Jena Six, a photo story (Jena6)

Much thanks to Liz, Los Angelista, for making me aware of this story. You know, it's strange. I hadn't heard of the Jena Six until Liz wrote on her blog about the case. And my father has been running CNN pretty much non-stop on my television for the past two weeks. I hear about OJ (and I'm tired of it), Iraq and Baby Bush and of course, Britney Spears. But no Jena Six. Not much on the local news, either. All right. Those of you who know me are guessing that I'm heated. Yes, I'm extremely heated right now, and when I get like this, I don't always make much sense. So instead of going one long, incoherent diatribe about racism still being alive and well in this country, I want to invite everyone who reads this blog to look the video. Then google Jena Six and read what has been written about this case while the rest of the country, myself included, has been sleeping. After you've read, watched and thought about all of it, tell me what you think. I need someone to check in before I let rage get the best of me.

It was a school fight with major racial implications. The Six saw an injustice with that "whites only" tree, and tried to make things right. They did ask the school to allow the tree to be open to anyone who wants to sit there. (The virtue of unity, the highest virtue mankind as a whole can obtain in this age. God bless those boys.) And the school just passed it off as a non-issue, even after someone hung three nooses from that tree. Nooses hanging from a tree in backwoods Louisiana? Whoever did that was FULLY aware of what that symbolized. That was intentional provocation. Now, the mistake the Six made was letting their emotions get out of control and getting into a fight. Again, Jena is a backwoods town in the South, 85% white. They should have filed court cases instead of beating up that White kid. (Not that I believe court cases would have changed anything. Most of the time it doesn't. But at least the Six wouldn't be looking at hard time right now.) The boy on the receiving end of the beat-down was treated and released after three hours. In fact, he was reportedly seen at a school function that evening.

It was a school fight. Happens everyday, unfortunately. I'm not saying it's right. But to charge those boys as adults, with a possible sentence of 22 years in prison? After a school fight? What happened to suspension or expulsion? Do Black boys scare folks in Jena THAT much? Good Lord, help me. My blood is boiling at a dangerous level right now.

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