So I’ve read a bit about this whole “Jena 6” thing, and I’m a little perplexed. Why are we supposed to be outraged that six people who beat someone else unconscious are being prosecuted?
I generally think Jason Whitlock is a blithering idiot, but he was pretty spot-on with the Don Imus situation over the summer, so I’m not sure what to make of this article:
Justin Barker, the white victim, was cold-cocked from behind, knocked unconscious and stomped by six black athletes. Barker, luckily, sustained no life-threatening injuries and was released from the hospital three hours after the attack.
A black U.S. attorney, Don Washington, investigated the “Jena Six” case and concluded that the attack on Barker had absolutely nothing to do with the noose-hanging incident three months before. The nooses and two off-campus incidents were tied to Barker’s assault by people wanting to gain sympathy for the “Jena Six” in reaction to Walters’ extreme charges of attempted murder.
Much has been written about Bell’s trial, the six-person all-white jury that convicted him of aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery and the clueless public defender who called no witnesses and offered no defense. It is rarely mentioned that no black people responded to the jury summonses and that Bell’s public defender was black.
Am I missing something? Is there something really egregious about this situation that I’ve glossed over?
September 26th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
Maybe the fact that they’ve been in jail for 9 months? I’m just throwing out ideas, and I’m not that familiar with the Louisiana criminal justice system but shouldn’t there have been more than just trying one of them by now? Seems like an awfully long time.
September 26th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
I guess that could be. The only thing I’ve learned about the criminal justice system over the past two years is that it moves much more slowly than anyone would like…
September 26th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
You are not missing anything. The fact is… 6 black kids jumped a white kid, because they were upset about… whatever. Or maybe just because they are thugs.
This is something ole Al and Jesse saw that they thought they could make a big deal out of… small town with a history of racial problems. The funny thing is… it’s insulting to the very people they “represent” when they compare this to the civil rights marches of the 1960s. No one’s civil rights are violated here at all.
I am in no way defending the legal system. Nine months does seem like a long time.
I have no doubt there may be some racial tensions in Jena… just like there are racial tensions everywhere in America. To all the liberal media and liberal black activists… this was “let’s blame the South… look at those rednecks” day. What a joke.
September 27th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
I think it’s unfortunate that the way this story has gone has been such that the 6 perps are being likened to some sort of civil rights heroes. They’re thugs, plain and simple, and they deserve to be prosecuted.
I think the race issue in Jena is in how the prosecutor’s office is handling different cases; it is not confined to the beating involving the 6 itself. The noose thing is one example. A much more powerful example being left out in most of the coverage was when a white student threatened black students with a shotgun. The black students wrested the shotgun away. The black students were charged with theft. No charges for whitey.
You put all 3 of these things together and it looks like institutional racism is alive and well in Jena.
September 27th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case, then again, it looks like the people promoting this whole “Jena 6″ thing are being awfully dishonest about it. Makes it hard to believe that those other issues are as clear-cut as that statement of the facts might make it look.
September 27th, 2007 at 7:41 pm
Oh sure. It’s entirely possible that the guy who pulled the gun was justified in doing so. But, considering that the other guys were charged with nothing worse than theft (of the gun), that even though they got the gun the white guy didn’t get seriously hurt, and the whole whites-only tree thing, I think the odds are that the white guy was the real perp in the shotgun situation.
Whether or not which way the facts go, I think there’s enough reason to perceive institutional racism, and all I’m saying is that’s what this is all about (as opposed to the fairness of one prosecution).