I have failed to write about the Jena 6 case in Louisiana, as have most mainstream news outlets and mainstream blogs. Shame on me, but lucky for you, I stumbled upon this video that sums up what happened quite well, so please watch and take action ASAP.
Nooses are a prank? Can we say Jim Crowe? Clearly, the MSM doesn't even know where to begin since this is such a clear display of racism. Granted there is an over generalization that racism happens more so in the South, even though racist shit happens everywhere, so perhaps we want to cover the story in a more balanced manner, thinking about the national state of race relations. However, it is pertinent that the use of a noose to intimidate a group of young black students is at the least horridly offensive, but more like, threatening and attempting to put some black kids in their place using an object that is both historically and geographically relevant.
And I like the apt comparison he draws between mass media coverage of the supposedly wrongly done Duke Lax players, while Mychal Bell, a 16 year old, rots in jail and gets sentenced to 22 years with little to no coverage in MSM. One of the key arguments made by feminist and POC bloggers in response to the Duke case was that the coverage and the treatment of those men would be different if they were black. As we can clearly see, this is true. Where is the outrage about this? Why isn't FOX news or some of the conservative blogs making noise and demanding justice?
Well we can still make some noise. This is the petition mentioned in the film and you can sign another petition at Color of Change. Also while you are it, call your local paper and your local TV station and demand they do more coverage on the Jena 6 case.
Also, as of earlier today, the charges against two of the young men have been reduced.
Prosecutors on Tuesday reduced the attempted murder charges against two more teenagers among the "Jena Six," a group of black high school students who were arrested following an attack on a white schoolmate.Five of the teens were originally charged with attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, carrying sentences of up to 80 years in prison. The sixth faces undisclosed juvenile charges.
Civil rights advocates have decried the charges as unfairly harsh.
On Tuesday, charges against Carwin Jones and Theo Shaw were reduced to aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy. That same reduction was made earlier for Mychal Bell, who was tried and found guilty and could be sentenced to 22 1/2 years at a hearing Sept. 20.
Also awaiting trial are Robert Bailey Jr. and Bryant Purvis, who still face attempted murder charges, and the unidentified juvenile.
If you don't know, now you know.
via AP.
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Friends of Justice is another grassroots group based in TX that organizes across TX and LA re: due process equity. They have been quite active in Jena 6 advocacy; I urge everyone to visit their website and blog as well.
Here's a link to their site on how to get involved:
http://friendsofjustice.wordpress.com/jena-6/
They are faith-based and it seems most of us on these feminist and progressive sites are not (I for one could be considered a godless heathen!), but being faith-based is often an asset in this type of work and in the South, and I know personally one of the founders of FOJ and think they do great work (disclosure).
yea - the MSM...
Democracy Now has done a good job covering the Jena 6.
from July 10 (including interviews with some of the students, their parents, community organizers)
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/10/1413220&mode=thread&tid=25
from August 1 (covering a march in Jena against the case)
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/01/1435233&mode=thread&tid=25
Thanks for the link, Redstar, I've been looking for a place to donate! Such an unbearably awful situation.
I can't say that I'm shocked. I knew about the school getting burned down -- I have several friends from Jena -- but I didn't know about the murder charges. What's funny is that all my friends from Jena are lesbians; I'm kinda comforted that they all left town to go to college. That place breeds hate like you wouldn't believe.
It's amazing how little press this story isn't getting. The only way I've been able to follow it is through the blogs.
The more spreading the word, the better.
Oh, and Gov. Kathleen Blanco, when asked by petitioners to do something about this, said it was a judicial issue and completely out of her hands. Lovely.
May I say that I understand that this is a feminist blog and not an anti-racist one, but I am always sad when crazy scary really important news (and often news about racism) gets very few comments on Feministing, but easier-to-digest and sexier posts about revealing clothing etc. get all the comments and outrage the Jena Six deserve. Yes, MSM isn't covering this, but how can they be expected to do so when even the young activists in this forum don't have a strong reaction to the story (or can't be bothered to watch the video?)
I agree with Louise. It really is insane that there isn't more protest and uproar over this blatant, unabashed display of racial injustice. I mean, 22 years! For getting into a fight? IT IS UNTHINKABLY UNFAIR. I'm sorry, but my younger brother got into a fight a couple years ago in high school and had his nose broken. I think he and the other boy were suspended. Did I mention they're both white? It's beyond shocking. I watched the video this morning and I was left literally speechless. And you just know this can't be the only case of this kind. I'll be signing the petition and writing a letter.
The old white patriarchy doing what it does best...excuse me while I vomit.
I also am sometimes disturbed by the lack of comments on the more "serious" posts, but then when I go to comment I realize that I have nothing constructive to say.
But I heard a little about this case this morning when the stupid local station decided to take calls on the issue. It took 5 seconds of hearing some woman bitching about how "white people don't go running to the NAACP every time they get in legal trouble" for me to switch the channel. The real world is so disturbing sometimes.
I don't believe it is fair to compare the Duke case to the Jena 6 case.
The Duke case was huge in the MSM when it was reported that a bunch of white college boys raped a black girl. The boys were thrown under the bus by 88 professors of that university that signed a petition, there were protests against the boys (by the New Black Panthers?), and the MSM kept repeating all the early quotes from the DA as fact.
Many months later the Duke case becomes similar to the Jena 6 case. The Duke case started off so huge with the MSM that they couldn't move it off the front page as the case took major turns. The Duke case started big, proceeded big, and ended big. The Jena 6 case started small, proceeded small, and is only now growing in attention.
Kind of a side point (assuming everything in the video is factual), I would agree that the charges should be reduced to misdemeanors or perhaps something like class D felonies. "Free the Jena 6"? If that implies all charges should be dropped, then I respectfully disagree.
I have been a daily reader of this blog for a long time now. I have only recently started to comment. I realize that this is a feminist blog but where is the outrage over the injustices these young people are suffering? Aren't you people the ones who speak out about injustice everywhere?
As a black woman, a lot of the times I feel that the topics on this blog have nothing to do with my reality...
Stupid remarks like that remind me of a few years ago here in Cincinnati. After the 15th (at best) questionable police killing of an African American man in the city, I happened to be listening to our local right wing talk radio station (WLW — I must have been in a cab or something) just long enough to hear someone say "If a white cop had shot a white guy, it wouldn't be a racial issue" and another person say "I'm not racist or anything, but I hate black people".
The racism is bad enough, but do these people even think before they open their mouths? Seriously, what caves are these cretins coming from, and who's dialling the phone for them?
I was quite disappointed in CNN's coverage of this (when they finally got around to it--I started reading about this on feminist blogs several months ago). I've seen them cover this case twice and the second time they spliced in footage from the last story (couldn't be bothered to do new reporting). And both times they ran a story they say "hasn't been heard," with the parents of the teenager who was the object of the fight saying how horribly their son was beaten (with no confirmation) and talking about how they believed their son did nothing to deserve what they believed as a murder attempt. Their main story did not mention the comments the prosecutor had made (that have been confirmed by over two dozen people) about making their lives disappear with the stroke of the pen.
And you're right, in some ways this is not like the Duke case. No one in the Duke case did any time. And the prosecution on any charges is highly problematic in 1) ignoring the past history (which included not only the nooses but an incident in which a gun was brandished and the kid who disarmed his assailant was charged with theft of the gun!), 2) ignoring the context in which the students had no reason to believe they would be protected from the racist violence of the white students 3) ignoring the highly questionable evidence against several of the students--many of whom witnesses say were not involved in the fight at all.
I like the comparison of the news coverage as well. And I think the injustice is clear when you think of why so many were willing to believe the charges against the Duke players vs. why so many whites in Jena were willing to believe the prosecution here. The answer to both is we need to be doing a lot more work on racial injustice.
Kenyatticee:
Believe me, you are not alone.
The morning after I read this story, I talked to someone I know at the University I attend who is in student government, and he said that they can help me to get a petition passed around on campus. I go to a Buddhist university, and respect for tolerance and diversity are very much apart of the campus culture (Not that they aren't apart of other campus cultures, but it's a huge fucking deal here). Anyway, if I bring this information to the student body, shit will get done, even if it's only a little bit.
I watch this and I feel so helpless. I know racism is out there...and I know people are going to hate me before I ever open my mouth because I am a black woman. And most of the people who do give me the benefit of a doubt only do so because they find me attractive. Once they find out that I am educated and purposeful, they tend to lose interest. That's where my feminism and my racial issues collide.
It is something I have been dealing with all of my life...but lately it hurts more than ever. If I had the means, I would buy an island somewhere away from all of this madness.
I am as smart as I am attractive...I work hard...I am independent...I volunteer and work with non-profits for EVERYONE, not just for African American issues. And what do I get? Ignorance and emotional pain. I am so sick of it!
(Sorry for the rant, guys. But I needed to get that out.)
For everyone moved by this case, there is a need to move into action; there are national days of action called in support of the Jena 6. SEPTEMBER 12 —Wherever people are: high schools, colleges, workplaces, in parks and on street corners, in cities and suburbs—boldly, defiantly, and creatively demand: FREE THE JENA 6!!! Organize speak-outs, demonstrations, and marches. Wear t-shirts. Pass out stickers, armbands, wristbands, bandanas. Make banners, put posters in windows. Mobilize, organize, and make plans to go to Jena on September 20. Find ways to express and manifest that: WE are NOT going to stop until all the charges are dropped.
SEPTEMBER 20 —The day Mychal Bell is scheduled to be sentenced: Join with and build the broad call that has gone out for people to COME TO JENA! PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE, OF ALL NATIONALITIES—CHARTER BUSES, CAR POOL, BUY A PLANE TICKET, AND COME TO JENA FOR A MASS PROTEST. People all over the country and the world: find ways to boldly and in a mass way manifest and stand in solidarity with the struggle in Jena.
(Taken from revcom.us, the web site of Revolution newspaper; reporter Alice Woodward is in Jena and reporting from there.)
Okay, so my attempt at indenting my last comment didn't really work .. sorry.