[DSTCHAOS]

This Jena 6 is about 3 things as far as I'm concerned:

1) The failure of parents
2) The failure of the school
3) How people see race and racial inequality in 2007.

1) There is no reason why a) there is anyone who does not know that a noose isn't a prank but rather holds great significance as a symbol of oppression and murder and b) there is anyone who thinks that violence is an acceptable response, not to mention 6-on-1 violence. The parents of the white kids failed and the parents of the black kids failed. Kids don't learn acceptable vs unacceptable behavior on their own.

2. The school's response is piss poor and that's where the litigation should be directed. First of all, a noose is not a prank and to rule it as such shows extreme ignorance and short sightedness on the part of the administration. Then to rule it as a prank and dismiss it without holding an assembly, a workshop, or some type of discussion with the students about the incident is stupid. Kids needed to know that it was an unacceptable course of action, that will be punished, and that anyone who retaliates will be punished. Students also needed to be talked to about racial antagonism and what it stems from so that it could be calmed on both sides. ADULTS don't know what to do about racism so why would idiots assume KIDS would do any better? The tree itself isn't the issue. What the tree REPRESENTS is the issue. It represented a group's property and the racial antagonism came when another group threatened to take over. That's how racism works in the real world, regardless of whether we're on a high school campus or in the workplace.

3. It's no secret that people who don't know any better think that the absence of overt hostility means there's no problem, interpersonally and structurally. The white locals in Jena who claim "everything was fine until one day the cameras showed up" and the black locals in Jena who are generally afraid to stand up because they fear the repurcussions, it's the same song that's been sung throughout this nation's history. Jena, Louisiana is just a microcosm of the issue that expands beyond the Deep South.

For me, it's not even about the Jena 6, themselves, and whether Michael Bell was released. Kids on both sides of this incident deserved just and fair punishment. But whether or not that is what happened is what people are discussing. No one with a grain of brain is arguing that the Jena 6 should've done what they did and shouldn't receive punishment. People are saying that you can't allow things to persist without expecting it to blow up in your face. And when it blows up, you have to make the punishment fair and equally distributed.

After all of this dies down, what will be the solution? Are people going to go back to business as usual? Of course. Will there be improvement? Not unless it is forced improvement because out of sight is out of mind.