The Jena 6

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  • zz123
    zz123 Member Posts: 9
    edited October 2007

    As if this whole thing couldn't get any sadder...

    http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/1002071jena1.html

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  • NoH8
    NoH8 Member Posts: 2,726
    edited October 2007

    Rocker, his attorney said this  on the Dr. Phil show, that his juvenile records were released w/o permission.

    Felicia I wasn't implying that being poor and black were the same thing. I was talking about inequities  in the justice system of both the poor and minorities since the  wealthy have access to expert witnesses and high priced attorneys that the poor don't have. I do believe that Bell happens to be poor and black, since his family couldn't raise the original $90,000 bond and it's been alluded to that he originally had a court appointed attorney. I would make the assumption about anyone who got a court appointed attorney because in my county at least, you have to be eligible to collect welfare to get one. To me being poor added to the inequity, but wasn't the whole reason.

    I definitely agree that a federal prosecuter needs to be appointed and hopefully will look back on the history of such crimes and injustices, as well as "incidents" that weren't called crimes like nooses.

    Felicia, I really hope that the same outcry would be there if this was a straight on gay crime.  There was a much needed outcry after the Matthew Shepard incident, but inspite of that cbs' 48 hrs interviewed at least one of the viscious murderers who tried to claim that Matthew made a pass at him-- as if that's justification. I also wonder if the situation involved arabs/muslims if there would be an outcry. I hope there would be.

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  • NoH8
    NoH8 Member Posts: 2,726
    edited October 2007

    Ugh-- zzz-- college kids too.....

    I guess there's no legal consequence for such idiocity-- I hope the college can throw them out--- there has to be some morals clause somewhere. I'm all for free speech but see this as crossing the boundaries that Felicia mentioned earlier.

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2007

    Felicia, I only quoted what Snopes.com referred to as "the facts" in this case. Maybe he was not arrested right away.  I don't know.

    I hope we can all continue to express ourselves without attacking anyone .... Everyone has an opinion and I can't scroll back but the cybersister who posted about her family is trying to say she has no prejudism in her.

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2007

    Felicia, I only quoted what Snopes.com referred to as "the facts" in this case. Maybe he was not arrested right away.  I don't know.

    I h

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  • Paulette531
    Paulette531 Member Posts: 738
    edited October 2007

    Rocktobermom...unfortunately, IMHO discussions such as this one usually end up in attack mode which is why I feel the way I do. It is as though people really do not want to get to the roots of problems, they want their voice heard no matter how they have to "call it out". That's probably why from a humanity standpoint we constantly witness man's inhumanity to man.

    Amy, totally agree with you on what you said about the Mathew Shepard case, such a shame the way it went down, yet I think when the movie came out it did open some eyes. 

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2007

    Amy, my comments weren't directed at you at all (I really miss the old "Reply to" feature from the other board). No need to appologize, my dear...



    And Paulette, DAMN RIGHT I want my voice heard - as I'm posting on a public message board just like you are (hardly a private journal entry, lol). If we all just shut the heck up, discussions like this would NEVER EVEN happen. Just look at us: women from all over the globe, none of whom was personally affected by this event all giving our thoughts and opinions about where we should go from here. We may not all agree, but this thread is alive and going strong because we're trying to learn what we can and let others know what we think.



    I know I personally can't get to the root of this problem by myself, nor can anyone for that matter (alone, that is). Not talking about it is exactly what makes stuff like Jena and Matthew Shepard so horrible. The discussion helps to make us aware that problems like this occur everyday, whether we know about them or not. Refusing to acknowledge them doesn't make them any less real. I've never been one to stick my head in the sand and I certainly don't plan on starting now...



    And according to AP reports, Roctobermom, Mychal Bell was arrested within an hour of the fight on December 4, 2006 and remained there until his release last week, making it virtually impossible for him to have committed a crime after the fight. Take it from a journalist, folks, don't believe everything you read. Unless you see/hear it from more than one source, question its validity ALWAYS.

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2007

    And I swear, if I hear "i have just as many black friends as i do white," (a direct quote from Kristy Smith's Facebook appology) one more freaking time, I might just go mad! Do people really think that actually opening their mouths to say these words doesn't make them racist?!?! Gheesh!!

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  • NoH8
    NoH8 Member Posts: 2,726
    edited October 2007

    Felicia the same people say, "I know a lesbian, do you want me to set you up with her." LOL...

    The way I look at this discussion and others like it, is that some people are the type to shout out, "the emperor has no clothes.", some are the type to whisper to each other "the emperor has no clothes.", others are the type to pretend they don't see it and still others don't even notice.

    I prefer to be shouting, "the emperor has no clothes." (as you probably guessed).

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2007

    Amy, we shold start a thread about our favorite non BC insensitive remarks. Mine is "I have one Black friend - you might know her/him and..." Just makes me shake my head.



    And I'm shouting about the naked guy with the crown right along with you ;-)



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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2007

    I think everybody here cares that injustice was served.  I just don't think the crimes should be wiped away. The law needs to stand for all of them. And if  someone hung a noose and its not a crime then the law says they can't be punished.

    I think you guys see the points I made and I see yours ... 

    And just because someone shouts the loudest doesn't make them right, we are all entitled to our opinions without being "called out" ... 

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  • Paulette531
    Paulette531 Member Posts: 738
    edited October 2007

    Rocktobermom...YOU ROCK!

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2007

    It's not about who shouts the loudest, but that people are made aware that this world is far from perfect. Nobody has ever suggested that no punishment be made, just that the inequity of the punishment be addressed. No punishment for one group of kids for jumping another while attempted murder charges for a separate group accused of doing the same is FAR from equitable. Seems like a no-brainer to me, that's all I'm saying.



    We are all entitled to our opinions. My only issue has been with HOW some of those opinions have been stated - all of which I've already addressed. I'm not attacking, just explaining. Sorry if anything was misinterpreted.

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  • NoH8
    NoH8 Member Posts: 2,726
    edited October 2007

    I would want to know if my opinion on a cultural or ethnic was uninformed or prejudice. For instance, I used to think christians were antigay and prejudice because of my own personal experience. Then someone let me know that being progay rights and christian were infact not mutually exclusive and that such bias was indeed unchristianlike. I was glad to learn this. Before the Jena 6 I had no idea that this type of racial inequity was still going on.

    Felicia mine would have to be, "You're gay? How did you get that way."  Um---genetics....

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  • NoH8
    NoH8 Member Posts: 2,726
    edited October 2007

    Did anyone see the HBO documentary Little Rock High School 50 years later? It talked a lot about the differences between blacks and whites in Little Rock today and some of the reasons. The most moving part for me was when one of the Little Rock 8 came back and was speaking to the students. She said that the class made her sad and asked if anyone knew why. Then she called the students up one at a time to see if they could tell. One girl finally realized that it was because the blacks and whites were separated each on one side (guess they don't have any other cultures in that class) and not only that, there were rows of empty seats between them. She had so much emotion in her voice when she talked about how sad it made her feel.

    The footage from 1957 was also moving, to think about those kids, first turned away by and then all the protection they needed. They just wanted to go to school and while they knew it was important, I don't think they realized just how historic their bravery was. I wish I could sit down and talk with some of them to find out more of what they were thinking and feeling during those first tumultous days (weeks, months, years, decades...)

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  • NoH8
    NoH8 Member Posts: 2,726
    edited October 2007

    Seems like Jena spawned a new or maybe just not as widely publicized noose hangings Frown. It disgusts me that even an Ivy league university isn't where I, perhaps naively, expect the best, brightest and most enlightened students and professors are. Even though it's possible the bigot who hung it wasn't from the school, it's still awful.

    Then there's home depot-- fortunately the police are checking for DNA on the noose so hopefully they'll catch the bigot who did this one.

    If this isn't a crime in some states, it needs to be and a federal one. While I don't believe prejudice can be legislated, I do think bigotry in the form of threats, whether the noose was hung as a threat or just a statement, can be punished.

    Just google noose under news if you want to see articles about these crimes.

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2007

    Yeah, I saw the story last night, Amy. Sad that noose hanging has become a bandwagon crime, isn't it? I've come to the conclusion that people are just flat our crazy...

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  • NoH8
    NoH8 Member Posts: 2,726
    edited October 2007

    You know felicia, I wonder if this was already going on and it just didn't get the publicity.I sure hope that the publicity about Jena didn't give the bigots a license to hang nooses.

    I just heard on our local news that some thug beat up a rabbi while screaming, "jew, jew, jew."His nephew was an emergency responder and didn't even recognize him, he was so badly beaten. Apparently it wasn't a robbery, just a beating.

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  • NoH8
    NoH8 Member Posts: 2,726
    edited October 2007

    Ugh, Bell is back in juvenile detention. I don't know all the specifics, but there is speculation it's "retaliation" by one judge for another judge's opinion being overturned. Supposedly it's for a prior parole violation.. there really needs to be a special prosecutor in Jena to investigate all this. 

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2007

    Truthfully, I'm not even surprised anymore. Sad to say, but...

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  • NoH8
    NoH8 Member Posts: 2,726
    edited October 2007

    Felicia what if anything can we do about this? I feel the need to try to be part of the solution but am at a loss...

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2007

    Amy, I'm not sure, but I think the fact that Bell's return to lock-up not getting much media (which translates to public) attention is key. Posting what you found out here lets more people know, which is good. So tell your friends and family and encourage them to tell a friend - and write a congressperson for some idea of what can be done from here, as special prosecutors can be appointed from any branch of the federal government - including the Senate or House of Reps.



    I'll let you know what I hear about it...



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  • NoH8
    NoH8 Member Posts: 2,726
    edited October 2007

    I wrote to Al sharpton and asked him-- never thought I'd see that day since I often disagree with his methods.

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  • NoH8
    NoH8 Member Posts: 2,726
    edited October 2007

    Al hasn't written back, I'm not surprised.

    The house of representatives is holding hearings today to find out why no hate crimes were charged against the noose hangers in the Jena 6. I feel so relieved about this-- at least an outside body is looking into this.

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  • NoH8
    NoH8 Member Posts: 2,726
    edited October 2007

    CNN is going to have a special at 8:00 pm EST on Tuesday Oct 23rd on nooses- their history in the USA and unfortunately their comeback. It should be very interesting and a chance to bone up on some history.

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