Jena 6: Who Can You Believe?
October 3rd, 2007 Posted in SocietyA while back I blogged about the Jena 6 story, a supposed explosion of racism in Jena, La. where nooses were hung, things spiraled out of control and six black students were charged with attempted murder.
Today kottke.org pointed to a Louisiana pastor, Eddie Thompson who is trying to dispel some of the myths in the media. Like, um, the entire case. Here are three corrections Thompson offered that stood out from more than a dozen:
The actions of the three white students who hung the nooses demonstrate prejudice and bigotry. However, they were not just given “two days suspension” as reported by national news agencies. After first being expelled, then upon appeal, being allowed to re-enter the school system, they were sent to an alternative school, off-campus, for an extended period of time. They underwent investigations by Federal and Sate authorities. They were given psychological evaluations. Even when they were eventually allowed back on campus they were not allowed to be a part of the general population for weeks.
The national news media has not mentioned a single time that there was an FBI investigation into the hanging of the nooses and the conduct of Reed Walters that concluded there was no criminal activity or “hate crime” involved. The report is available to the media, along with court records and sworn testimony, none of which has been reported.
The speech given by Reed Walters that included the now infamous statement “I can end your life with the stroke of a pen” was not given to a group of black students. It was given during a speech to the entire student body in an assembly called by the school’s principal to calm a community that was pulling their children out of school because there were two fights one day with racial overtones.
Reading the whole thing makes me scratch my head and wonder who to believe. Can we trust the media to tell us what’s really going on? Can we trust a seemingly random posting on the Internet? Not having the time or energy to really dig into this case and sift the fact from the fiction, I’m left with no option but to shake my head and walk away. Which is a pretty sad state.
One Response to “Jena 6: Who Can You Believe?”
By tpy on Oct 4, 2007
I’ve got a few thoughts on the Jena 6, but mostly they require more research. I will say one thing, though. From what I understand, Louisiana law says that crimes on the books can be upgraded to “hate crimes” but there is no category for hateful things that are not already crimes. So if the prosecutor had found that a crime was committed, he could have prosecuted it as a hate crime. But if he determines no other crime is committed, he can’t just prosecute it as a hate crime. This is different from some other states that can prosecute an action as a hate crime separate from any other crime committed.