Free the Jena 6 - Social Injustice

[White Rose]

Hello, everyone. I'm not one to post my own thoughts in Lounge. But I wanted to share this link to everyone to get peoples support on this issue. Its very difficult to explain my thoughts but so I will post the link here.

http://www.freethejena6.org/

So please visit the site. If you have the time fill out the petition.

http://jena6.vesana.com/takeaction


Thank You

[Hyskoa]

They still have white trees? wtf?

[pyrohex]

Yeah, it's like the town is still living in the 50's or something...disgusting.

[The Crazy Dude SRD]

Yeah, it's like the town is still living in the 50's or something...disgusting.

I concur... Why is it that some people are so dense and rigid against realizing that we all have the right to be on this planet? Is it that most people fear difference? Or is it just because it is easier to hate rather than take the time to understand others...

That's just my two cents...
-Shawn

[Duq]

Of course the punishment being way to harsh, and all the racial stuff is simple wrong.

But it was 6 guys beating up 1. If you get arrested for that in any city, doesn't matter who beats up who. It will go on your criminal record and always haunt you. And I think anyone who goes with a group against 1 person deserves that burden.

Dropping the attempted murder charge yeah, thats just bullshit, but clearing them of battery (I think this is the beating up charge? Language problem) would be glorifying violence against racism.

[corky13]

There it is...Xenophobia in all its ugly glory.

Edit= But yes , I guess Duq is right. 1 against 6 is unfair. That isn`t a way to regain someones honor...

[pyrohex]

At the core of the matter is a series of injustices, rather than just that the six accused beaters were originally sentenced more harshly than the crime deserved. It's that the district attorney threatened black students over the white tree 'prank,' said tennis shoes were deadly weapons, and that the six were convicted by an all white jury in a town with an approximately 12% black population. Not that a proportionate jury would have helped much, but the idea of an all white jury is so saddled with racial overtones that it's just got to be picked up on.

[moopuff]

Could someone please clear something up for me on this?

Someone mentioned something about the (white) kid having a gun, and that the (black) kids took it from him and then proceeded to kick his ass.
Is this true? (maybe this was one of the things that had happened leading up to this?)

I also think it was wrong for them to hang nooses on the tree, and get minimal punishment. This whole case is bullshit if you ask me. I do feel sorry for some of the people in the town, though. NPR interviewed some people from the town, and they were very disappointed in the way the media was shunning a whole town because of these racist assholes.

[dfacto]

As I recall moopuff the gun incident was beforehand: a white kid pulled a shotgun on one of the black guys and a scuffle ensued where the black kid took the gun away. The 6 on 1 beating was later, after a white guy was smirking about the black guy(s?) getting beaten by whites at an earlier party.

Personally I'd hand out slap-on-the wrist punishments (community service hours, for example) and expulsions to the Jena 6. They jumped a guy, true, but he was up and going to parties the same night. That's quite a civil beating there, all things considered.

The beat-up guy, along with the noose posse should also get expulsions, and the shotgun pulling jackass needs to get hit up with some serious charges.

[kev ferrara]

Delicate subject....

Do I care? Nope.

None of us know anything about this except what we hear on the news. And if you believe what you hear in the news is reality I have a bridge to sell you.

Remember that the Duke rape case all came to nothing, after ruining the reputation of a bunch of innocent kids, cancelling their season, forcing three kids to go to trial, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Remember the New York Times, the much vaunted paper, putting this on the front page? Did the New York Times apologize?

Remember Tawana Brawley? Anybody?

If you are angry about the Jena 6, and all you know is what you hear on the internet or read in the papers or hear on the news.... you are probably being played.

Back up the emotions and go back to your drawing boards. The more you pay attention, the more you are being played.

This has been my opinion.

kev

[dogfood]

Thank you, kev.

There are a multitude of events out there that are being melded into several different stories, each seemingly suited to generate racial, or at least social, unrest.

There are blocks of kids from different races who don't hang out with kids of other races. This is not segregation.

Some kids have done some pretty stupid things. Kids do that.

A group of six kids rendered another kid unconscious, then continued to assault him. If they crunched his hands, that's pretty mean; if they were laying boots to the head, that's criminally dangerous.

What we're certain of, is that the main event happened several months ago and the mainstream media and protesters are probably not the best informed people on the subject, given all the conflicting information out there.

But by all means, we perceive injustice, so let's make snap judgments.

[CGMonkey]

Delicate subject....

Do I care? Nope.

None of us know anything about this except what we hear on the news. And if you believe what you hear in the news is reality I have a bridge to sell you.

Remember that the Duke rape case all came to nothing, after ruining the reputation of a bunch of innocent kids, cancelling their season, forcing three kids to go to trial, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Remember the New York Times, the much vaunted paper, putting this on the front page? Did the New York Times apologize?

Remember Tawana Brawley? Anybody?

If you are angry about the Jena 6, and all you know is what you hear on the internet or read in the papers or hear on the news.... you are probably being played.

Back up the emotions and go back to your drawing boards. The more you pay attention, the more you are being played.

This has been my opinion.

kev

I agree completely

[s.ketch]

yeah theres already been certain sites and groups on both sides of this issue have edited the story to sway it a certain way. i would say don't listen to any emails you get, or myspace messages, or any of that crap. more than likely its propaganda. stick to reputable sources of news.

Of course major news networks are going to turn this into some grand racial battle because thats what will get them ratings. A small story about some douche nozzles acting stupid wouldn't pull in many viewers. They're going to find all these little rumors and tiny details, blow them up into something else to fit in with their story. We've all seen it with the Duke case and more than ever with the 'war on terror.' People are just jumping in and blindly signing some petition without thinking about what they're doing. Who is sponsoring this petition? What affiliation do they have with any special interest groups?

[jadefoodog]

ok from what i gathered from that site is
6 black kids beat up 1 white kid (no racism there)
then they got in trouble (damn racist white police)
and norallly anytime someone is beaten severly by 6 people of any color it useaully results in death

so the black kids parents are upseth their kids are being charged with a5temted murder (even though its pretty much what happened) and they want to go further and have all charges dropped (because its racist to punish black kids when they do something wrong)

when all in all the petitiion is useless because they are being charged as juviniles and even an attempted murder charge wont be as severe as being charged with assult as an adult

i dont care what color you are you could look like a wet bag of skittles for all i care if 6 people beat the shit out of one person they deserve whatever they get, that kid could have died, if that kid spent any time at all in the hospital i think attempted murder is justified



now this is how i feel
did the white kid deserver getting beat up : probably yes
do the black kids deserve to go to jail for a few days and get exspelled : sure enough (along with the rest of that town)

moral of the story : people whine too much

[jadefoodog]

As I recall moopuff the gun incident was beforehand: a white kid pulled a shotgun on one of the black guys and a scuffle ensued where the black kid took the gun away. The 6 on 1 beating was later, after a white guy was smirking about the black guy(s?) getting beaten by whites at an earlier party.

Personally I'd hand out slap-on-the wrist punishments (community service hours, for example) and expulsions to the Jena 6. They jumped a guy, true, but he was up and going to parties the same night. That's quite a civil beating there, all things considered.

The beat-up guy, along with the noose posse should also get expulsions, and the shotgun pulling jackass needs to get hit up with some serious charges.

they should just arrest that entire town

[life on the sofa]

if it had been a bunch of white kids among themselves no one would have blinked an eyelid. but seeing as it wasnt....

the white kids deserve expulsions, certain black students deserve expulsions and the 6 boys deserve punishment. be it jail time or comunity service.


FROM WHAT IVE HEARD.

my view is. although the concept of "the white tree" in this day and age is riddiculous and dispicable. the fact is it oculd easily have started with the black kids going there deliberately to start trouble. the reaction was just as bad with the nooses. but im afraid as far as the law goes, stuff like that doesnt warrant jail time or punishment at a juditial level. the kids should have been delt with there and then and the situation quashed and done with. it was handeld badly by the school and the governor guy. i didnt read about a shotgun on tht website but obviously alot of things happned even outside of school time between certain students causing friction between them, but the there is a very old and very irritating saying which im afraid goes in this situation. "violence is never the answer". from what i can tell the white boys never did anythign physically ot the black students. while the stuff they did deserved punishment it wouldnt excuse six boys beating the living shit out of one white boy. and if the 6 boys did that then thye obviously arent defenseless innocent little boys who got singled out and bullied for no reason, i think they gave as good as they got but unfourtunatley, that would mean there was no case for racism so that idea is out the window as far as protesters are concernd logic or facts mean nothing. when they see black kids or people being punished or treated even slightly differently its imedietly racism.



put simply.

although it was wrong they had a "white tree" the black kids would have known that the white kids would have responded racially to them going there and the lilkleyhood is they were looking for trouble. and gave as good as they got but then they were the first to make the aggressive move but when it backfired they have the race stigma to fall back on. if the white boys had beatn up a single black kid they would have faced the same charges. period.


i am not racist, i dont sympathise with racsists, i hate racists. these are my view on the situation form what i know. i i find what i know is wrong i will delete this post.

[Costau D]

People need to stop treating the news as reality TV, and soap operas. Only thing wrong with this is you never get every angle, just the news making "educated decisions", and toying with emotions.

[life on the sofa]

welll.........the whole concept of "news" is speculation and nosying in on other peoples buisness

[Orunitier]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-jena25sep25,1,453333.story?coll=la-headlines-nation

[ciots]

Delicate subject....

Do I care? Nope.

None of us know anything about this except what we hear on the news. And if you believe what you hear in the news is reality I have a bridge to sell you.

Remember that the Duke rape case all came to nothing, after ruining the reputation of a bunch of innocent kids, cancelling their season, forcing three kids to go to trial, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Remember the New York Times, the much vaunted paper, putting this on the front page? Did the New York Times apologize?

Remember Tawana Brawley? Anybody?

If you are angry about the Jena 6, and all you know is what you hear on the internet or read in the papers or hear on the news.... you are probably being played.

Back up the emotions and go back to your drawing boards. The more you pay attention, the more you are being played.

This has been my opinion.

kev

agreed.
same with this "maddy" mccann bullshit, the fact that some people devote so much time to videos and sites to it just makes me feel sorry for them.

[light]

The white kids who acted put up the nooses and the adults who should know better then convicting people for minute crimes are jackasses for the stuff they've done in this event.

The jena 6, well, they're just jackasses.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAZQlgPO8qc

The ruling was foolish, especially considering the kid was out and walking about in less then a couple hours, and they shouldn't even be considered for jail time in this event, but still, holy shit.