The Jena Six

Skitch Patterson wrote:

maybe it wasnt a noose, but rather a raccoon trap like in cartoons, where they step in it, and it wraps around their foot and brings them up the tree.

RolandTD20Kdrummer wrote:

It provides the framework for a high and mighty attitude towards others.

Flannel Shirt wrote:

The south is all fucked up. Sorry to those of you in the minority that are not fundamentalists and racists or just plain stupid, but the south deserves the stereotype.

I was in Daytona beach about 10 years ago. I thought I was going down for spring break, MTV, naked chicks, the whole deal. It was actually what is called "Black College Reunion" week. Its essentially when the "black" colleges break for spring and many head to Daytona Beach. It was an interresting experience to say the least to truely be the minority. That said, it was a great week and my white ass met a lot of cool people, of all colors and cultures.

Here is the point of my post...
I got there about 2 days before the "reunion" began. The suvenior shops were all closing down. I asked them why they close down during spring break, like what the fuck?, and they told me its "because all the niggers come down here for the week". I swear to god, they said it as if it was no big deal. I was totally taken back by it. This happened in TWO different shops. Even the waitresses were saying it, in the restaurants. Saying shit like, "you take the table full of niggers" under their breath, but not really under their breath. Never in my life had I seen anything like it. I was blown away. Needless to say, I have never been back. What is happening to these kids does not suprise me in the least. Its horribly sad. Fuck, I have had the shit beat out me, but never did I consider it attempted murder.

tybird wrote:

It's funny......the only place that I remember about busing problems back in the 1970's....violence and such....was Boston.

Juberoo wrote:

The white students who hung the nooses played a very stupid prank. They were punished accordingly. The choice they made did not cause physical harm to anyone.

The black students who beat the white kid to a pulp that landed him in the hospital should indeed be prosecuted for assault. The choice they made did cause physical harm to someone.

The later actions are not excused by the prior.

Try looking at this without the racial aspect. Take the color out of it and apply it to bullying in general.

JACQUIE SOOHEN: A few days after the nooses were hung, the entire black student body staged an impromptu demonstration, crowding underneath the tree during lunch hour. Justin Purvis, the student who first asked to sit underneath the tree, described how the protest came about.

JUSTIN PURVIS: It was like, the first beginning, in the courtyard, they said, “Y’all want to go stand under the tree?” We said, “Yeah.” They said, “If you go, I’ll go. If you go, I’ll go.” One person went, the next person went, everybody else just went.

JACQUIE SOOHEN: The school responded to the protest by calling police and the district attorney. At an assembly the same day, the District Attorney Reed Walters, accompanied by armed policeman, addressed the students. Substitute teacher Michelle Rogers, one of the few black teachers at the school, was there. She recalls the DA's words to the assembled high schoolers.

MICHELLE ROGERS: The kids didn't say anything. They were listening. The kids were quiet. And so, District Attorney Reed Walters, you know, proceeded to tell those kids that “I could end your lives with the stroke of a pen.” And the kids were just -- it was like in awe that the district -- you know, Reed Walters would tell these kids that. He held a pen in his hand and told those kids that, “See this pen in my hand? I can end your lives with the stroke of a pen.”

JACQUIE SOOHEN: A series of incidents followed throughout the fall. In October, a black student was beaten for entering a private all-white party. Later that month, a white student pulled a gun on a group of black students at a gas station, claiming self-defense. The black students wrestled the gun away and reported the incident to police. They were charged with assault and robbery of the gun. No charges were ever filed against the white students in either incident. Then, in late November, someone tried to burn down the high school, creating even more tension.

Four days later, a white student was allegedly attacked in a school fight. The victim was taken to hospital and released shortly with a concussion. He attended a school function that evening. Six black students were charged with attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, on charges that leave them facing between twenty and one hundred years in jail. The defendants, ranging in age from fifteen to seventeen, had their bonds set at between $70,000 and $138,000. The attack was written up in the local paper as fact, and DA Reed Walters published a statement in which he said, "When you are convicted, I will seek the maximum penalty allowed by law."

SuzannePjam wrote:

I couldn't leave because a bus took you there from New Orleans and left after it dropped the tour off and wasn't coming back for three hours. We decided it would be safer if we stuck together, rather than 3 girls being seperated from the whole group in the middle of an alligator swamp. Trust me, if there was a way to leave, I most definitely would have.

I did get a bit of revenge when I got back to the city, tho. Every brochure of theirs I saw in all of the travel kiosks I threw in the garbage.

And BTW, if it had said in the brochure that people would be subjected to racist signs upon entry, I would never had gone.

polaris wrote:

isn't this a tad apologetic for the owners ... it's like - it's ok to be racist because it's a private function ... i agree for the most part ultimately, one can choose to not support organizations they feel are racist but she had no way of knowing ...

anyhoo - if an assault on someone who doesn't even spend a night at the hospital warrants 22 years - it's pretty tragic ...

Skitch Patterson wrote:

Legally, yeah, its okay to be racist as long as you arent hurting or threatening anyone. As well it should be- Just because i dont agree with it, doesnt mean it should be illegal.

I just dont think it was appropriate to start calling HIM names. It brought her down to his level, and then to go the extra step of attempting to damage his business by destroying brouchures he had paid for is ridiculous.

If it had been a black business owner with a sign that said "Cracker Count," do you think she would have called that owner a Nigger? Doubtful. Hateful words are hateful words.