established that there is really no set formula or lifestyle associated with Black anger and aggression, we are now suggesting that it is some innate drive and essentially we are holding ourselves back? LOL, shut the [] up FROM JENA! I am convinced that you are an idiot and you got a lot of intellectual maturing to do. Realistically, I bet you don’t even know any Black people. Rappers and athletes as role models? You have got to be kidding me, that is such a freaking insult. All you know of Blacks is what you see on BET and the news. I bet you will try to justify by thinking of some token Black friend that you have but save it cause I’ve heard it all before. I should have known that you didn’t know shyyt when you mentioned Bill Cosby! Have you ever read “Black Enterprise Magazine”? Probably not because there are plenty of role models in there (when he gets done reading this, he’s gonna go google it). Why the [] would anyone look up to Bill Cosby? Why, because he starred on a show that depicted a middle-class, African American family doing “well” in a White society??? Give me a freaking break! You should have never mentioned that. I had a little respect for you at first but now you have lost all of that. On the other hand, it’s not your faught that you have not been exposed enough, you are FROM JENA and all.
As a matter of ironic fact, my father and I had a conversation similar to this just recently. Take note that he is a very successful man as he owns his own business and investments. He was talking to my 17 year old sister about societal structures and the issue came up of Blacks being victimized and suppressed by White supremacy. I said “Dad, you are successful, you paved your own way, you educated yourself. Why are you making excuses for the ones who didn’t? They had the same opportunities that you did.” My dad said some powerful shyyt to me. He said “Yes they did, but you are to never FORGET!” He was referring to all the bull that Black people have gone through from the past until now. You shouldn’t use this knowledge to victimize yourself, but you are never to forget it! No you shouldn’t constantly talk about it and bring it up but you are to NEVER FORGET IT. No you don’t use it to attack people or hurt them but you are never to forget it. THAT’S WHY I WILL [] SOMEONE UP FOR DISRESPECTING MY PEOPLE! ONCE YOU DO THAT, YOU ARE INVITING AN AZZ WHOOPING! PERIOD.
ISOLATEWEST1, I didn’t have to grow up in poverty or unfortunate circumstances but I still live it and understand it. Those of you seeking true answers should really talk to an African American Socialist/Psychologist and have them give their opinion of what 400+ years of enslavement and suppression will do to a people, their image and their self-esteem. There is a huge difference between excuse and rationale. Even my Dad, who is far from a typical statistic of a Black man who grew up on the Southside of Chicago, can realize the root of the Black struggle (YES there is a freakin root!). Take my Dad, an educated Black man who has no reason to make up any excuses, can see that there is something out there that all Black people should be acknowledging about OUR struggle. I don’t know not one Jew who will forget the Holocaust and they better freaking not! I am sure that that is why my household is so rich in African American culture and my family goes to Africa once a year. I have been to the Prisons in Illinois and seen the racial desparities that exist in there. I have pretty much seen it all. That’s why I can walk down the street in a White or Black neighborhood and not be afraid of shyyt! Because I understand, plus I got the best of both worlds.
Any comments or responses to this note hit me on YAHOO, I’m done with this stupid website, this shyyt is no use!
ms_vaughn01@yahoo.com
[edited for profanity - Laura]
Tmoore:
No, I prefer addressing your issues in a public forum:
“I am glad you have so conveniently come up with a synopsis of the “Black Problem” in the United States. Now lets see, the “White Problem”…So what do we [U.S.] have to do to get Whites to stop suicide stunts?…”
I never said the white community was without fault, nor did I lambaste the black community for all of it’s faults.
“we are now suggesting that it is some innate drive and essentially we are holding ourselves back?”
Again, I think racism can be a crutch TO A SMALL EXTENT, to the black community, but YES, I think many in the black community have a victim mentality that needs to be addressed. They have to realize they can achieve alot more than they think they can. They just need positive role models (like Bill Cosby) to show them the way.
“I am convinced that you are an idiot and you got a lot of intellectual maturing to do.”
You’re entitled to your opinion. I’ll reserve mine of you.
“Realistically, I bet you don’t even know any Black people. ”
I have no CLOSE friends who are black that I hang out with after work. I do have people I am close with at work who are black, and have lots of acquaintances who are black. FYI
“Rappers and athletes as role models? You have got to be kidding me, that is such a freaking insult. ”
It’s difficult to avoid insulting someone such as yourself. Everything I have said was blown out of proportion. No, I’m not reading black themed magazines every day, no I’m not watching BET everyday. So I am not the definitive answer on what kind of black role models are available these days; but I do see what I see.
“I should have known that you didn’t know shyyt when you mentioned Bill Cosby!”
I’ve actually listened to Bill Cosby once or twice in front of a crowd talking about the black community and helping his people out. I was quite impressed. Maybe people should be listening to him instead of Jesse & Al.
“Have you ever read “Black Enterprise Magazine”? Probably not because there are plenty of role models in there (when he gets done reading this, he’s gonna go google it).”
No, I haven’t. Have you ever read Maxim?
“Why the f…u…c…k would anyone look up to Bill Cosby? Why, because he starred on a show that depicted a middle-class, African American family doing “well” in a White society???”
This shows me that you don’t even know what Bill Cosby has done since he left that show. I’m not talking about the example he set on his show, I”m talking about the issues he has spoken about ON STAGE since he retired from the Bill Cosby Show. Many things he have said seem profound and logical to me. So maybe YOU DON’T know everything about your culture like you think you do.
“I had a little respect for you at first but now you have lost all of that.”
That’s fine. Others who aren’t throwing curse words and angry comments at me DO respect me so no harm done.
“Yes they did, but you are to never FORGET!” ”
Your dad did make a profound comment. I agree with every LETTER in that statement. It doesn’t touch on the point I have made, though. I’ve mentioned nothing about forgetting the past and just “getting over it”. We are all impacted by our heritage to a certain degree.
“THAT’S WHY I WILL F**K SOMEONE UP FOR DISRESPECTING MY PEOPLE!”
Angry, prone to violence. Your dad seems to be a very level headed man. I’m sure he’d be disappointed in you.
I was really hoping you would email me privately *sigh* So I came back on this website to hear from you FROM JENA. I actually like you and I finally agree with you (for the most part). It seems like you might actually get it. FYI, I have read Maxim and lots of other magazines for that matter. My favorite Magazine is Martha Stewart Living. You see, I have to read magazines. I work in the area of Marketing for a high-end Magazine in Chicago. Most of my readers are White, wealthy, male socialites in the upper tax bracket, and I mean upper! (That’s why I feel I have the best of both worlds).
To be honest with you, I’ve heard many of your same views before, it’s just a harder pill to swallow when coming from someone not Black.
Didn’t mean to disrespect you, pardon me. Hopefully you can forgive a stranger. I let my emotions get the better of me. You are VERY intelligent, I hope you plan to use that to make a difference. But seriously, I am going to stop commenting on this website because the program administrator keeps emailing me about my french. LOL.
Here is a smile for you FROM JENA
tmoore, it’s clear that you are an extremely bright and articulate professional woman, in fact probably better educated than I am. I hope that you’ll stick around and just use other ways of expressing yourself as I’m sure you have a lot to contribute to the conversation.
I started cracking down on profanity and other policy violations because it always seems to escalate – it got so bad at one point that I ended up turning comments off entirely. This is obviously a very emotional issue for a lot of people (including me, for reasons I’ve stated in other posts) and I’d like to be able to keep the comments open and have reasonable discussions so everybody can benefit.
TMoore:
Now is this the same person? Wow!
Well I am glad we are in agreement on alot of fronts. My whole theme about life is…people trying to focus on their similarities instead of their differences. We have all of these denominations of Christianity where it seems people are at odds about the little idiosyncrasies, when 90% of our beliefs are the same! We have all of these cultures where the same things occur. Let’s face it: humans naturally tend to see differences. Differences catch the eye. Differences challenge you, sometimes they challenge alot of things about you. To interpret and conform to all different things around you is to be inhuman. We all have to challenge ourselves and try to empathize enough to understand people different than us. Look at us? I grew up in a small hick town full of mostly rednecks and hard working people. You grew up in a large city with upscale neighborhoods and most likely many well-to-do people around you. We’re different ethnicities. Yet a little bit of empathizing allowed us to understand each other.
I know that deals with a MUCH larger issue than the Jena 6, but that’s how I feel. And I’m sorry that I do not know as much about the black culture as I do. As I’m sure you and the ENTIRE WORLD knows by now, Jena does not have a large African American community. Point me to some interesting reads and I’d be glad to take a gander. I also understand that the black culture is FORCED to understand the white culture in this country, since you are a minority. I know I can never understand that. But I can try to empathize as much as I can. Thank you for your compliments. I want to make a big difference one day, and I hope that is what I am doing as we speak.