black bloggers?????

ummm....one of the best blogs ever was run by an african american, and hardly anyone knew he was african american

steve gilliard was so ahead of his time

my prob with this story is that it didnt gain traction until the black youths fought back

where were these guys at the start when the whites in the school got away with haning nooses off the white tree?

Well thats definitely it.
Once the black blogging community starts to successfully raise awareness of racism in America,AT&T has no choice but to move in and swallow the internet whole.

Democracy Now! has been been providing great coverage of this story, with regard to the Jena 6.

On the subject of so-called 'Black Bloggers', I am a little disappointed by the terminology. I mean, what does that make the rest of the bloggers!?! Why can't they be 'bloggers' that have been effective in mobilizing the community? How do you know WHAT race a blogger is? How is their blogosphere any different from yours or mine?

I thought on the internet, nobody was supposed to know you're a dog...

Yet this will be a civil rights protest literally conjured out of the ether of cyberspace, of a type that has never happened before in America-a collective national mass action grown from a grassroots word-of-mouth movement spread via Internet blogs, e-mails, message boards and talk radio.

Ah how quickly they have forgotten the Immigration protests...

Interesting. It has been over 3 hours since this article was blogged here. Yet no comment made yet!

And to hell with "frist"

I must apologized to the commentors before me. When I first went to comments prior to writing my own which took only 30 seconds...there were none present. Again my apologies

No Problem Soulster.......this is a very disturbing topic...and should be brought to the forefront of the nation...but since the Liburul Media won't do it you find it here and this is not the first time this has been a topic here....so have at it.

personally I think those kids got railroaded.....the protesters should stay or be there everyay that the trial goes on.....there shouldn't even be a trial......except for the hate crime those twits did by hanging the ropes.

I had never heard of this at all until Mos Def and Cornel West brought it up on Bill Maher's show.
I wonder how many others first heard of it then?

The GOP hates blacks.

Yes, it is wrong that the black youth reacted with violence, but it was not without first being incrementally and repeatedly provoked by local white youth and authorities. The incident that preceded this one was a case where a white youth drew a shotgun and was disarmed by a black youth. Rather than prosecute the white for threatening someone else with a gun, the local police charged the black youth with theft of the gun. To deny that this is the result of racial prejudice is a stretch of the imagination.

Snowball @ 17:

I've noticed how the Corporate Media have been slowly but surely leaving out the basics of this story and how it came about. It's now just a story about black youths beating up a white youth with no context of the preceding events leading to this incident and local racial tensions or how the white youth provoked the fight. To anyone who is fully informed about the case, they can only conclude that there has been a disparity in the way that white local authorities, from the principle school board and prosecutor to judge and jury, have treated blacks and white youth. While white youth's attempts to incite and provoke have been overlooked and unpunished, the prosecution of black youths have been disproportionate and unfair and the response to the black community's concerns dismissive. There's a pattern in Jena and it doesn't paint a pretty portrait of Red State America.

Indeed! There is a bunch of stuff that doesn't appear to have been reported in the MSM. Yesterday in the New York Times, it looked as though they were comparing the act of hanging an noose from a tree to the act of beating the crap out of someone, making it look somewhat uneven since the article left out a whole series of ugly overlooked acts and attacks in between. Even this article printed at Crooks and Liars lacks clarity. The whole thing pisses me off. Oh, as does the statement attributed to Jesse Jackson regarding Obama. He can't remember if he said it or not (clue, if it is something that you might have said and you are not sure that you said it or not, you probably said it, and HOW DARE YOU).

organmeat @ 19:

I don't get it? So in response to hate speech and hate demonstrations several youths allowed themselves to escalate it to violence. No matter how wrong the first party is the second party is also wrong for escalating to violence. Why should their violence be excused and not be held up to blind justice? I agree the original prosecution was far too harsh and needed to be corrected but excused completely really?

I hope LaSalle Parish District Attorney J. Reed Walters is brought up on charges and disbarred for his "pen statement" and subsequent escalation of charges to attempted murder. Clearly he meant to make good on his words. What a total slimeball!!

http://colorofchange.org/jena/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jena_Six

Yes, we all get that - the point is that similar acts by white kids were not treated the same as the acts by the black kids. Get it now?

justabill @ 27:

Louisiana has some serious race probs. It reminds me of the after Katrina when they wouldn't let anyone walk out of the city. Gretna police dept set up on the bridge and wouldn't let anyone out. No food for 4-5 days had arrived yet and they still wouldn't even let them walk across the bridge because they didn't want all those black people in their city. ...

On that point, C&L put up a great vid by, of all people, Geraldo and Shep Smith who reported the same thing.

Geraldo who I’m no fan of was crying, holding a little child up to demonstrate the extremely inhumane conditions these people are forced to live under. Forced is the right word because they are locked in the dome by our government and can’t leave. Troops are guarding the bridge.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/09/02.html#a4763

Kudos to Color Of Change for speaking truth to power

Isome @ 21:

Udon Nomee @ 6:

Democracy Now! has been been providing great coverage of this story, with regard to the Jena 6.

On the subject of so-called 'Black Bloggers', I am a little disappointed by the terminology. I mean, what does that make the rest of the bloggers!?! Why can't they be 'bloggers' that have been effective in mobilizing the community? How do you know WHAT race a blogger is? How is their blogosphere any different from yours or mine?

I thought on the internet, nobody was supposed to know you're a dog...

We know each other because bloggers of African descent have webrings linking one blog to the next as a way to generate traffic and share information. After all, many of the things we may be interested in don't go over well on liberal blogs like this one. And, very few people are interested in the type of deconstructive dialogue and commentary that happens on when topics like the one about some quote attributed to Jesse Jackson.

No, I get that part. I was referring more to the way the story was presented. Describing "bloggers" as black, instead of describing the themes of the actual blogs as addressing primarily black issues. I think that it was an unnecessary and regressive way to tell the story. In reality, aren't they just "bloggers, who happen to be black"?

Why is it that the "Black Blogosphere" has emerged? Why isn't it that "The Blogosphere" has simply expanded and evolved, become more diversified and more inclusive as more and more people of all backgrounds have the advantage of internet access, allowing them to participate?

This should be a milestone for The Blogosphere, that has once again succeeded in informing, inspiring, and mobilizing The People, who in this instance may (or may not) happen to be black. People who, if they had to rely on the MSM, would have been shit outta luck AGAIN, disenfranchised even further AGAIN, and never even know it.

The way the story is written, it sounds like I might need to call my ISP and found out how to sign up for access to this "Black Blogosphere", and whether I need a new "Black Blogosphere" network card or something...

feetfeet @ 29:

Isome @ 25:

evolution @ 23:

And why am I supposed to get all excited about defending 6 kids who ganged up on another? I'm not losing any sleep over this. Focus on the white kids that may have deserved a harsher sentence.

How do you know that happened when they pled not guilty? Why the assumption of guilt when one kid wasn't there and has witnesses to prove it? Why not focus on the issue at hand, instead of assuming the worst and dismissing the concerns about unequal justice outright? I know why, but I just thought I'd ask.

Comments like these are why African Americans who blog have webrings linking one to another and don't think of linking to alleged liberal/progressive websites on a regular basis.

You mean separatists? Any group that classifies themselves as white or black is a separatists. How about we focus on the individuals and their crimes.

You really don't get it. Separatism in this case was forced on the black community because of people like you who are NOT focusing on individuals and their crimes. In this case, the focus has only been on black individuals and their crimes. Why not recognize the racism behind that fact and work to improve it instead of blaming it on the bloggers?

i heard about the story when it first broke regarding the nooses...and it was on the blogs, and on progressive radio

i just dont like the labeling of bloggers by race

nor do i like the idea that only african americans would blog about this issue

im not really clear on the story....i do know that this is one of the most racist areas in the country

my god...a tree only for whites? a fucking tree?

I am not black and i blogged about this in July. I think this story hit a nerve with a lot of people.

How can we waste valuable MSM air time when we can cover OJ?

From the GOP side, Jena6 will get some coverage by Rush Limpdick with another snazzy racist parody song.
And right now, I'm sure BillO is dreaming up something he can get his white anger on against the supporters. So there's your rightwing media coverage.

DiggyG @ 43:

xoites defends Constitution @ 41:

DiggyG @ 39:

This is nothing like the civil rights movement of the 50's-60's; what Rosa Parks did was heroic, what these 6 kids did was plain old hooliganism. They deserve to do some jail time (or at least, if they were to be treated in a color blind manner, they would still do jail time.... don't even get me started on the ridiculousness of sending teens to jail).
Like some of the other comments have said; the injustices here are the various instances where authorities looked the other way in the face of crimes carried out by white youths. These protesters need to switch their slogan from "Free the Jena 6" to "Also charge the white hooligans of Jena"... It's less catchy, but more right.

Also, in my eyes Sharpton really has lost whatever moral authority he might have once had... why is this guy still on tv?!?

You need to get a grip. White America's "solution" to what they percieve to be "the Black problem" is to incarcerate one point four million people. Some are guilty of commiting crimes, some are not. Almost all are disproprtionally sentenced to longer and harder time. Time they serve earning slave wages making corporations involved in the Prison Indusrial Complex rich. Slavery has taken on a new face and you have bought it hook, line and sinker.

You Americans always see everything through a race prism... People in other countries commit crimes and serve excessive jail times, but no one is going to claim that those unjustices are due to racism, let alone slavery. I mean, come on... "slavery"? For starters, slaves used to be put to work, and then the fruits of their laboour were stolen from them. Nowadays people just rot in jail. I'm not disagreeing with you that this is immoral. But I am going to deny that it is "slavery" or that it is even mostly due to racism.

Then you just do not understand what has been going on in our country. I can't help that. You need to expand your data base before spewing false output.

It's great to see the "progressive" blogosphere get behind a violent, racially-motivated attack like this.

Meanwhile

There was no “schoolyard fight” as a result of nooses being hung on a whites-only tree... Justin Barker, the white victim, was cold-cocked from behind, knocked unconscious and stomped by six black athletes. Barker, luckily, sustained no life-threatening injuries and was released from the hospital three hours after the attack... A black U.S. attorney, Don Washington, investigated the “Jena Six” case and concluded that the attack on Barker had absolutely nothing to do with the noose-hanging incident three months before... ...It is rarely mentioned that no black people responded to the jury summonses and that Bell’s public defender was black...

The MSM ignored it?

Huh. I seem to recall seeing several long segments on the "Jena 6" on CNN over the last several weeks. I guess I must have been imagining things.

I call BS.

If you haven't heard the full Jena story, here is one account (with references)

http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/message.html

Basically it comes down to an extreme double standard of the application of law.

xoites defends Constitution @ 45:

People don't just rot in jail in America. They get paid 8 cents an hour to make telemarketing calls or make blue jeans and myriad other tasks. If they don't work they spend most of their day alone in their cell. And when i say "most" i mean 23 1/2 hours a day.

The new corporate slavery

fiver @ 51:

DiggyG @ 39:

This is nothing like the civil rights movement of the 50's-60's; what Rosa Parks did was heroic, what these 6 kids did was plain old hooliganism. They deserve to do some jail time (or at least, if they were to be treated in a color blind manner, they would still do jail time.... don't even get me started on the ridiculousness of sending teens to jail).
Like some of the other comments have said; the injustices here are the various instances where authorities looked the other way in the face of crimes carried out by white youths. These protesters need to switch their slogan from "Free the Jena 6" to "Also charge the white hooligans of Jena"... It's less catchy, but more right.

Also, in my eyes Sharpton really has lost whatever moral authority he might have once had... why is this guy still on tv?!?

How authoritarian. If the "black youths" had not resorted to "hooliganism" and let the "white tree" remain white, none of this would have happened. If that horrible delinquent hadn't taken the gun from the white young man who pulled it on him, he wouldn't have been charged with theft of a fire-arm.

Why couldn't they just play the White rules of the South? It's Their own fault. (looking for a sarcasm emoticon and can't find one). These kids were in exactly a 40's-50's-60's racist environment (alone, with the authorities against them). How dare they fight back?

Bigotry is hardly confined to the South, and its outlets often betray themselves as "law and order" types. Careful, the lawless people of colour might come to your neighborhood next. But that wouldn't be "more right." Maybe a youthful prank with a couple of nooses would do the trick. Can you get any "more right?"

I don't appreciate your insinuation of racism. C'mon man, don't be a prick; I am a person of colour, but that doesn't mean I'm going to condone criminal activity, no matter what the cause.

As these blog stories have demonstrated, nothing is local anymore. They had other options for "fighting back" that did not involve taking part in a Heroic (insert sarcasm emoticon here) 6 on 1 beating.

TLB @ 46:

It's great to see the "progressive" blogosphere get behind a violent, racially-motivated attack like this.

Meanwhile

There was no “schoolyard fight” as a result of nooses being hung on a whites-only tree... Justin Barker, the white victim, was cold-cocked from behind, knocked unconscious and stomped by six black athletes. Barker, luckily, sustained no life-threatening injuries and was released from the hospital three hours after the attack... A black U.S. attorney, Don Washington, investigated the “Jena Six” case and concluded that the attack on Barker had absolutely nothing to do with the noose-hanging incident three months before... ...It is rarely mentioned that no black people responded to the jury summonses and that Bell’s public defender was black...

I'd say the price already paid, to say nothing of not being able to make bail over a year after the incident, far exceeds any of the more sinister overtones of your posts, to say nothing of the fact that, after being initially reported 'unconscious' (likely a bullshit accusation to begin with) this same victim in this crime was seen out that same evening at some school function. So it kind of reduces this 'attempted murder' charge faced by many of these kids an absurd charge.

The entrenched thinking, wild claims and exaggerated statements by the prosecutor only further expose the racial hysteria the law is hiding behind in Jim Crow Jena.

I'm glad to see so many march, human rights are owed to all, and these kids, these six kids, did nothing deserving these charges. A school yard fight, that is all.

The so-called "progressive" blogs didn't press this issue. It was pushed by the Black blogosphere, evidence once again that white liberals, along with the Democratic party, are part and parcel of the problem. They are complicit in their silence, complacent in ignorance, and collusional in their discrimination. Although race relations in America (particularly in the Deep South) have never been flowery beds of ease, now they have sunk to the nadir of criminalizing every African-American male that dares step outside his house. Black unemployment rates have skyrocketed; Black patients are treated poorly (a recent study showed even medical students react negatively toward African-American patients!); enrollment in Historically Black Colleges is declining; Black ballots are consistently discarded, discounted, and nullified; and despite the fact that juvenile white males commit more crimes that juvenile Black males, they receive more lenient treatment, more times than not, receive no jail time and their records are expunged, wiped as clean as a whistle! When African-Americans speak the truth about drugs, guns, prostitution, and other illegal activity, especially when they tell who is "Mr. Big", they are jeered for being conspiracy crazies. If they persist, they soon are deprived of every economic support or "accidents" begin to happen. The Jena 6 has happened time and time again, over and over, usually one at a time, which doesn't attract the spotlight. The march happened, but the movement must continue. C&L deserves applause for at least mentioning it and providing some background. As for the white children in Jena who've gotten away scot-clear, the DA is careful to state that there's no state law against hanging a noose from a tree. Yet, there are laws against pulling a gun on others and physically assaulting someone else. Those acts remain unprosecuted. No one has to wonder why.

DiggyG @ 49:

Thank you TLB... I was just googling around for that link.

Thanks too TLB, because when I examine racial issues in this country, I find it useful to get the opinion of a well used FOX and DisneyCorp. black man. It makes it so much easier to feel white.

xoites defends Constitution @ 59:

DiggyG @ 54:

fiver @ 51:

DiggyG @ 39:

How authoritarian. If the "black youths" had not resorted to "hooliganism" and let the "white tree" remain white, none of this would have happened. If that horrible delinquent hadn't taken the gun from the white young man who pulled it on him, he wouldn't have been charged with theft of a fire-arm.

Why couldn't they just play the White rules of the South? It's Their own fault. (looking for a sarcasm emoticon and can't find one). These kids were in exactly a 40's-50's-60's racist environment (alone, with the authorities against them). How dare they fight back?

Bigotry is hardly confined to the South, and its outlets often betray themselves as "law and order" types. Careful, the lawless people of colour might come to your neighborhood next. But that wouldn't be "more right." Maybe a youthful prank with a couple of nooses would do the trick. Can you get any "more right?"

I don't appreciate your insinuation of racism. C'mon man, don't be a prick; I am a person of colour, but that doesn't mean I'm going to condone criminal activity, no matter what the cause.

As these blog stories have demonstrated, nothing is local anymore. They had other options for "fighting back" that did not involve taking part in a Heroic (insert sarcasm emoticon here) 6 on 1 beating.

My understanding of this encounter was that the white student involved deliberately taunted them with racial epithets knowing he had the white community and the local police and DA behind him. Think about that for a moment.

That's still a crime.

DiggyG @ 61:

xoites defends Constitution @ 53:

We now have privately owned prisons in America. If they have prisoners, they have a labor force. If you get in trouble in prison your sentence is extended. Often times the guards see to it that racial tensions are hightened to promote gang fights that, in turn, extend prisoners' sentences. The prison gets paid a sum for every prisoner it houses, it makes money of of the prisoner's labor and the longer they have been incarcerated the more experience they have.

On top of that the people who provide food to prisons have a vested interest in seeing them continue, as do the people who make the prisoners' uniforms, the construction companies that build them and the towns they occupy.

District Attorneys build political careers incarcerationg people. They can send twenty to thirty people to jail a day for "street crimes" but can spend a career on on white collar crime, so they stick with the easy prosecutions and Haliburton and Enron can get away with paying no taxes and fleecing tax payers and shareholders.

Yet some people want to relieve their frustration on cornered and often impoverished people. The polititions love them for that, they are the ones who put them back in office year after year and we all pretend we have a "Justice System."

We don't.

xoites, I agree with almost everything you're saying here. The last thing this, or any country needs is Lockheed Martin Prisons (TM). I don't however think that it is accurate to use "blue collar" and 'black' interchangeably, nor "white colar" and 'white'. There is such a thing as middle and upper class people of minority, and they are as much to blame for the sorry state of the justice system as their white neighbours. Again, prisoners get a raw deal, but it is not always due to racism.

I am not, nor did i nfer the use of “blue collar” and ‘black’ nor “white colar” and ‘white.’

People without means commit street crimes, disproportionately African Americans are living below the poverty level in urban America where the crimes they commit are hard to conceal. People in the suburbs have more room to work with and people in board rooms (white or black) have plenty of tools to conceal their misdeeds and block prosecution.

DiggyG @ 62:

That's still a crime.

What planet are you on? The White kid was treated and released with a black eye. The charge is attempted murder. The sneakers on a black kid's feet were charged as "deadly weapons." Be afraid, White People; dark skinned people are coming... with sneakers...

DiggyG @ 66:

xoites defends Constitution @ 64:

DiggyG @ 62:

xoites defends Constitution @ 59:

That's still a crime.

But it is not "Conspiracy to Commit Murder!" Don't you get it? The charges against these kids was WAY out of proportion and not one white kid (and not the adult who pulled a shotgun on some of these kids) was charged with ANYTHING!!!!

I agree 100%... the main injustice here is that a bunch of white kids belong in jail, and haven't been charged. This is what the protesters should be pushing for. As for the Jena 6, they are still largely responsible for the situation they've found themselves in. MLK said that a man should be judged not "by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Well these kids have a bad case of thuggery in their character. And some jail time is surely deserved. Unsurprisingly, MLK III, one of the more level-headed protesters made precisely this point.

"Well these kids have a bad case of thuggery in their character." What do you base this on? Not one of these kids was ever in trouble before. What they did was stand under an "all white tree" and all hell broke lose. Are you trying to tell me that Martin Luther King Jr. would not have stood under that tree?

DiggyG @ 68:

fiver @ 65:

DiggyG @ 62:

That's still a crime.

What planet are you on? The White kid was treated and released with a black eye. The charge is attempted murder. The sneakers on a black kid's feet were charged as "deadly weapons." Be afraid, White People; dark skinned people are coming... with sneakers...

The charge is no longer attempted murder. Just charging someone is not the same thing as convicting him. You write about this as if all their legal options had been exhausted and the justice system had still failed them.

That is ONLY because an Appelate Court Judge threw it out! Wake up!

TLB @ 46:

It's great to see the "progressive" blogosphere get behind a violent, racially-motivated attack like this.

Meanwhile

There was no “schoolyard fight” as a result of nooses being hung on a whites-only tree... Justin Barker, the white victim, was cold-cocked from behind, knocked unconscious and stomped by six black athletes. Barker, luckily, sustained no life-threatening injuries and was released from the hospital three hours after the attack... A black U.S. attorney, Don Washington, investigated the “Jena Six” case and concluded that the attack on Barker had absolutely nothing to do with the noose-hanging incident three months before... ...It is rarely mentioned that no black people responded to the jury summonses and that Bell’s public defender was black...

Actually, it had to do with an attack on a black kid by the name of Robert Bailey by a bunch of white kids at a party. They split his head open with a bottle but were only charged with a misdemeanor. Justin Barker was allegedly talking trash about Bailey getting his ass kicked by whites when he was attacked. He was released from the hospital after three hours and went to a party that night. Those kids, the "Jena Six" were charged with felonies. The difference between misdemeanor and felony charges? Use of a life threatening weapon. Like a bottle say. Maybe like the one cracked over Robert Bailey's head. The life threatening weapon wielded by the Jena Six? A tennis shoe.

In response to the artcle to which you linked... I'm not a fan of Sharpton and Jesse Jackson makes me nervous. I can't speak to their agenda. I've been following this story for quite a while. It takes a rather substantial amount of digging to make sense of it. The incident with the nooses did not directly incite the fight. It happened six or so months before. But it speaks to the climate of tension which is important context for the story. The principal expelled the kids who hung the nooses. Then the school board reversed the decision and gave them three days "in school suspension." The school board. Those elected representatives of the town.

I'm baffled by the people that only seem to see two sides: either this is a huge waste of time and these kids were hooligans who should serve time or their lives are so hard we should look the other way, doesn't matter that they ganged up on a kid. Of course these kids should face the consequences of their actions (and after nine months in prison it could be argued that Mychal Bell already has). So should the white dude who pulled a rifle. So should the white kids who cracked a bottle over Robert Bailey's head. So should those bigots that hung nooses. Nooses. The things with which white people used use to murder black people.

This is one incident of how many I can not fathom. Racial inequality is institutionalized and institutional change is a glacially slow process that only occurs with constant pressure. Moments like this one are important if only to remind people shit's still broken.

The result of my digging.

The charge for the one juvenile that was over-turned, on appeal, was attempted murder. There are other charges that remain against him, and the others. He has also spent many months in jail. Just curious, what is justice for a black eye? Should it be more if the eye was White to start with? Seriously, how many months for black eye?

xoites defends Constitution @ 69:

DiggyG @ 68:

fiver @ 65:

DiggyG @ 62:

What planet are you on? The White kid was treated and released with a black eye. The charge is attempted murder. The sneakers on a black kid's feet were charged as "deadly weapons." Be afraid, White People; dark skinned people are coming... with sneakers...

The charge is no longer attempted murder. Just charging someone is not the same thing as convicting him. You write about this as if all their legal options had been exhausted and the justice system had still failed them.

That is ONLY because an Appelate Court Judge threw it out! Wake up!

The charges were reduced before it got to the appellate court. The only that the appellate court did was to rule that he was improperly charged as an adult, NOT that he was "not guilty" of the charges.

And NO ONE has mentioned the white kid hitting the black kid on the head with a bottle, an event that provoked the 6 to 1 beat down? Hmmmm...okaaaaaayyyy. Please read about the ENTIRE story.

My thankfully little experience I had in a bronx court showed me how SICK the system is. One by one hispanic and black youth coming in for LOITERING in front of their projects. WHERE THEY LIVE fer crissakes!! Now you can start your criminal record at 15 yo for hanging with your friends on the stoop in front of your building. I was mortified. My "public defender" kept telling me to plead guilty to mistaken identity just so "I wouldn't have to keep coming back" but I wouldn't. Can't imagine what the pds were telling the young kids. Surely they weren't telling them to plead innocent for standing in front of their building.

The system is sick and broken!!!

DiggyG @ 70:

xoites defends Constitution @ 67:

DiggyG @ 66:

xoites defends Constitution @ 64:

I agree 100%... the main injustice here is that a bunch of white kids belong in jail, and haven't been charged. This is what the protesters should be pushing for. As for the Jena 6, they are still largely responsible for the situation they've found themselves in. MLK said that a man should be judged not "by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Well these kids have a bad case of thuggery in their character. And some jail time is surely deserved. Unsurprisingly, MLK III, one of the more level-headed protesters made precisely this point.

"Well these kids have a bad case of thuggery in their character." What do you base this on? Not one of these kids was ever in trouble before. What they did was stand under an "all white tree" and all hell broke lose. Are you trying to tell me that Martin Luther King Jr. would not have stood under that tree?

Well, I base this on the fact that they ganged up 6 on 1 on another kid. There's no other way to interpret that event. And the one kid that has gone to trail has a prior criminal record for assault.

That is NOT a prior conviction! That is the conviction from THIS CASE!

I have to go. there is a brick wall outside that wants to talk to me.

Good night all.

xoites defends Constitution @ 74:

DiggyG,

Face the facts here. A small town with what i believe is a racist District Attorney and a racist police force not only allowed black students to first be excluded but when they pushed back to be harassed and the District Attorney threatened them. When things got hot and a white youth was hurt he tried to send them to jail for life. Your head is not this hard, i can tell.

I think we agree about a lot of this stuff, I'm just reluctant to buy into these "movements" that periodically rise to the front page of national papers (see also, the Duke case). As far as these 6 cases go, until more facts come out I think we need to let things play out in the courts. If there's a miscarriage of justice somewhere along the line it will get caught - by the justice system.

Now as far as those white kids who are not, as of yet, facing any charges... well I sure hope all this extra attention is going to force this prosecutor to do something about it. This is where the protests need to focus their attention, turning a blind eye to crime is where the racism in this case is found.

xoites defends Constitution @ 79:

That is NOT a prior conviction! That is the conviction from THIS CASE!

xoites,

You're right that the link shows no priors, yet I believe I've heard that there is a previous juvenile record. (Interesting how protected information becomes available when it's useful to some).

Isome @ 84:

xoites defends Constitution @ 81:

I have to go. there is a brick wall outside that wants to talk to me.

Good night all.

G'night xiotes... please stay away from brick walls.

Oh, wait! I found someone with a reasonable mind to have a conversation with.

Good evening, Isome. :)

DiggyG @ 83:

If there's a miscarriage of justice somewhere along the line it will get caught - by the justice system.

Wow. I want to live in your world.

Let's get our facts straight.

The charges were 2nd degree attempted murder, and conspiracy to commit murder. They only tried one kid first, reduced the charges to aggravated assault, and conspiracy to commit murder, and tried to get him to turn be a witness against the other 5 kids and he refused, so they tried a 16 year old kid as an adult and got a conviction, which was thrown out.

As far as the community ignoring the summons to appear as a witness? THIS PARISH HAS THE SMALLEST BLACK POPULATION, BY PERCENTAGE, OF ANY PARISH IN THE STATE. 8%. FIGURE IT OUT!

Beckylooo @ 89:

DiggyG @ 83:

If there's a miscarriage of justice somewhere along the line it will get caught - by the justice system.

Wow. I want to live in your world.

I sure don't! I want to be very well aware when i live in a society where the justice system is broken and has been since before any of us were born.

Beckylooo @ 94:

xoites defends Constitution @ 93:

Beckylooo @ 89:

DiggyG @ 83:

Wow. I want to live in your world.

I sure don't! I want to be very well aware when i live in a society where the justice system is broken and has been since before any of us were born.

Sorry. Was it unclear I was going for irony?

No, i got it. I was not snarking on you. I was just snarking. :)

ecotopian @ 96:

Include yourselves in this, not just the MSM. The first place I heard about this was NPR. The first mention of this on your site was it in June. I did a search. Really. Nice to know you stayed on top of it.

Well, first you have to know about something before you can make a comment on it.

I know Brittney got in trouble again. I don't give a shit, but it is all over the news.

what's happening xoites. trying to talk sense into these thick heads again? you don't have tunnel carpel yet?

xoites defends Constitution @ 97:

ecotopian @ 96:

Include yourselves in this, not just the MSM. The first place I heard about this was NPR. The first mention of this on your site was it in June. I did a search. Really. Nice to know you stayed on top of it.

Well, first you have to know about something before you can make a comment on it.

Or at least admit that you don't know everything there is to know... instead of making pronouncements based on an incomplete set of facts.

BTW, if I am not mistaken, M.Bell is still on custody because of the assault and robbery charge against him from when HE was harassed by a white adult male, who took a sawed-off shotgun from his car and threatened M. Bell with it. M. Bell fought the guy in self-defense and managed to take the shotgun from him and ran home and called the police. The robbery charge was for taking the man's shotgun...

I think I've gotten drawn into a larger discussion than I was looking for. The key thing I wanted to say (and did say, but then said a bunch of other stuff), is that what these six kids did was not morally right. They are not heroes.

There is plenty of racism on display here, and I'm not trying to downplay that. But I want these protesters to fine tune their message, and stop portraying these 6 kids as innocents.

ok, and with that, I need to get some sleep. The bars have let out, and the frat boys have stopped yelling in the streets: it's bed time.

goodnight all. xiotes, thanks for the conversation.

Well, I don't see how you can equate a few teens hanging nooses in a tree to 6 teens assaulting a single teen and sending him to the ER. What is the point of the protest? Are they really defending the 6 boys who beat the living shit out of the other kid? Forgive me if I don't know the details of this story, but they have been very very difficult to figure out.

And as offensive as it may be, I think hanging a noose in a tree is not a crime and is probably protected by the first amendment of the constitution. I think they students who did it should have had received more severe administrative punishment through the school administration, but it certainly isn't a hate crime. The first amendment doesn't protect you from all punishment for offensive speech, just protects you from criminal prosecution.

Udon Nomee @ 105:

BTW, if I am not mistaken, M.Bell is still on custody because of the assault and robbery charge against him from when HE was harassed by a white adult male, who took a sawed-off shotgun from his car and threatened M. Bell with it. M. Bell fought the guy in self-defense and managed to take the shotgun from him and ran home and called the police. The robbery charge was for taking the man's shotgun...

yeah you are right. i bet that's the probation charge that the conservative hit piece was talking about.

J9 @ 108:

there are many playing dumb because they don't want to face what is real. I can imagine if you are white how hard it is to come to terms with the reality of this country...the realities minorities live everyday.

Now can YOU put yourself in MY shoes?

Just try...

Ok, one last comment. J9, I am in your shoes, or at least similar shoes to yours. Have some self-respect man, don't go playing the victim card on a daily basis. And don't look down on your white countrymen. They have their flaws, but so does every black, brown, and yellow one of us.

mister mix @ 106:

you do such a serious injustice to the fight against racism when you label this as a southern thing. as if the northern prisons aren't filled with black people who have gotten excessively harsh sentences and brutality treatments. i seem to recalled a man about to get married last year being loaded up with bullets by police a day before his wedding in NYC.

You've got a point that racism isn't confined to the South. However, a "white tree" with nooses hung (hanged?) from it? The "serious injustice" done to the glorious South? Those cops in NYC may have had a racial motivation (though they probably thought that the race of the victim just made it easier to get away with), but only in the South could the police suitably frame their bigotry in front of a "white tree" with nooses hung (hanged?) from it. Ah, the Southern tradition.

Really don't mind if you sit this one out.
My words but a whisper - your deafness a SHOUT.
I may make you feel but I can't make you think. -- Jethro Tull: Thick as a Brick

mister mix @ 117:

DiggyG @ 113:

Ok, one last comment. J9, I am in your shoes, or at least similar shoes to yours. Have some self-respect man, don't go playing the victim card on a daily basis. And don't look down on your white countrymen. They have their flaws, but so does every black, brown, and yellow one of us.

how belittling, arrogant and dismissive all at the same time.

I was hoping to let that one slide for another argument at a later date. It will take weeks to get straight on that comment.

xoites defends Constitution @ 119:

fiver @ 115:

mister mix @ 106:

you do such a serious injustice to the fight against racism when you label this as a southern thing. as if the northern prisons aren't filled with black people who have gotten excessively harsh sentences and brutality treatments. i seem to recalled a man about to get married last year being loaded up with bullets by police a day before his wedding in NYC.

You've got a point that racism isn't confined to the South. However, a "white tree" with nooses hung (hanged?) from it? The "serious injustice" done to the glorious South? Those cops in NYC may have had a racial motivation (though they probably thought that the race of the victim just made it easier to get away with), but only in the South could the police suitably frame their bigotry in front of a "white tree" with nooses hung (hanged?) from it. Ah, the Southern tradition.

Get your facts straight, please. It was not the police it was some white students who did that.

Was there something in my comment that suggested that I wasn't aware that White students had hung the nooses? My comment was directed at the uniquely Southern setting in which these events took place. You actually think there could be something like a "white tree" in a high school outside of the deep South?

Or do I just not have my facts straight?

fiver @ 122:

xoites defends Constitution @ 119:

fiver @ 115:

mister mix @ 106:

You've got a point that racism isn't confined to the South. However, a "white tree" with nooses hung (hanged?) from it? The "serious injustice" done to the glorious South? Those cops in NYC may have had a racial motivation (though they probably thought that the race of the victim just made it easier to get away with), but only in the South could the police suitably frame their bigotry in front of a "white tree" with nooses hung (hanged?) from it. Ah, the Southern tradition.

Get your facts straight, please. It was not the police it was some white students who did that.

Was there something in my comment that suggested that I wasn't aware that White students had hung the nooses? My comment was directed at the uniquely Southern setting in which these events took place. You actually think there could be something like a "white tree" in a high school outside of the deep South?

Or do I just not have my facts straight?

Yes, in Boston, where i lived for two years until the racism drove me out. I am white, i lived in the only black neighborhood in the city, Roxbury. This was from 1980 to 1983. Blacks were routinely pushed in front of subway trains during rush hour. A white woman in the North End brought home her black boyfriend. She was gang raped, he was killed. Nothing was done.

mister mix @ 125:

xoites defends Constitution @ 124:

Yes, in Boston, where i lived for two years until the racism drove me out. I am white, i lived in the only black neighborhood in the city, Roxbury. This was from 1980 to 1983. Blacks were routinely pushed in front of subway trains during rush hour. A white woman in the North End brought home her black boyfriend. She was gang raped, he was killed. Nothing was done.

i stayed in mission hill a couple of years back. that's right around the block from roxbury.

I have not been back since i left. I do not intend to reurn.

Udon Nomee @ 34:

Isome @ 21:

Udon Nomee @ 6:

Democracy Now! has been been providing great coverage of this story, with regard to the Jena 6.

On the subject of so-called 'Black Bloggers', I am a little disappointed by the terminology. I mean, what does that make the rest of the bloggers!?! Why can't they be 'bloggers' that have been effective in mobilizing the community? How do you know WHAT race a blogger is? How is their blogosphere any different from yours or mine?

I thought on the internet, nobody was supposed to know you're a dog...

We know each other because bloggers of African descent have webrings linking one blog to the next as a way to generate traffic and share information. After all, many of the things we may be interested in don't go over well on liberal blogs like this one. And, very few people are interested in the type of deconstructive dialogue and commentary that happens on when topics like the one about some quote attributed to Jesse Jackson.

No, I get that part. I was referring more to the way the story was presented. Describing "bloggers" as black, instead of describing the themes of the actual blogs as addressing primarily black issues. I think that it was an unnecessary and regressive way to tell the story. In reality, aren't they just "bloggers, who happen to be black"?

Why is it that the "Black Blogosphere" has emerged? Why isn't it that "The Blogosphere" has simply expanded and evolved, become more diversified and more inclusive as more and more people of all backgrounds have the advantage of internet access, allowing them to participate?

This should be a milestone for The Blogosphere, that has once again succeeded in informing, inspiring, and mobilizing The People, who in this instance may (or may not) happen to be black. People who, if they had to rely on the MSM, would have been shit outta luck AGAIN, disenfranchised even further AGAIN, and never even know it.

O I C... well, I think C&L was attempting to give credit where credit is due.

Udon Nomee @ 34:

The way the story is written, it sounds like I might need to call my ISP and found out how to sign up for access to this "Black Blogosphere", and whether I need a new "Black Blogosphere" network card or something...

There is a password required. I think xiotes may know what it is. ;-)

There is a password required. I think xiotes may know what it is.

I know of two:

openyoureyes

openyourmind

fiver @ 131:

Sorry xoites, Sir mix,
Examples of racism in the North do not exonerate the South. Mississippi still flies the Confederate flag; states, counties and parishes still somehow elect conservative white men when the majority of eligible voters are black; and, most importantly, there is no f$%#ing way any high school in outside the South could get away with having a "white tree" for more than a week. A "white tree"? In Boston? In Brooklyn? No way.

now one said exonerate the south. we are saying don't exonerate the NORTH. you are talking about a "white tree" when you still have active chapters of the KKK in addtion to neo nazis and skinheads right there in NY.

mister mix @ 132:

fiver @ 131:

Sorry xoites, Sir mix,
Examples of racism in the North do not exonerate the South. Mississippi still flies the Confederate flag; states, counties and parishes still somehow elect conservative white men when the majority of eligible voters are black; and, most importantly, there is no f$%#ing way any high school in outside the South could get away with having a "white tree" for more than a week. A "white tree"? In Boston? In Brooklyn? No way.

now one said exonerate the south. we are saying don't exonerate the NORTH. you are talking about a "white tree" when you still have active chapters of the KKK in addtion to neo nazis and skinheads right there in NY.

A big difference is that, in NY, the KKK, neo-nazis and skinheads aren't running the joint.

fiver @ 131:

Examples of racism in the North do not exonerate the South. Mississippi still flies the Confederate flag; states, counties and parishes still somehow elect conservative white men when the majority of eligible voters are black; and, most importantly, there is no f$%#ing way any high school in outside the South could get away with having a "white tree" for more than a week. A "white tree"? In Boston? In Brooklyn? No way.

i have no idea if a "white tree" exists in NY because it hasnt gotten national news. that's the only reason you know of a "white tree" in jena. it made national press and people are doing something about it. as a matter of fact that "white tree" doesn't exist there anymore cause it was cut down since. but it wouldn't surprise me that if you go upstate NY that you would fine very similar circumstances. let's face it outside of NYC, NY state is every bit as scary. as an african american i wouldn't dare go anywhere by myself up there if i can help it. and i definately know that bensonhurst considered it's whole neighborhood as the "white tree" cause if you were black and got caught wondering through there you could catch a beat down or worse.

Jonesy @ 136:

The only hate crime in Jena was 6 black kids ganging up on and beating up, kicking in the head, knocking unconscious... a single white kid. The noose incidnet really was a prank; the perpetrators were three immature school kids that arent even old enough or smart enough to understand the symbolism of the act, and clearly didnt intend it to be a threat. This whole thing is way overblown. Jackson and Sharpton have made asses of themselves again.

You are so lost the entire US Navy would be unable to find you in a bathtub.

Thing Fish @ 138:

justabill @ 20:

I had never heard of this at all until Mos Def and Cornel West brought it up on Bill Maher's show.
I wonder how many others first heard of it then?

Back end of June here at C&L http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/06/29/racism-endures/ and then Friends of Justice. If I recall correctly, the latter even were doing live blogging during the initial trial.

P.S. xoites, know you were on this back then. But when a story starts about nooses in a tree, in the south. Worked a number of years with 2 people that came from North LA. Didn't feel the need to find any more background. And had same discussions back then about what the black kids was wrong, while ignoring, or worse, dismissing the environment.

P.P.S. Jena Tree Cut-Down. Ain't that great. Kill a living thing that had no choice in how it was used.

I was only "on it" because i heard it on Democracy Now! and was outraged. Coincidently it was mentioned on NPR the same day. I take no credit for getting this story out, very few people read my blog. i think it was the general sense all human beings have about justice that overcame the Corporate Media's refusal to cover this. Besides, Paris Hilton was flashing or something that week.

Ok, folks.

I loved this discusion but i have to drive six hours to a funeral in less than six hours from now and i need some sleep.

Race is made up.

Racism is not.

Funny how you can create a set of beliefs based on something that does not exist, isn't it?

Ok, not funny, just odd.

Smack down the trolls and have a good night all :)

fiver @ 141:

mister mix @ 135:

fiver @ 131:

Examples of racism in the North do not exonerate the South. Mississippi still flies the Confederate flag; states, counties and parishes still somehow elect conservative white men when the majority of eligible voters are black; and, most importantly, there is no f$%#ing way any high school in outside the South could get away with having a "white tree" for more than a week. A "white tree"? In Boston? In Brooklyn? No way.

i have no idea if a "white tree" exists in NY because it hasnt gotten national news. that's the only reason you know of a "white tree" in jena. it made national press and people are doing something about it. as a matter of fact that "white tree" doesn't exist there anymore cause it was cut down since. but it wouldn't surprise me that if you go upstate NY that you would fine very similar circumstances. let's face it outside of NYC, NY state is every bit as scary. as an african american i wouldn't dare go anywhere by myself up there if i can help it. and i definately know that bensonhurst considered it's whole neighborhood as the "white tree" cause if you were black and got caught wondering through there you could catch a beat down or worse.

I'm not saying that racism doesn't exist north of the Mason-Dixon line (thats a familiar right-wing straw-man). But nowhere is racism glorified to the extent that it is in the South. Political careers are still made using it. Saying you don't know whether a "white tree" exists in NY ridiculous. Or in IL. I'm well aware of racism in the North; but bragging about it, reveling in it? That is definitely a Southern tradition.

Actually, Guiliani came to power after a barely-disguised racist campaign against David Dinkins here in NY. No matter where you go, you will find that particular social ill and it is frequently undisguised because people are not ashamed of it.

xoites defends Constitution @ 139:
I'm just treading lightly seeing you were getting the same responses I've dealt with before on this issue. I think we both have a WTF? (or what I like to view as the "do unto others") moment about this tragedy of willful blindness. Nooses from a tree a "prank"?

It's raining. I haven't heard a good rain in so long. I'm going to sign off for tonight to listen.

G'night everbody!

While this place sounds like it has it share of race issues, and I watch Democracy Now pretty regularly, I'm still not sure on what "justice" is being asked for here by protesters. As far as I can tell:

-there was a noose hung, white students received a suspension
-there were a couple of incidents, one involving a gun that is disputed--witnesses say that the black men tried to rob a white guy, black men say a gun was pulled on them and they were disarming
-seemingly pre-meditated attack 3 months after the noose incident on white student by six black men, beating continues while he lies motionless on the floor. Boy spends 3 hours in emergency.
-I believe at least one of the boys has been charged at least twice before for assault.
-jury was all white, yet only 50 out of 150 or show potential jurors showed up-they were all white. No black people showed up.

It sounds like the sentences could be extreme, but are people generally asking for reduced sentences or claiming they are innocent, or justified. Are there any facts we know of as to why the premediated assault, are they claiming they were provoked physically or verbally?

I hear a lot about race tensions in the town, which appear real (and worthy of national attention), but if they are guilty, they are guilty. I think there have been wrongfully convicted black men who haven't received this much attention. In this case from what I read there is an implication that they are somehow innocent because they were justified due to the noose incident. If they are guilty of assault, they are guilty of assault.