Eugene Robinson, “Drive Time for the ‘Jena 6‘”
Amina Luqman, “Jim Crow Comes for Our Kids”
Los Angeles Times, “Soul Searching in Jena”
Ed Pilkington, “Enough is enough: racial protest brings thousands to Southern town”
Marian Wright Edelman, “Free the Jena 6”
Jeff Douglas, “Rally Brings Change”
Trey Ellis, “The Jena 6 Case Is History Written in Lightning”
Matt Martinez, “Raise Your Voice”
Update:
Gary Younge, “Jena: the next step“
11 Comments 
When black men are 6 times more likely to end up in prison than white’s, there’s something drastically wrong. Either with our justice system, our economic system, or both. I think, both!
Once you’re a felon, you can’t vote. So, this is further disenfranchisement of black voter’s. Is the system rigged to eliminate them from voting? You decide. I already have.
But, fear of darker people is what the Republican party is all about. Without its “Southern Strategy,” the party would be dead. How else do you get poor white people to vote for you?
When people realize that the whole game is about power and money, not about color, then this country might finally realize its worth. Until then, we’re worthless…
Is the system rigged to eliminate them from voting?
c u n d gulag …A while back blogger Iddybud( Jude Nagurnery Camwell) did an expose on the dynamic of locating prisons in rural Republican strongholds so that the prison population is counted for electoral representation, but because the prison population is all felons they have no power to vote. It’s a little unseen political tool that has been predominately built at the expense of blacks to increase Republican power
Is the system rigged to eliminate them from voting?
It’s been known to happen; Florida 2000, Ohio 2004 come to mind.
It is times like these that make one long for the day when the DOJ actually felt obligated to live up to the word “Justice.” in its name.
It looks like the punnishment doesn’t fit the crime in this case; however, the jenna six should certainly be punnished. The fact is, six people beat one person, and continued to beat that person after he was unconsious. If that doesn’t disturb you, you have problems. Attempted murder could be charged because the victim could not defend himself, was unresposive, and SIX people continued their assault. That’s not just a school yard fight. what should be taken into account is the past records the six carried with them before the attack. Those with no criminal record should do a little time with probation afterwords. These kids are young, and should be given an opportunity to lead productive lives. Those with records should do more time with more probation after. At some point in their lives, those kids who are always in trouble need to be held accountable. Leading them to believe they are in this trouble because they are black and minimizing their crime is completely reckless. On the other side of the coin, we have a school board who did just that with the students who hung nooses in the “white tree”. The principal in that case recomended expulsion. I agree. Send a hard message early. No kid should be afraid to sit anywhere in their own school. The nooses were a clear message, “If you’re a black student, and you sit here, some white kids are coming for you”. Further, this incident sparked a race war in the school between black and white students. How about holding them accountable for that?
At this time, I would like to defend the criminal justice system. In its entirety, it is fair. Black people are not disproportionately put in jail because they are black. The same goes for any other race. Are their racist cops, judges, D.A.s, and so forth? Yes. The same could be said for any profession. Furthermore, most people; white or black, will experience racism directed towards them at some point in their lives. The reasons black people are disproportunately jailed are: 1.poverty, and 2.education. Let’s not forget that there are as many white people in prison as there are all other races in prison combined, though the mass cosensus would have us believe otherwise. The majority of all people who are jailed are poor, and uneducated. the same standard applies for whites. Of course people of every kind of social background are found in prison, but the majority are of the catagory I have just described. People committ crimes to fulfill a want or desire. People sell drugs to earn money so they can have nice things and feel important. You can’t have nice things when you’re working for minimum wage at a burger shop. Furthermore, young people face a lot of peer pressure. This case seems like a horrible instance of that. All kids want the nice clothes, the nice car, the pretty girlfriends. Some kids have parents with money who can afford to buy them some of those things. Others are born into poverty, and don’t have those opportunities. Some are born into poverty with parents who don’t work, or rarely do. Their parents have little to no education and put little value into it. These parents raise their children, giving them few skills to help them survive as citizens in the working world. So what do you do when you’re 12 years old, you’ve never seen your parents retain employment for more than a year at any one place, and you want the new shoes that all your friends are wearing. You steal them. How about the kid who grew up watching his father deal drugs out of his house, or the kid whose mother was a prostitute, or the kid who visited his parents in jail his whole life? What do you think that kid is going to do when he grows up? Poverty, poor education, hopelessness, peer pressure as well as societal pressure to fit in. These all may lead to a criminal life-style. Unfortunately, some racial groups have a higher percentage of people living at or below the poverty level.
In the end, what should come out of this (but won’t) is a burst of social change. All people valuing education, hard work, and personal pride. People changing what is important in their lives. Who cares what kind of rims so-and-so had on that car in his video, I can’t afford that, working in this garage, changing oil. What i’ll do is be the best mechanic I can be for now, work hard, get an education, and maybe open up a shop of my own. Maybe i’ll never be a mechanic again, and i’ll head for greener pastures; but ill do it on my own. What is going to happen is people wil continue to live irresposibly for now. They will end up with negative contact with the criminal justice system, blaming everyone but themselves for their problems, then having children and teaching them the same things. If you hang noses in a tree to intimidate people, you should be punnished. If you and five other buddies beat somebody to the point he is unconsious, and beyond, you should be punnished. Black and white should have nothing to do with it.
Black people are not disproportionately put in jail because they are black.
Maybe in rural Wyoming, but here in Florida that doesn’t seem to be the case. For whatever reason, the odds for equal justice are stacked against you if you’re black here in the sunshine state. And that’s just the way it is. Florida is a beautiful state but that doesn’t negate the prejudices and injustices incorporated into it’s legal system.
representin’ in my ‘FREE THE JENA 6′ tee!
http://moeschwag.com/fje6t.html
I guess Swedish society is racist, too (blacks commit violent crimes disproportionate to their numbers here as well). Here’s a thought experiment: reverse the races. Then who are the bad guys/hate criminal?
Swami,
Thanks. Interesting, but not surpirising…
I guess Swedish society is racist, too (blacks commit violent crimes disproportionate to their numbers here as well).
I understand that Swedish society is racist, which accounts for why a discriminated-against minority might act out. Nurture, not nature, son. Treat people like shit, and there are some who won’t handle it well. This is HUMAN nature.
Here’s a thought experiment: reverse the races.
Here’s a thought experiment: stop being a racist. And don’t bother posting here again. You disgust me.
Sep 21, 2007 
