The Jena 6

Just when I start to think that our nation and our culture are beginning to move towards racial reconciliation, I read a story like this one. I want you to know that as I approached this story, I did so understanding that facts in cases like these are sometimes distorted. I really tried to keep an open mind, to hear both sides of the story instead of making snap judgments. I read between the lines in news stories, trying to see how the story was being spun and working to sift through any smokescreens that often appear in such highly volatile cases. I worked very hard to remain objective. The more I read about the Jena 6 however, the more outraged I become.

The manner in which city officials have conducted themselves demonstrates obvious inconsistencies, and that is putting it nicely. I can’t think of any other way to describe it other than downright racism. First of all, let me say that I firmly believe that these young men should be held accountable for their actions. A person should not be able to beat and kick another person without suffering any consequences. What those students did cannot be justified. They need to be punished. What I don’t understand is the overwhelmingly obvious inconsistency in the way the school board and prosecutors have handled these students.

What possible explanation is there for the D.A. not filing criminal charges against the boys who hung those nooses in the tree? If someone were to plant a burning cross in a schoolyard here in Tulsa, I would hope they would be prosecuted. The law allows for the prosecution of people who use symbols so obviously connected to hate and prejudice. It wouldn’t take a person very long to come up with a long list of cases where people have been prosecuted for similar behavior. Those nooses were equal in every way to placing a burning cross on the lawn of the school. The intent behind them can not be mistaken. There is no other way to explain the nooses being hung in the tree. They were put there to intimidate and propagate fear. If that is not grounds for prosecution, I don’t know what is. The fact that these students were suspended from school for three days, after making what amounted to death threats toward their fellow students, absolutely blows my mind.

Then white students assault a black student trying to enter a party. He is hit over the head with a beer bottle. Absolutely nothing is done to those students. When black students finally attack a white student though, the reaction and punishment is outrageously severe. You can almost here the D.A. thinking, “We have to jump on these n_______s or this situation is going to get out of control.” It makes me sick. I’m not saying they didn’t do anything wrong. I’m not saying they shouldn’t be punished. I am saying that there is no way to trust a system that only punishes one group of people. A system like that is the classic definition of racism. The city officials in Jena should be held accountable. There is no excuse for this.