Ellington

The JFP's Maggie Burks is in Jena, La., today continuing her coverage of the Jena 6 case that she started in early August when she went to cover Al Sharpton's visit there.

Previous Comments

ID

95875

Comment

Well, I couldn't be there, but I'm decked out in ALL BLACK to offer a united front. I'm so proud of JSU and Tougaloo students for attending and being vocal. Seems like we're doing alooooooot of marching these days. Seems like history is definetely repeating itself! Imagine that.

Author

Queen601

Date

2007-09-20T09:45:29-06:00

ID

95876

Comment

I hear you. Young Mississippians are getting more active by the year. I love it. They need to realize the power they have to change this state, dramatically and politically and fast, if they will.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-09-20T09:46:55-06:00

ID

95877

Comment

Ok, so I've gone back and read the stories, including Tom Heads "About.com" entry. Needless to say, Tom leaves out some details, but gets the story right. That said, I'm trying to figure out the full scope of the outrage. Not that there shouldn't be any, there should. But, what is the focus of this protest? Is it to make sure DA's don't make overblown charges, a la Duke? Or is it to just protest in favor of the 6 kids period. They still beat down the other student, so they need to be held accountable to a point. Also, they need to go back and charge some of the white kids for the shotgun incident, and the party where it is alleged a black student was beaten. Finally, the DA needs to be disbarred, and the school administration reprimanded for how they handled this from the beginning. A little intervention, and dialog may have prevented much of this. So, I understand the protest, I just hope it is not to ultimately relieve the people of guilt if they did indeed beat this student up. The DA, and police, already mucked it up by not going after the white kid with the gun, and the party. Let's not try to make two wrongs a right. Make it all right, and have everyone involved charged properly. Welcoming more explanation.

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-09-20T10:10:47-06:00

ID

95878

Comment

NO, this protest is not to relieve the five black kids for their wrong doings...if you believe they were wrong. This protest, is to address the fact that the punishment does not fit the crime. The principal saw it fit to expell the students who committed the initial CRIME - which was a HATE CRIME - by hanging a noose under "their" "white only" tree. However the DA felt it was not a crime and that expelling those students was not warranted. HE IS A RACIST! Bottom line. People get into physical altercations all the time...they are charging these young men (just in high school) as ADULTS for getting into a fight - that was PROVOKED by the white boys in the first place. One of the charges is Conspiracy to commit murder. WHAT? That was a fight. Their response to the need to have a dangerous weapon was the guy's tennis shoes....is that not a reach???? Does that at all seem fair to you? We should also be marching against that fella who got off 2 years for shooting a "would be" carjacker in the back. How in the hell are you going to rob someone of their vehicle running away from the car. It's just ridiculous. Black people and white folks are at war yall. Which side are you on. The south is about to be faced with a RUDE AWAKENINING if these racist authority figures think we are about to let them lead us back to the 1960's....IT AIN"T GONE HAPPEN... We are not our parents. We are not trying to stage boycotts and marches forever. This is not the generation to fight back in that fashion. We are a nation of the likes of MALCOLM not MARTIN. Be careful.

Author

Queen601

Date

2007-09-20T12:08:17-06:00

ID

95879

Comment

As a Northeast Louisiana native, I'm astonished that the school board overturned the principal's expulsion (TG somebody in this mess has good sense!). The DA...anal doesn't even begin to describe it! The ULTIMATE core point: Stuff like the Jena events are PRECISELY what happens eventually when you assume an "us" and "them" mentality, regardless of how peaceful and benign it may seem for the longest time. "Them" whether race, income, clique (since we're talking a high school incident here). While I won't claim that the mainstream Jena attitude condoned the nooses (I believe the ordinary white Jenan does not) - I will say this much: Even soft-core, even squishy-core, "us and "them" of any sort tend to give cover for the hard-core jerks' actions. After all, the stronger the subtler mainstream cultural values of exclusion are, the weaker the barriers the 'fanatical edge' and their heart-of-hearts' desires - whether race or any other kind of difference or "ridiculousness" or personal distaste.

Author

Philip

Date

2007-09-20T12:30:17-06:00

ID

95880

Comment

Pike, Queen is right about the protest's purpose. The point of it all is really to bring attention to the unequal and unfair treatment of blacks in the criminal justice system.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-09-20T12:40:20-06:00

ID

95881

Comment

I agree that the charges are trumped up. Most kids who get in bad fights get community service, and have to work off any record they may get. I think the parents, the school, and the town has failed the black students from the beginning of this whole episode. But, I don't think this is a gateway to a return to Jim Crow and the 1950's/60's for the whole South. If I found out my kid hung out at an "all white-tree" or put a noose up as a 'prank' towards black kids, rest assured this wouldn't have gotten much further.

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-09-20T12:51:05-06:00

ID

95882

Comment

Cool LW! I'm glad y'all pointed this out. I agree, and do think racial injustice is being practiced there on an institutional level. However, I feel bad for the beat up kid too. But, I also don't feel bad when stupid people get what is deserving sometimes either. (i.e. getting one's ass kicked) Karma is a bitch! I just wish the town had stepped forward sooner; but, it is obvious they had no intentions of doing so. That is really sad!

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-09-20T12:55:35-06:00

ID

95883

Comment

This whole thing should have been taken before Judge Judy before it got this far...... Juveniles being Juvenile Delinquents......the school and all the parents should have worked this out the ole fashioned way.....whippin for the instigators and public apology and hand shake afterwards.....

Author

ATLExile

Date

2007-09-20T13:01:06-06:00

ID

95884

Comment

Here are a couple of articles I've come across on this mess. A former Jena resident's take on the incident... ...and good ol' Jason Whitlock weighs in.

Author

Jeff Lucas

Date

2007-09-20T13:01:08-06:00

ID

95885

Comment

I love your "us" versus "them" comments, Phillip. I feel sorry for people who have to live in those kinds of conditions, especially black folks who have always gotten the short end of the stick from the beginning. It's the reason I refuse to respect any institution, person, symbol, or tradition that don't respect me as well. The south has many racist traditions, symbols, persons and institutions that still defines it. I won't ignore or respect them. The purveyors of such racist things think we should just ignore them if we can't respect them. I won't do either because I'm not in the business of making the sick, cancerous and pathological persons comfortable and happy. I prefer giving them the opposite of that when they refuse to look beyond their mere noses. These racist traditions, et al, are all around in little small towns such as Jena where the leaders and other folks in authority are educated and socialized by racists to preserve the status quo. It still amazes me why anyone would want this type of limiting, stalling and debiltating existence. It's the reason I still hate some colleges and schools in Mississippi. And yet stupid people are quick to ask me why you hate....? I'm always tempted to say because of morons like you, but I rarely do because I'm so nice.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-09-20T13:18:59-06:00

ID

95886

Comment

Okay, I read Whitlock's article, and he says: No one mentions that Mychal Bell's clueless public defender was black. No one mentions that there were no black jurors because of the 50 people who responded to the more than 100 summons, none were black. No one mentions that Bell was already on probation for battery relating to a Christmas day incident in 2005. No one mentions that Bell was adjudicated (convicted) of two other violent crimes in 2006 and one charge of criminal damage to property. No one mentions that Bell's father acknowledged he moved back to Louisiana in February (after seven years in Dallas) to supervise his son because of the "Jena Six" mess. No one mentions that Bell starred on the Jena High football team while constantly jeopardizing/violating his seemingly flimsy probation. This was all talked about in open court during a bond hearing for Bell, and a newspaper in Alexandria, La., wrote about it. Just about everybody else has pretty much ignored the "other side" of the story. Including the fact that not one witness – black or white, and there were 40 statements taken – connected the jumping/beatdown of the white student (Dec. 4) to the noose incident (Sept. 1). No one mentions that a black U.S. Attorney, Donald Washington, investigated the "Jena Six" case and held a town-hall meeting explaining that there was no evidence connecting the jumping/beatdown to the noose incident. Only after the prosecutor overreacted (or tired of letting Bell and others skate once the successful football season was over; Bell wasn't the only football star charged) did the "Jena Six" blame the attack on the nooses and the white shade tree. Even with all of this, I still believe that 22 years in prison does not fit the crime.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-09-20T13:21:53-06:00

ID

95887

Comment

Okay, I'm looking at the live feed, and the guy on the megaphone now needs to hand it to someone else. Because of his big mouth, the police are swarming...Never mind, he's gone. Anyway, the guy was practically promoting violence, so the police are behind the crowd on foot and horseback. Guess they got nervous.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-09-20T13:28:34-06:00

ID

95888

Comment

To explain further, the guy who was talking before was speaking AGAINST non-violent protest. He said that they'll be non-violent with anyone who is non-violent with them, but they won't be non-violent with anyone who is violent with them.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-09-20T13:30:57-06:00

ID

95889

Comment

When the mounted police showed up, he said he wasn't scared of no d*** horses. Someone else got on the megaphone shortly after that.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-09-20T13:32:18-06:00

ID

95890

Comment

Ray Carter:It still amazes me why anyone would want this type of limiting, stalling and debiltating existence. Philip: IMO, it's mainly because in-crowds or the powerful crowds (of whatever sort) so often have no clue that other, radically different, perspectives have at least some good points. Unfortunately, a small town's relative geographic isolation also makes it culturally isolated - in small towns, you simply have to expend much more effort to get access to other perspectives (a lot easier these days with the internet, but still..) Even when they get exposed to peopel and ideas well outside their "mainstream", they tend to have an " I have God's own truth in this matter" attitude (whether literally or metaphorically). Ultimately, I think it's more a question of (a) consciously and deliberately seeking out other opinions in a respectful manner and (b) finding people in their real world community who have more or less the same attitudes they do (pesonal experience tells me that b can be especially difficult). Basically, it's a question of your willingness to listen to others who are on the "outside" - a true test of one's claim to be honest if is such a thing.

Author

Philip

Date

2007-09-20T14:21:08-06:00

ID

95891

Comment

Interesting discussion. I have found it funny but yet par for the course that a lot of white folks are not quite understanding what the uproar is about. Whats even funnier is that some rarely do. What takes the cake is the Jena residents, mostly white, that have spoken to the media expressing their outrage hate that Jena is gettin that "stigma" Cmon! you meant to tell me you have NO idea that some folks in your town are racist? No idea that there are some parents who have passed down that ignorance to their kids who recipricated in kind by trying to keep black students from sitting under a particular tree? What? did they have separate water fountains too? LOL. An expulsion was overturned by an obviously insensitive board, the kids who pulled the rifle got no reprimand but yet here we are with six kids who will have their lives ruined because they had the gall to jump on a white kid who taunted them further. Forgive me if Im not as compassionate as I should be. I wont go so far as to say he had it coming but ill tell ya this...I bet there'll be no more nooses hanging from trees in Jena and those kids will keep their racial epiteths to themselves from now on! Clearly, if youre black, the crime for doing something to a white person carries a much stiffer penalty. Cuz after all we should know better right? Absurd. This makes me angry. Attempted murder for a school fight that requires a three day suspension from school? What kind of backwards msg is that sending and why does the veil of feigned ignorance seem to still hang over Jena's residents. "We're the most integrated town in the world" one lady said today on CNN WHAT?

Author

Kamikaze

Date

2007-09-20T14:42:50-06:00

ID

95892

Comment

I agree, Philip. I guess this is why we need to leave home for a while. It scares me to think how I would have turned out had I not been blessed to leave. I likely would have been very angry, disappointed, despondent, and nihlilistic because I knew quite a bit about what was wrong before I left. To watch the wrongs and not be able to legally fight back is a dangerous thing.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-09-20T14:48:25-06:00

ID

95893

Comment

Kamikaze, you blacks want everything. We let you go to school with us. Now you want to sit under the "tree for whites only", too. As a Forsyth (sic)Georgia female resident said years ago, "we done gived the n_______ Atlanta, now they want Forsyth too."

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-09-20T14:55:47-06:00

ID

95894

Comment

Queen601: Black people and white folks are at war yall. Which side are you on. War? Pick sides? Well, I was on my home the other day, and a young teenage black boy wouldn't get out of the middle of the street. When I finally edged around him, he cursed me, flashed some sort of "hand signal" at me, then spit on my car. Yeah, Queenie, I guess you could call it a war, but instead of picking "sides," I'll just stick with some young people being stupid and ignorant. And that goes for some older people as well. I guess I could pick a new route to go home, but since this is war, I'm trying not to give up too much of my ground this early in the battle.

Author

Tanner

Date

2007-09-20T14:56:10-06:00

ID

95895

Comment

"I bet there'll be no more nooses hanging from trees in Jena and those kids will keep their racial epiteths to themselves from now on!" You know I almost typed that myself word for word in my post. I'll bet there won't be either. And sometimes "Kami" that's what it's gonna take. A group of black kids take the white kid out back an beat the shit outta him with a rubber shoe after he's pulled some smart ass rascist *hit.....I mean his daddy obviously wahdn't gonna do it like mine would have......me...... They didn't use a hammer and they didn't use a crow bar as would have been done to them in the 50's....they taught him a lesson he'll never forget and that' was what they set out to do.....now there I said it and I feel great..................

Author

ATLExile

Date

2007-09-20T15:17:30-06:00

ID

95896

Comment

Maggie called in and said that all the businesses in Jena were closed today. They haven't been able to find a restaurant, yet. The grocery store next to the casino is open, though, she said. She and her Reuters editor were trying to find a place to spend money on a meal. This rather reminds me of Dr. King's agreement with Jack Kennedy that all the March on Washington marchers had to be out of town by sundown. Or, of the judge and courthouse staff at the Emmett Till trial making all the black people, and the media, leave the courthouse to use the bathroom. I think it's clear that Jena has become a symbol for how the criminal-justice system is so unfair to people, and especially kids, of color. I mean, we're seeing it right here in Jackson this week. Black and white people don't need to be at war. What we need is a rainbow coalition, to steal a phrase, of people coming together to fix the criminal-justice system and make it apply evenly to people of all races. It is also vital to remember that this disparite criminal-justice problem again kids of color is happening all over the country. And as a result, in many cases, white kids are being treated worse in order that the officials can say, "see, we treat them all alike." I did a whole six-month fellowship about how discipline and the criminal-justice system is getting worse for all young people, and is still much worse for kids of color. This is not a black-white issue folks, and only ignorance will turn it into one. And, Pike, you have to be careful of the binary trap of thinking that people protesting an unfair sentence (whether in Jena or with Yerger's recent mess) are saying that (a) the black kids shouldn't get in trouble or (b) the white guy should get the death penalty or life in prison. Kids of color need to be disciplined no more harshly than white kids. And white manslaughterers ought to get the sentence they deserve due to the severity of the crime.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-09-20T15:19:18-06:00

ID

95897

Comment

We are constantly told we sould respect the long arm of the law or that we don't respect the long arm of the law. What goes thru my mind everytime I hear that comment, is that I'm trying to respect it, and would do a beter job of it, if y'all would get that klan-looking dude off the other end of it.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-09-20T15:33:11-06:00

ID

95898

Comment

No, no ladd.... I was hoping I wasn't falling into that trap even if I was. That's why I was hoping for more comments. Just like some people don't like Barry Bonds because he is black, yet they'll say it is because he allegedly used steroids; it would not do us any good if we are not going to acknowledge that in the end all parties involved took the low road. I was worried that the protest would turn into a hate-fest. I am proud now that the day has ended peacefully, and that the exposure Jena needed was found. I'm just saying even a small portion of deadheads were only at the shows to buy drugs; and even though they were small, they hampered the cool vibe at many shows. 8-}

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-09-20T17:07:27-06:00

ID

95899

Comment

I know, Pike. I know you well enough to know what you meant, but other people might not have. Thus, my comments. The problem here, or one of them, is that the white people in charge did nothing to those guys for harassing black students and flexing their dominant muscle, or pulling a gun–then they try to send black kids away for a couple decades for getting into a fight with the guys who were baiting them. That doesn't mean they shouldn't be punished, but it makes no sense to throw the book of them and treat the white boys with kid gloves. That is inequality, pure and simple. What needs to result from today's rally is an effort to educate people of all races about the inequities in the criminal-justice system and the poor treatment of all young people, with treatment of kids of color worse, as it always has been. And another binary warning: It is not smart to say that white kids have it just as bad because some of them are now treated as poorly. The evidence is very clear that the treatment of white kids has gotten worse for the very reason that people are trying to cover up the historic disparate treatment of kids of color, not to mention adults. Intelligent people will consider the harsh treatment of members of the dominant culture does NOT mean that non-dominant cultures aren't being discriminated against. You have to put on your thinking cap with these issues, and not look at them in simplistic, binary, either-or terms. (Not that you are, Pike, but many do.) And, Ray, this is the quote o' this week: I'm trying to respect it, and would do a beter job of it, if y'all would get that klan-looking dude off the other end of it. I'm with you, friend. And I'm damned tired of the Klan types, and their ignorant apologists, making it look like I must think the same way because I'm white. Good Good almighty, why must you be black in order to want black people to be treated the same as white people!?! That's lunacy.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-09-20T17:25:24-06:00

ID

95900

Comment

And the sad thing these days is that because so many white people want to pretend that all that racism is behind us, when it is pointed out that it's not with clear examples, they want to start whining about how white folks get mistreated, too. Folks, that's the wrong answer. We've got to end the attitudes of old (and not just transfer them to Latinos or anyone else), regardless of what is happening to white folks. (And work on that, too, with the held of other races if we act like give a good damn about what's still happening to them.) If not, the cycle of divisiveness is going to continue forever. And there are plenty of people of all races just chomping at the bit to take advantage of that divisiveness for their own gain. The eyes must stay on the prize.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-09-20T17:28:20-06:00

ID

95901

Comment

And, not to jump threads, but it KILLS me that Swan Yerger can sit his white butt up there and pretend that he's not giving that white killer a break because he's white and because black "thugs" might have carjacked him had he not shot them in the damn back while they were running away. The Jena 6 protesters really ought to come to Jackson over this one. This is old Mississippi sh!t.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-09-20T17:30:04-06:00

ID

95902

Comment

We've got to end the attitudes of old (and not just transfer them to Latinos or anyone else) ladd I got sucked into "Bread and Roses" the other night! Awesome, awesome movie! If you haven't seen it, do! Universal themes of oppression by 'the man', unjust authority of power by fellow man, and the strain of a family divided over those issues, culminating into triumph over adversity even when the end doesn't turn out just right. Boo to Yerger!

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-09-20T18:12:50-06:00

ID

95903

Comment

Probably these guys: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/21/car.nooses/index.html

Author

dvc

Date

2007-09-21T09:56:21-06:00

ID

95904

Comment

From the above story: The passenger told police he and his family are in the Ku Klux Klan, the police report said. He also said he had tied the nooses and that the brass knuckles belonged to him, the report said. At least one of the nooses was made out of an extension cord, according to the police report. WTF? Kind of defeats the purpose of a hood doesn't it. Can you say white trash? Give it a few seconds to start....

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-09-21T10:05:11-06:00

ID

95905

Comment

The whole foundation of this thing is terribly disturbing. I can't believe in this day and time a "white tree" was allowed to stand, something like that can only lead to violence and kids being kids testosterone will get the best of them. The racism aspects of this doesn't excuse the violence on either side and why the blacks were charged and not the whites is just silly-yep, the Jena people are in the news and progress on getting along is set back another few years. A really sad aspect of this story is that you don't see the schools where the white and black kids hang out together, ride the same busses, and later go on to the same schools and jobs. Somebody in either this thread talked about "war" and it doesn't need to be a black vs white war, it needs to be a war on ignorance.

Author

GLewis

Date

2007-09-21T10:10:37-06:00

ID

95906

Comment

Just saw it, Cliff. It's coming down. And Antigone is out. (I'm smelling a rat on that one, anyway.)

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-09-21T10:16:05-06:00

ID

95907

Comment

I figured.

Author

Cliff Cargill

Date

2007-09-21T10:28:36-06:00

ID

95908

Comment

Leave you emotional response at the door before you read this. I havent had a chance to catch up on all of the comments and information related to this story but I need an answer for the question I know I will get tonight. Is making and displaying emblems (noose, swastika, rebel flag, etc) truly defined as a crime in any state or federal? Trully is there a defined law against such symbolism?

Author

wade G.

Date

2007-09-21T12:57:39-06:00

ID

95909

Comment

There shouldn't be a law against symbols themselves. But certainly, when young men tie the nooses on their trucks to try to incite problems in a volatile situation, you get into disturbing-the-peace issues, etc. Police must have laws to difuse potentially violent situations, but outlawing making a noose period would be antithetical to our Constitution. They weren't arrested for making the nooses, though. They were arrested for inciting a riot, driving while drunk and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. It sounds like the crowd handled it well, though, to their credit.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-09-21T13:01:55-06:00

ID

95910

Comment

So the answer to your question is that no, there isn't a law against the symbolism. They violated other laws along the way. And there ain't nothin' emotional about that.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-09-21T13:02:59-06:00

ID

95911

Comment

Sadly, it's legal to fly a rebel flag. The noose hasn't been tested yet; I'd imagine context would play a large part there. Burning crosses has been tested up to the US Supremes, who have upheld convictions for burning them.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2007-09-21T13:04:32-06:00

ID

95912

Comment

And I agree that you ought to be able to fly Rebel flags, burn American flags or display nooses on your own property. However, the government should not do any of those things, and if you're trying to incite a riot while doing them drunk, then there's a place where police need to be able to protect the public safety. It can be gray, but in this case, with alcohol and minors and hundreds of protesters involved, it sounds like the police did the right thing. It also doesn't help anything to try to confuse what they did with "outlawing symbols." Sticking to the facts is vital in emotional conversations. In fact, making up facts to be outraged about is a sure way to inject emotion.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-09-21T13:22:17-06:00

ID

95913

Comment

And I agree that you ought to be able to fly Rebel flags, burn American flags or display nooses on your own property. ladd You can do it, I don't disagree with you there. But, life comes at you fast, just ask George Allen. :-)

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-09-21T13:41:19-06:00

ID

95914

Comment

Many thanks! I appreciate the directness. I understand the heat of this issue and I do agree that the crowd did take the high road in not rioting against the less that intellegent acts of others. Hopefully we can all learn a lesson from this and begin understanding that violence is not the response needed to even the most disagreeable acts of disrespect or contempt for what ever motives one may have.

Author

wade G.

Date

2007-09-21T13:47:25-06:00

ID

95915

Comment

Well, if you fly one (or wear one on your lapel), you're sending a certain message. Don't be all offended when people pick up that message, especially if you're a politician. I will never, ever forget Haley Barbour's ugly, disgusting "attacking our flag" rhetoric. That crap does more harm to a state that is trying to heal than most things I can think of.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-09-21T13:51:08-06:00

ID

95916

Comment

When I see the rebel flag, I immediately think of wasted cloth, trash or the infamous words of "segregation the day and segregation the morrow." If someone knows the benign, kind or loving message that flag is supposed to send blacks, jews, mexicans, asians, et al, please let me in on it. I'm ashamed to be this old and still be without understanding. "In all things get an understanding." If somebody would just explain real nice what I'm missing, maybe I can help out with the cause. It is a good cause, isn't it? Aren't we supposed to be in on it too as Americans?

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-09-21T14:23:22-06:00

ID

95917

Comment

http://tinyurl.com/269uzt Bail denied in juvenile court for Jena Six teen JENA, La. (AP) -- Bail was denied Friday for a black teenager whose arrest in the beating of a white classmate led to this week's huge civil rights demonstration in the central Louisiana town of Jena, according to the father of one of his co-defendants.

Author

dvc

Date

2007-09-21T15:23:10-06:00

ID

95918

Comment

Clarion ledger is reporting the same thing now. I'm not surprised as I believe juvenile courts can use past juvenile records against a defendant (I don't think you call juveniles defendant but I can't think of the substituting term), if any, unlike in higher courts. But I don't know if this was the reason it was denied. I'm wondering if he was on any probation or not, and whether he faced the same judge as he's faced before. At least he doesn't have to suffer felony charges any more. I'll ask a juvenile law expert whose coming by my office on Monday.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-09-21T15:55:26-06:00

ID

95919

Comment

I still can't get beyond that there is a tree in Louisiana that a black kid is not allowed to sit under......what's it called the "Jim Crow" Oak......... I mean "HELLO".....is this 2007 or 1907......

Author

ATLExile

Date

2007-09-21T19:39:07-06:00

ID

95920

Comment

They eventually chopped the tree down, but still, the idea that a "whites-only tree" existed in the first place...

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-09-21T21:35:19-06:00

ID

95921

Comment

Agreed, LW. That's the most mind-numbing aspect of this story to me. I'm glad they cut the true down, as I doubt anyone will be starting any more racial crap over the "White Stump".

Author

Jeff Lucas

Date

2007-09-22T06:39:57-06:00

ID

95922

Comment

Y'all, please read Kamikaze's blog entry about what some white supremacists are doing.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-09-22T16:16:33-06:00

ID

95923

Comment

Talk about making the case for the ultra right. There isn't anyone that knows all the particulars of the cases yet. We have heard that some young men put some nooses in a tree as a threat. We have heard that six young men assaulted another young man. . The legal system needs to grind away. I don't think we should just throw out the legal system because We think an injustice is going to be done. The legal system is is a system of Laws. It isn't always fair and it isn't always just by without it We rule by violence and the rule of the mob. I can see protesting unfair laws and their application, that is the American way. Threatening violence and some sort of a race war if the legal process doesn't capitulate to your way of thinking is rubbish.

Author

Slider

Date

2007-09-23T14:57:49-06:00

ID

95924

Comment

Threatening violence and some sort of a race war if the legal process doesn't capitulate to your way of thinking is rubbish. Couldn't agree more. The racial reconciliation forum coming up this week is right on time.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-09-23T18:49:38-06:00

ID

95925

Comment

Got this on email today: I thought that the mission of the American Red Cross was to help people in times of disaster. I have a problem with what I saw happening in Jena, La. yesterday. My problem is not with the people coming to Jena to march, they have that right, but with the American Red Cross giving away supplies to the marchers. The newspapers have stated that approximately 25,000 bottles of water were given out. I will not mention any medical care that was provided, but we do have a local hospital that offers excellent medical care, but not for free. I sat on the balcony of my office and watched the marchers arriving carrying no supplies, but when they left Jena they were carrying bottles of water that was supplied by your organization. These people were not in a disaster mode, they knew what they were getting into when they came to rally, and should have planned better and brought their own supplies. I had a house burn in 1985 and lost everything, including my cars and dog, but never got a call or note from the Red Cross. I did not mind that I was not contacted by you and have not ever given it a second thought until yesterday. I have donated faithfully to the Red Cross for the better part of my 56 years, but no more. I know that in the scheme of things I am just a small drop in the bucket, but I will tell everyone that I know what has happened here, and maybe this small drop will turn into a flood. And yes you can use my name. James L. Broadwell III 329 Pleasant Hill Road Jena, La. 71342

Author

JMK

Date

2007-09-25T21:26:07-06:00

ID

95926

Comment

I've never heard of the Red Cross giving away supplies to protesters. Anyone else heard of this?

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-09-26T13:52:09-06:00

ID

95927

Comment

They did here. They handed out water to the protesters. From here: The American Red Cross handed out bottles of water to sweaty marchers, who stood shoulder to shoulder in front of the Jena Courthouse. Nothing wrong with this. The "good" people of Jena shut everything down when all the protestors were coming. I'm sure it was hot there that day. If they would have had protestors pass out from heat exhaustion, then there would have been a disaster. The people of Jena weren't there to help.

Author

Lady Havoc

Date

2007-09-26T14:22:14-06:00

ID

95928

Comment

The "good" people of Jena shut everything down when all the protestors were coming. I'm sure it was hot there that day. If they would have had protestors pass out from heat exhaustion, then there would have been a disaster. You're right. They did shut down everything.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-09-26T14:46:06-06:00

ID

95929

Comment

Mychal Bell out on bail

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-09-28T09:23:44-06:00

ID

95930

Comment

If you can, watch Dr. Phil today (Friday) and Monday. It's going to be about the Jena Six, and he's going to talk to the Justin Barker's parents and Mychal Bell's supporters along with Rev. Al Sharpton, Richard Barrett and Pastor T.D. Jakes. More info here. The link has brief summaries of what happened on the show if you don't get to see it.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-09-28T09:39:38-06:00