wherein I contribute to the problem I decry...

[sev]

When I first heard about the Jena 6, I was horrified on two fronts:  One, what a disgusting miscariage of justice.  Two, I realize that I'm a bit media-challenged these days, but why hadn't I heard something sooner?

The liberal blogosphere is finally catching up and posting some meta-discussions on the subject.  Sort of.  not, for the most part, about the horrific pile of racism that's been mounting in Louisiana for four months.  No, they're talking about....why the liberal blogosphere is or is not discussing it.  Way to make it all about you, folks. (sheesh.)

And, to try to talk about the actual subject:This is why we need hate crimes legislation -- because otherwise, white kids get excused for "youthful exuberance" while black kids get charged with attempted murder.

Much to my puzzlement and frustration, I can't find any of the really spectacular posts I read when I first realized I needed to get up to speed.  And it's quarter after eleven and the baby will be awake in six hours or so and I really should go to bed, not keep looking.  I should have stopped looking twenty minutes ago when I realized they weren't in my browser history, and how should I expect to find things I read three weeks ago but don't recall the authors of, anyway?

Comments

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

The one thing that I suppose still sticks in me about the entire case is that someone had the spite to argue that sneakers wrapped around feet counted as deadly weapons... but there are folks who think there wasn't any racism involved.

[jfarr.livejournal.com]

``On Saturday, December 2, a young white man pulled out a shotgun in a confrontation with young black men at the Gotta Go convenience store outside Jena before the men wrestled it away from him. The black men who took the shotgun away were later arrested, no charges were filed against the white man.''

This is why I left Louisiana. This kind of shit happens all the time, at least it did 15 years ago. Apparently the situation hasn't gotten any better. I wouldn't even want to be a white male in Louisiana I'm so disgusted.

Blame the media if you want, but it's way, way, way late in coming. Like I said, this kind of blatant, in-your-face discrimination happens *all the time*.

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

I'd heard of that, but couldn't pull a cite for it, so I didn't mention it, but... yeah. I'd still need to know if charges were filed against the men who took the shotgun, though. The police weren't there, I'm sure, so they were investigating a complaint of theft, without knowing the circumstances. If the men who took the gun were willing to surrender it to the police, that should have been the end of the matter.

[jfarr.livejournal.com]

Well I guess this does expose some of my own prejudice, against redneck Southern cops. It could very well be that the group of black men were threatening and picking on the one white guy and he pulled the shotgun to scare them off. But since he wasn't willing to actually shoot one of them, they took the gun from him. Then they decided that they weren't willing to shoot him either. Then the police showed up. That could be how it went down. Who knowns? Who was right or wrong? Who knows? I really should reserve judgement without more facts, I suppose.

But I stand by my statement that prejudice happens all the time and the media hardly ever reports on it. ;>

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

Nod. But even if the white man pulled the gun unprovoked, when he called the police (or when the showed up) all they'd hear is "they took my gun!" without knowing the rest of the story.

What happens next is crucial. I'd heard that the men who took the gun faced charges of theft; if the charges were swiftly dismissed once the full story came out, then things at least worked out in the end, but if not, it's a clear case of injustice.