Yesterday, the Jena 6 Day of Action resulted in a demonstration of over 10,000 protesters– or 15,000 to 20,000, or even up to 50,000, according to organizers. Seeing as how Jena is a town of only 3,000, made up of mostly white residents who did not take place in the march, I’d say that’s an amazing turn out. Hell, 10,000 people at a single protest is amazing period.
Looking at the photographs, though I abhor the fact that this march had to even take place, I’m excited to see so many people of color joining together and demanding fair and equitable treatment. It feels energizing and long overdue.
At the same time, I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t disheartened to see so few white faces. Of course, whites were there. I’m particularly proud of Joe Solomonese, the white President of the gay-rights group the Human Rights Campaign for showing up with HRC members and giving an excellent speech. But I feel like in this day and age, we should be able to do better. — And a hell of a lot better than all of the white residents who say they’re not racist and yet still refused to participate in the march. [Then again, if this were true, I guess that we wouldn't need a march at all.] If I lived anywhere even remotely near Jena (as opposed to the other end of the country), I would have been there and I hope that my other white readers would have been, too. But even if we are to believe that most Jena 6 supporting whites come from the “Blue” states, how to explain the lack of white commentary? [And since this is in fact my first post on the Jena 6, I suppose that I am just as much to blame as anyone.]
But that doesn’t even compare to the level at which the media coverage is driving me insane.
In just about every mainstream media story I’ve read about the protest, the full story has not been told. The story you’re likely to find in most articles is this one: three black students sat under a traditionally “white” tree, and arrived at school the next day to find 3 nooses hanging from the branches. The white students responsible had no criminal charges filed against them. This resulted in racial tension, and the beating of a white student by 6 black students, who are now on trial for attempted murder.
All of this is true, and yet it’s infuriatingly selective. If this was the whole story, I would still support the Jena 6, because the idea of charging them with attempted murder when they actually just beat someone up is crazy. And failing to charge the hateful white vandals would be inexcusable. But with this narrative, it’s incredibly easy for whites to look and say “well, sure those white kids shouldn’t have hung those nooses, but that doesn’t give the black kids free reign to assault whites!”
So I guess it’s a good thing that this isn’t our argument. But it’s too bad that the media leaves out the fact that an almost identical attack of a black student by a group of whites occurred first, and none of the white students were charged. It leaves out the fact that prior to the Jena 6 assault, two blacks were threatened with a gun by a white man. The black victims managed to wrestle the gun away from him and escape. The white man was charged with nothing, while the black victims were charged with stealing the gun. It leaves out the fact that the white victim in the Jena 6 assault, though he still should not have been beaten, was using racial slurs against the Jena 6 prior to being assaulted.
This isn’t about saying that young black men should have the right to commit assaults with impunity. This is about the fact that everyone deserves equal justice. It’s about the fact that whites were aggressors time and time again before any black individuals retaliated. It’s about the fact that the whites who committed the exact same crimes– or worse– were never held responsible for their actions, while the Jena 6 is facing the possibility of spending most of their lives in jail. It’s about the fact that white hate is still tolerated while black demands for equality are punished.
Do the Jena 6 deserve some from of punishment for their actions? Of course. But what they have already been through (the jail time, the huge sums of bail money) is far more than what they ever deserved. And even knowing that the physical violence that they committed is wrong, I cannot possibly support any charges against them until equal or worse charges are brought against every single white perpetrator in this case. And neither should anyone else.
So hey, mainstream media, try covering that, why don’t you?
{ 25 comments }
I posted a rant about Jena and general race-related injustice on my livejournal the other day (along with a link to you, after reading the coverage about the women in w. Virginia who was arraigned for the bad checks after going through that whole ordeal). I wrote it after reading SEVERAL news sources which felt obligated to interview white Jena residents who were scared, shocked and felt misunderstood that all of this attention was on their sleepy little town, because (and this is paraphrased from almost 15 or so different quotes “Jena isn’t like other towns, Jena doesn’t have a race problem and this is being overblown”.
So I ranted about Jena’s race problem, the South’s race problem… oh and you know America’s GIANT race problem because I was outraged. And I thought (foolishly) that I would feel somewhat better expressing my outrage, but then a friend from college responded in comments. She’s a criminal defense attorney who recently moved to New Orleans and a colleague of hers recently remarked that what people aren’t getting is that “Its the Jena 6 every day here”.
Couldn’t have said it better. What mainstream media? Oh… the one still talking about how Britney Spears is “fat”.
did you go?
No. As I said in the post, I would have liked to have gone, but I live at the opposite end of the country.
Cara, you are quoting a BLOG as a primary source (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070307B.shtml), even though that source is riddled with inaccuracies, omissions, and vague innuendos.
1. “The next day, three nooses, in the school colors, were hanging from the ‘white tree.’”
This all-too-common error sets the tone: there were two nooses, not three.
2. “The white superintendent of schools over-ruled the principal and gave the students a three-day suspension saying the nooses were just a youthful stunt.”
Actually the students isolated at an alternative school for nearly a month and then given an in-school suspension for 2 weeks.
3. “The ten-person, all-male government of the parish has one African-American member. The nine-member, all-male school board has one African-American member.”
Truly shocking. African-Americans are 10% of the local population and are represented by 10% of the local politicians. Obvious travesty, right?
4. “the DA reportedly threatened the black protesting students saying that if they didn’t stop making a fuss about this “innocent prank”, ‘I can be your best friend or your worst enemy. I can take away your lives with a stroke of my pen.’
Actually this was spoken to an assembly of all the students, white and black.
5. “Most shocking of all, when the pool of potential jurors was summoned, fifty people appeared – every single one white.”
Absolutely true, although it fails to mention that the parish is only 10% black, and that black jurors were actually summoned…only none showed up.
6. “a white student – who allegedly had been making racial taunts, including calling African-American students “niggers” while supporting the students who hung the nooses and who beat up the black student at the off-campus party – was knocked down, punched and kicked by black students. The white victim was taken to the hospital treated and released. He attended a social function that evening.”
Wow. The only proof offered that the racial taunting occurred was by the 6 attackers. No other witnesses reported this, white or black. The victim in question denied this. The victim also suffered $12,000 in medical bills.
Do you somehow think you deserve to be treated as a journalist without adhering to any rules of journalism?
My sources are Todd Lewan of the AP and the actual court documents themselves (something apparently few people have taken the time to read).
I ask you this. If 6 white students kicked an beat an unconscious black student after a time of racial turmoil, would anyone be saying “free the Jena 6″? Would anyone call it merely a schoolyard brawl, or perhaps “boys will be boys?”
I was put off by several things. 1) How those who are sympathetic to the Jena 6 refer to the stomping of one white kid by 6 black kids as a “school fight”. If it was one black kid being stomped on by 6 whites it would have been called a lynching by Al Sharpton and Co.
2)Every time someone black committs a hate crime the victim is blamed. Sorry but this is true. The victim is accused of provoking it without any proof this is true. SHame on those who would demonize him. No doubt the KKK supporters would also say their victims provoked it.
3) The idea that I have to prove that I’m not racist by supporting these jerks. The reality is Mykel Bell has a history of violent crime yet he’s being portrayed as the victim, what a joke. When the NAACP gave Isiah Washington an Image Award after his homophobic rants followed by his use of the race card I stopped listening to them….
Oh and before you paint me some sort of wacko conservative: attempted murder charges were ludicrous in this situation, the south is still quite racist, and G.W. is still a tool.
However, there are enough problems in this country without histrionic bandwagon leapers cloaking sensational and politically useful falsehoods in the shroud of journalistic integrity.
Okay, wow . . . sorry folks, I didn’t realize that going out for the day was going to result in racists taking over the blog.
Oh and j. blair, I never claimed to be a journalist, but strangely enough you did claim to not be a racist. So only one of us is falsely representing themselves here.
Any further racist comments– particularly ones that say “if the situation was reversed,” particularly when this post explains how the situation was reversed– will be deleted. Good Day.
“racists taking over the blog.”
“you did claim to not be a racist. So only one of us is falsely representing themselves here.”
I am a bit confused. I never claimed to not be racist, yet you certainly accused me of being one (for disagreeing?). This is your blog, feel free to attack all you want.
I don’t feel justice is being served in this case, but I also think it is both misleading and counterproductive for this story to have taken on a fictional life of its own.
If you feel it is racist for me to ask for actual facts instead of recycled myths, then so be it. Your myopia, not mine.
Well, you somehow seem to think that hanging only two nooses is better than hanging three. And that threatening white students for complaining about racism against blacks is better than threatening the black students for complaining about racism. So yeah. I stand by what I’ve said. Also, for future reference “the AP” is not a citation. Unless you have a subscription to Lexis Nexis, searching through AP files is an absolute nightmare. A link is a citation. Notice how I provided them?
Secondly, you have never appeared on my blog before, and yet randomly show up throwing out insults and challenging facts (without any citations of your own) ON A POST ABOUT RACISM. Yeah, sounds kind of fishy to me.
And for the record, truthout is not a blog; it’s a news agency. There’s one fact that you’ve gotten wrong already.
Even if every single one of your points were correct, they would be irrelevant. None of them prove that a miscarriage of justice has not taken place. And you clearly didn’t read the post, or you would realize that the answer to your question “If 6 white students kicked an beat an unconscious black student after a time of racial turmoil, would anyone be saying “free the Jena 6??” is YES.
To show that I can admit when I’m wrong, you’re right: you never said that you weren’t a racist. That was Sheri. You did say that you’re not a wacko conservative, and every wacko conservative I’ve ever met is in fact a racist. But you’re absolutely correct in saying that you never made the claim, and so I withdraw the idea that you are presenting yourself as a non-racist and apologize. You’re presenting yourself as a non-conservative, and I also find that difficult to believe.
And you’re right, this is my blog. And I say that the conversation is over.
Actually I showed up for the first time solely due to the link from Slate (one of my favorite sites, a bit odd for a supposed raging conservative. But then, how many conservatives happily have a gay roommate as well?)
2 vs. 3 nooses is irrelevant – BOTH suck. The point was that even the most basic facts in this case have been distorted by truly sloppy journalism. Court documents people, very basic.
“And that threatening white students for complaining about racism against blacks is better than threatening the black students for complaining about racism.” I’ve read this 5 times and still don’t know what this means. That being the case I don’t see how I ever wrote anything approximating this.
I can admit I’m wrong too, in poor citation. The Todd Lewan article came from today’s Indianapolis Star. I actually have no clue how to cite it properly.
I never said there wasn’t a miscarriage of justice, only that the case doesn’t need embellishment. The sensationalism only clouds the issues.
j. blair,
“Court documents people, very basic.”
Wow. There are a lot of things I can say to believing this statement and the nicest one is that you are awfully naive. The more accurate one is, to borrow a phrase coined by a good friend, “FO and EY” (fuck off and educate yourself) before taking on this kind of debate.
When one of the things that is being discussed/called into question are structures and systems of oppression, be it school boards,local law enforcement or courts – what is “on the record” or documented very rarely tells the entire story and often misrepresents what it does tell.
I have worked researching court documents regarding death penalty cases and in every case in which some one was exonerated, what was documented by the cops, the lawyers, the courts etc. were an absolute mess, ESPECIALLY in the deep south.
So in regards to your comments, I don’t know you or your habits or education. I don’t know if you are a conservative or a liberal or whether your reading habits generally include slate or ann coulter. And frankly, I don’t care.
It doesn’t matter. What matters is what you say, what you know and how you back it up. Spewing any of that around your argument clouds the fact that you got NOTHING credible to support the weak and not entirely focused argument you are trying to make about Cara’s commentary in this post.
What I see here in Cara’s blog post is a thoughtful and eloquent questioning of the situation in Jena and the media’s reaction to it and lack of appropriate coverage (with citations.) I have read nearly 50 stories on the Jena 6 – AP, New York Times, CNN, USA Today (shudder) and various other mainstream and alternative press sources and LET me tell you – between all of them – there are tons of factual inconsistencies and differing accounts. Of the nooses, of who said what, of what’s happening now in the trial, of events leading up to this, of the criminal and punitive records of the 6 and of the victim that they beat up. What IS consistent, is that the VAST majority of them are leaving out and ignoring the parts that implicate Jena’s larger climate of racial hostility and preceding events.
Through all of it, I trust some news sources more than others and regardless, I see the same basic “bullet points” emerge – Jena has a seriously fucked-up race problem that has been integral in every part of this whole drama unfolding. That can’t be disputed. This isn’t a bandwagon thing. This isn’t embellishment to create a situation, the creation is there and its outrageous and should be discussed. This isn’t a case where you can say “well what if it was reversed” – because it HAS been, in Jena and over and over and over again ALL over the south and all over the country.
YOU are clouding the issues yourself!!! One of your points that you claim was “sensationalized” was that not one black potential juror showed up – In a country where black voters are conveniently left off voting registration lists and unable to get to the polls to vote in local and national elections – is it such a stretch to think that its likely that this is a falsehood that black jurors were summoned in this case? Or that they would be selected if they have been. I would love to see where you get that little nugget of information and if there is, in any way, any proof.
Lastly, this is a blog of commentary from a feminist, anti-racist, anti-oppression point of view. Much like a well-researched Op-Ed piece, I tend to find that if I check out any of Cara’s citations and compare sources and other information, that she does her homework. And that means looking beyond what the “official” court-documented word is, and seeking out a multiplicity of reports and viewpoints on ANY matter, because often those documents are part of a heavily racist, oppressive system.
I would suggest that it would be in your, “non-wacko-conservative” best interest to do the same. Do your fucking homework before launching into heavy-handed, condescending, spin and bullshit-filled commenting about journalistic integrity. And if you can’t manage that, at least stick to the topic, instead of calling the blogger’s motives and methods into question.
Oh and… to respond to your last comment about how you read Cara’s comment regarding threatening black/white students 5 times – YES, you did infer that – She was right. In your original post (#4.) You point out that the the DA made remarks, not to black students complaining about the racist incident, but to an assembly of black and white students. The point is – what he said was completely fucked up and out of line. He was saying that if the students didn’t stop complaining about this “prank” he could be their “worst enemy”. Regardless of WHO he was addressing, this is a disgusting example of him taking the noose incident as an “innocent prank” and penalizing or threatening to penalize those students who were outraged and recognizing this display of racism for what it was. You corrected an inaccuracy that she made in that he wasn’t just speaking to black students who were upset at his callousness for blatent hate-mongering displays, he was speaking to a mixed group of students. So what? Does that make it ok, or less racist of him? No. So why bother pointing it out, except just to split fractions of hairs to argue that Cara was misrepresenting that statement. (She didn’t, he’s a fucking racist and was threatening students for speaking out and being outraged, THAT’s the point.)
Bonnie, you rule. :)
And just for the record, I didn’t even mention the DA’s threat in this post– it is in some of the articles I cited, but my post is not comprehensive enough to have gotten that far.
Interestingly enough, out of j. blair’s arguments 1-6, 1 and 6 are the only ones actually discussed in this post (as for #2, I didn’t mention whether or not the noose-hangers were suspended, because I don’t care– I care that they didn’t have criminal charges filed against them). I think that we’ve determined that the first point is largely irrelevant, and as for the last point, though I do think that kicking the ass of a kid throwing racial slurs at you is understandable, I never, ever defended it as acceptable. In fact, I admitted that the assault itself was wrong.
Rather weak to ban me – you called me a racist and bonnie dropped 10 f-bombs, yet I’m the one not civil?
I don’t know who you are (j. blair?), and I didn’t ban you. If I did, you wouldn’t be able to access the site. Since you don’t need a user name to leave a comment, banning the IP completely is my only option. Also, I have no problem with the word “fuck”– I have a problem with baseless attacks.
Damn lost my whole post then. It said I wasn’t allowed to post (“we don’t allow comment spam here”), ah well. Anyway…guess I’ll switch to “Huh?”
I agree Bonnie does rock, which always makes discussions more interesting.
But Bonnie your methods of vetting sources appear to be based on your assumption of how facts should be, and what conforms to that view. I too have sifted through countless court documents, some of them showing egregious prosecutorial misconduct and outright lies. However, in this case the basic facts were agreed upon by both the prosecution and the defense attorney.
“is it such a stretch to think that its likely that this is a falsehood that black jurors were summoned in this case? Or that they would be selected if they have been. I would love to see where you get that little nugget of information and if there is, in any way, any proof.”
You have created a narrative out of thin air in which you assume disenfranchisement occurred, then you accuse me of doing the same thing!
According to Todd Lewan (a few pulitzer nominations, quite liberal, supports the Jena 6 – not exactly Foxnews): “The six-member jury that convicted Bell was, indeed, all white. However, only one in 10 people in LaSalle Parish is African American, and though black residents were selected randomly by computer and summoned for jury selection, none showed up.” http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070922/ap_on_re_us/a_place_called_jena
Surely this source could be just as faulty as the rest, but then how could you ever know the validity of anything?
Just because the south retains hideous vestiges of its violently racist past does not mean that every situation is automatically a sweeping racial conspiracy. The reverse scenario that has been referred to countless times (white guy with shotgun, black guys charged with theft) is not exactly crystal clear by any means. Was the guy grabbing a shotgun after feeling threatened by 3 assailants? Was the guy a gun-toting racist redneck looking to commit some American History X-style violence? Was the guy scared stupid? I certainly don’t know, and as much as I’ve searched newspapers and the internet, know one else seems to know for sure. But since the narrative doesn’t allow for that complexity, the story is now “white guy drew a shotgun on innocent black guys. black guys charged with theft.”
How is there no room for nuance in a story obviously this complex? Yeah there probably is some racist shit going down. But let the actual story run, not the needless embellishments that everyone seems so fond of.
- And to Cara, I sincerely apologize for mentioning things you merely linked to. I was more generally riled up by the continual dissemination of faulty info in the blogosphere.
However, you once again state that the victim (?) started things by hurling racial slurs. There has been no evidence for this apart from the assailants themselves, yet everyone just assumes this took place.
Yeah, I got the ”we don’t allow comment spam here” message yesterday, too. I’m assuming that it’s a random wordpress issue that will work itself out.
cool.
Hey, Cara. Semi-regular reader here. Just wanted to let you know that this post was linked by Slate.com: http://www.slate.com/id/2174569/nav/fix/
I did see that already, but thank you. Publicity is always fun :)
I would like to let you know that CNN and other major media have not only been selective about what they have said about Jena, they have flat-out lied and twisted things to make this town seem like it is stuck in the time of slavery. If you would like a FACTUAL account of happenings in Jena, based on court documents, police reports and firsthand eyewitness accounts please visit the Jena Times website and read the article ” Chronological Order of Events Concerning the ‘Jena Six’”. http://www.thejenatimes.net/index2.html
(scroll down on the page)
I’m not saying that there was nothing wrong with charging these boys with attempted murder. I do NOT agree with that, but there is NO excuse for six on one. This was NOT a schoolyard fight. What kind of people attack from behind and then continue to kick and beat someone after they are unconscious?? YES, the boys who hung the nooses should have been more severely disciplined, but again, the media says they only received 3 days suspension. This is FALSE. Please get the facts before you judge our town. We do have work to do, and so does the rest of the world.
In answer to huh? The full report on the “shotgun toting” white man is also on the Jena Times website. He was attacked by the three black students when leaving the store and grabbed his shotgun from his truck to scare them off. Eyewitness reports support this. It’s all in the police reports. Considering he also happens to be my cousin by marriage I know that he was beaten bloody by these same 3 boys about a week or so before the incident at Gotta-Go. I saw what they did to him. It wasn’t pretty. Media also doesn’t bother to report that the shotgun was not loaded.
Wow, Sarah, thanks for the laugh! That was one of the most biased pieces of “reporting” I have ever read!
Hey everyone, did you know that according to the Jena Times, most students “did not even see” the nooses and “did not even know” about them? Oh, and they also insist on repeatedly pointing out that the nooses were NOT, I repeat NOT racially motivated! There are also some fun little comments from unidentified sources about how NOT, I repeat NOT racist the town/school is. It also completely glosses over white violence against blacks by calling them “several white-black altercations,” but strangely every OTHER attack is gone into in detail. Hmm . . .
No, seriously, go read it. It’s hilarious if you’re into that sort of thing (biased, poorly-written, racist “journalism).
I respect that you feel that way. I’m sorry that you prefer to believe the entire town is racist and horrible. The things that deal with the “Jena Six” are detailed because that’s what the article is about… the things that revolved around them. You don’t mention that the so-called white violence against blacks was when black students showed up at a private party, and DEMANDED entrance and refused to leave, or that it was not six white students ambushing one black student, but a fair fight one on one that ensued. There were charges brought in that case, but again, the kids didn’t have TWO prior assaults on their records. I am not asking you to like this town, but to give it a fair shot. I said before and I say again, there ARE problems in Jena. There are problems everywhere. This town is NOT what the media makes it out to be. I would like to say thank you that you actually took the time to read the article. It’s more than most people bother to do. I sincerely hope that wherever you live never has the media turn its biased and self-serving attention on it. I didn’t realize how much they rearrang things to suit their own purposes until experiencing it. Thanks for letting me voice my opinion. Have a great weekend.
Sarah, I would like to clarify that I do not think that the entire town of Jena is racist. And I don’t ever think that I claimed it was. I claimed that everything about the way that this case has been handled is racist, and that is not the same thing. There are good people everywhere, only sometimes you have to look for them a little bit harder. I say that as someone who comes from a mostly white, Republican town with a lot of racism of its own.
I disagree with just about everything else you’ve said, but I doubt that either of us is going to change the other’s mind here. I just wanted to clarify, and though the whites who claimed that the town is not racist and yet refused to participate in the protest were more widely publicized, I’m sure that there were many white citizens who did participate, and many white citizens there who believe that the hanging of the nooses and all subsequent events are just as horrifying as I do.
Cara,
I need to apologize for saying that you believe the whole town to be racist. It was unfair of me to do so. I do agree that the charges for the “Jena Six” were too harsh. I also agree that the hanging of nooses in that tree was NOT a “prank”. There was no excuse for either of those things happening here. The Jena times has its faults (southern grammar being a big one) but I know them personally and they are honest people who report the facts.
I did not choose to participate in the rally here. Much as I agree that the charges were unjustifiably harsh I cannot bring myself to uphold the statement “Free the Jena Six!” I do not believe that six people who attacked one should walk free because of their race. Don’t dismiss the charges, amend them to fit the crime. These kids don’t belong in Adult court, keep in Juvenile court where it belongs. For those who have prior records, go with the harshest punishment the crime will allow. If someone has two prior battery charges they are a repeat offender. If the court rules that the defendant is guilty of the same offense for a third time, DO something about it! Those who have no prior record should get a lesser charge or probation. If they offend again, give a harsher punishment. I believe this to be true no matter a person’s race, religion, sexual orientation, or anything else that may set them apart. The Rev. Al Sharpton was on Dr. Phil today and a woman from Jena asked why he didn’t post bail for Mychal Bell himself when the boy’s family couldn’t raise the money. The man sat there and bold faced lied on TV saying that there was no bail because the judge had revoked it and if bail was set again he would gladly post it to release Bell. Bail was only revoked in Mychal Bell’s case AFTER the third circuit court threw out the (adult charged) battery conviction. They were deciding what needed to be done and where to go from there. Where was Mr. Sharpton’s money for most of the 10 months Bell was sitting in jail? It is better for the “cause” if there is a 17 year old sitting in a jail cell. Mychal Bell is free now, and will go to juvenile court as should have happened originally. If a rally is what it took to achieve that then I am glad it happened, but I do not believe that it is “justice” to let the perpetrators of an attack walk free. I will leave you in peace now. Thank you again for allowing me to voice my opinion on these matters. You are one of the few who listen to the other side.
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