JENA 6

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by Sugar08

And yet, that op-ed is an example of Tom-ism.

Serious question: Why?

[LaneSig]

Originally Posted by Sugar08

Do you know what my position is? I don't disagree with him. And yet, that op-ed is an example of Tom-ism.

So, seriously asking:

If you don't disagree with him. And his op-ed is an example of "Uncle Tom", please explain why it is "Uncle Tomism".

Edited: I felt that my original statement could be misconstrued.

[macallan25]

Originally Posted by Sugar08

Thank God for the Uncle Toms of the world.

Fail of a response.

[Sugar08]

Originally Posted by macallan25

Fail of a response.

I really do enjoy your parachute posting.

[Kevin]

Serious inquiry: How is the author's statement "anti-black"?

(and yes, I was being facetious in my placing him into the Nazi party for you, I was sort of playing up the 'with us or against us' mentality you seem to have adopted, the comparison was unnecessary and distracting.)

[macallan25]

Originally Posted by Sugar08

I really do enjoy your parachute posting.

Parachute posting?

Sorry I don't understand the language of the intertrons.

I didn't really have anything else to say. I think for you to call the guy an Uncle Tome is pretty much ridiculous.

[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.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

.


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.

Agreed that more should have been done.

Also, if this wasn't treated as a hate crime (federal statutes states that due to circumstances it isn't) it's still grounds for the charge of aggravated harrassment.

All parties should have sat down and discussed this....what makes it worse is that some of the students TRIED to resolve this peacefully and were denied by the school board. What does that teach them about resolving differences?

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

Agreed that more should have been done.

Also, if this wasn't treated as a hate crime (federal statutes states that due to circumstances it isn't) it's still grounds for the charge of aggravated harrassment.

All parties should have sat down and discussed this....what makes it worse is that some of the students TRIED to resolve this peacefully and were denied by the school board. What does that teach them about resolving differences?

I remember in elementary school when we would have "salt and pepper fights" during recess or after school. Those usually happened when President Reagan made some big announcement, regarding employment or the war on drugs, which caused some white parents to talk bad about racial and ethnic minorities in front of their kids (i.e. "those people are criminal with no jobs but they're trying to take ours" or "the war on drugs is about those people in the inner city"). Then the kids would come to school with that nonsense and do "kid-like" stuff like denying access to a cafeteria seat to express their parents' opinions. They didn't know what the hell they were really doing but knew they were supposed to be mad at someone for something and were supposed to protect what's "rightfully theirs" to keep "others" from getting access to it.

In other words, kids don't get this from no where. That applies to the racial stuff and the violent response to it. Kids get almost everything they do from adults.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

I remember in elementary school when we would have "salt and pepper fights" during recess or after school. Those usually happened when President Reagan made some big announcement, regarding employment or the war on drugs, which caused some white parents to talk bad about racial and ethnic minorities in front of their kids (i.e. "those people are criminal with no jobs but they're trying to take ours" or "the war on drugs is about those people in the inner city"). Then the kids would come to school with that nonsense and do "kid-like" stuff like denying access to a cafeteria seat to express their parents' opinions. They didn't know what the hell they were really doing but knew they were supposed to be mad at someone for something and were supposed to protect what's "rightfully theirs" to keep "others" from getting access to it.

In other words, kids don't get this from no where. That applies to the racial stuff and the violent response to it. Kids get almost everything they do from adults.

^^^^^ EXACTLY!

I went thru some of the same things in middle school also.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

^^^^^ EXACTLY!

I went thru some of the same things in middle school also.

I went to 95% black middle and high schools. The whites there generally went of out of their way to try to be "down."

The racial antagonism was usually with the students in the ESL classes. I remember this Asian student who didn't speak much English was getting picked on. When it came down to the actual hallway fight, the students underestimated the fact that he was from China and might possibly know a form of martial art. Well he certainly was about the wax the floor with this one dude's face. I don't think the kid from China knew what the other kids were saying to him. He just saw that he was being surrounded and laughed at, survival mode kicked in. I seriously don't think the other kid was going to fight him. He just wanted attention. He was about to earn a butt whooping, though.

[Kevlar281]

Figured I'd stick this here...

MONROE, La. (AP) — Police say one of the teenagers arrested in the "Jena Six" case has been taken to the hospital after shooting himself in the chest...Wooten believes Bell was upset over media coverage of his arrest last week on a shoplifting charge.

Link: To Full AP Article

[AOII Angel]

That's a shame. I know how people in Jena and Monroe think. This will not help matters in the least!