Comments on: Jena And The Son Of Jim Crow

The Nation: Case Shows Racism Still Pervades The Nation — Not Just The South

[brianbwb-2009]

"There is no excuse for assaulting another person and race should have no bearing on this." Posted by sunsetmom3

"Justin Sloan, a white man, attacked black students who tried to go to a white party in town. Sloan was charged with battery and put on probation. A few days after that a white boy pulled a gun on three black students in a convenience store. One of the black students wrestled the gun from him and took it home, only to find himself charged with theft of a firearm, second-degree robbery and disturbing the peace. The white student who produced the gun was not charged."

Your turn.

[brianbwb-2009]

"There is no excuse for assaulting another person and race should have no bearing on this." Posted by sunsetmom3

"Justin Sloan, a white man, attacked black students who tried to go to a white party in town. Sloan was charged with battery and put on probation. A few days after that a white boy pulled a gun on three black students in a convenience store. One of the black students wrestled the gun from him and took it home, only to find himself charged with theft of a firearm, second-degree robbery and disturbing the peace. The white student who produced the gun was not charged."

Your turn.

[brianbwb-2009]

"I might also wonder when the writer makes comparison of jail time for blacks and whites if he is comparing comparable crimes." Posted by alanrobisch2,

No need to wonder.

Statistics bear out what the writer says, in fact, on the subject of drugs, the wholesalers, the mostly "whites" that control the flow, and own the drug laden vehicles, rarely even get caught, and when they are, usually get less time than the street vendor, often no time at all.

One example, "Crack" cocaine, a purified version of powder cocaine, and more likely found on inner city street vendors in "black" neighborhoods, carries a much harsher sentence on average than the equivalent amount of "powder" cocaine, which is the form of choice for the "upscale" suburban whites.

I remember reading that the Bush twins were busted with coke, and the word was "it is a family matter", they weren''t even charged.

Try saying that if you are "black", the likely retort would be, "Ok, then your family is also under arrest".

[sunsetmom3]

What the Jena 6 kids did was wrong. they assaulted another person - 6 to 1! I''ve been a teacher in Texas and we treat school fights very serious and have kids arrested who get in fights (as young as middle school). There is no excuse for assaulting another person and race should have no bearing on this. The black community is trying to make this a racial issue instead of being concerned that 6 kids seriously beat up another kid! There is a victim in this case - it''s the kid who was beaten up, not the punks that did it!

[alanrobisch]

Its obvious that racism still exists and the probability that in the south its more acceptable. Here in Nj I know a friends son who got his jaw broken by a group of black fellow students because of the our friends kids racist remarks. To my knowledge the black kids received no serious punishment other than suspension. So I guess we can make stereotypes all we want and its easy to inflame blacks because of the past horrific treatment by whites, they judge more quickly and base as much on past experience as on current reality. I hold no water for the white kids who started this but nor do I think group of people ganging up and kicking a boy into unconsciousness should be the poster boy for blacks.

Note the basis for the demonstration was the expectation that the young man would be sentenced to time in Jail. It would seem justice did work because the crimes they were accused of were sharply reduced and returned for a proper hearing on the matter.

I might also wonder when the writer makes comparison of jail time for blacks and whites if he is comparing comparable crimes. In other words is he comparing equivalent things. One of the most common crime resulting in black jail time is the the sale of drugs which have very strict and long jail sentences

[april12341]

I can understand why it is important for the white and black criminals to be treated equally. However, I do not believe that this excuses the behavior of the Jena Six. Everyone is rallying behind them; however, they assaulted somebody! It was six people attacking one person. This is wrong, immoral, and against the law. Yes, I believe that kicking somebody until they are unconscious can be considered "attempted murder." Do people really think that the Jena Six should be freed just because they are black???? Does this excuse them beating a white person? That is also racism. Does two wrongs make a right?

[sharncedar]

Black americans love racism, they create it, they dwell in it, they enjoy its indignity, they use it as an excuse, they practice it on whoever they can in their own neighborhoods, they congregate by "race" which is a concept they nurture, they define themsleves by race, and then, once a year, they all get together and riot and cry and say they hate it.

[tnt1954]

whaddya expect. this country is cursed. it took
indian land. apache land, choctaw land, seminole
land, blackfeet land, iroquois land, sioux land,
chumash land etc. the revenge of geronimo. they
conquered others yet cannot conquer themselves. all
these non-native americans walk around like they
are god. the native americans, just sit quietly
and chuckle at our folly. waiting till we all
kill each other off. cause obviously, we can''t
get along. no matter what rodney king says with
his magic wand.

[susanhelit]

Let''s get real. The kid beaten up was fine - no broken bones, no cuts, went to a school function later that night. No weapons were used. The DA warped the law by saying the fact that the kids were wearing shoes meant that he could consider the shoes (sneakers!) a weapon. The witnesses changed their stories several times. About 50% of the jury was related to the prosecution in one way or another. Yeah, no problem with this case...

[ez-one]

Lets get back to what happened, 6 punks jumped and nearly beat to death one kid. it doesn''t matter what color they were, they should all go to prison for a long time