Now I'm going to tell you some things and you are not going to like them. Some people didn't like what I had to say about Mary Winkler and why she got away with murder, but that's too damned bad; if you don't live in one of these small, Southern towns, you really have no idea what the hell you're talking about, period. I could not agree more that the way these crackers do things is wrong and ridiculous, but you cannot argue the fact that they do do things in this fashion. And if you do argue that fact, then you are just in Denial.
I went to an historically all-black school. It was integrated a long time after integration was supposed to be nationwide, largely because a lot of white people didn't want their kids to be integrated, so they erected a private school a few miles away and sent their kids there, instead. The black people did not like that their school was integrated - at all. This is important because the school is less than a mile from a housing project which is at least 98% black.
I was one of 12 white people who "graduated" from our 8th-grade class. I, along with the 11 others, got my ass beaten daily. One kid was held down by a group of black kids and had motor oil poured down his throat after a basketball game. That one got the cops involved. Aside from that, I remember roving gangs of black kids (always the same group, I'll add) who would encircle us and beat the living shit out of us at "recess," pushing us from one side of the ring to the other. All the teachers on the second-floor could clearly see this going on. Only the math teacher, Mr. Smith, came out there from time to time and broke it up. Mr. Smith was a great guy who didn't brook no bullshit from anybody - black, white, young, old, male, female. But, in all fairness, most of the rest of those teachers were either very old (in their 60s+) or very white.
White people had specific tables - actually one end of a table - in the cafeteria where we were allowed to sit and eat lunch. Even if you got along with most of the black kids, you knew better than to try and sit with them and the ones who liked you wouldn't have wanted you to, even if you had the nerve to try! Their friends would have seen them as "traitors to their race" and "Uncle Toms." Once, I specifically tried to sit at one of the tables just to make the point. My tray was thrown across the lunchroom and I got my ass beaten-down. The (white female) principal told me I "got what I deserved." The kids who beat me got one afternoon of detention (30 minutes).
You might not like it, but I paid for it in blood; that's just the way things were.
Now, what happened in the case of the Jena 6 is that there was an area of the grounds that was traditionally set-aside for white kids. It isn't right, but not much in this world is. This black kid knew that and intentionally sat there as an act of provocation. This was an instigating act toward the white kids of that school who normally sat there.
Of course, I'm the only one with the balls to say this.
Just hang on a second, if you can see past the red in your eyes, and listen closely: it isn't right. It isn't right that there was a "white kids" area on the playground, even if it was only "traditionally" so, but if you go to any school down around here and look in the cafeteria, the kids segregate themselves willingly! We can chew the sociological fat over why that is, but it is - there is no denying that. I'm sure it's a lot better than it was when I went to school, but it is still there; it's been many years since I set foot in any school, so I'm hoping things aren't as bad as they were when I was growing up, but this whole Jena 6 debacle tells me that it is still there, however slight it may or may not be, it is still there.
You might think it ridiculous that I say this was an act of provocation, but it isn't ridiculous in the slightest - it's the Cold, Hard Truth; even if this guy really just wanted to sit there, he knew it was where the white kids sat and he took it upon himself to sit there in an act, not of defiance, but pure instigation. This is a Sharks vs. the Jets mentality where race just happens to be the main factor; had this whole thing happened between two cliques of white kids or black kids or Mexican kids, it would have never gotten coverage - the "cool" kids vs. the "rejects" or the "3rd Street Crips" against the "Bowery Ave. Bloods." This was a gangland-inspired engagement, where the black kid specifically chose to sit where he did in order to "stick it to" the white kids. That the black kid had a "right" to sit anywhere he wanted to is not the issue; that the black kid knew sitting under that tree would anger the white kids is why he wanted to sit there in the first place - it's the only reason he did it!
Now, the white kids were very stupid with the whole noose thing, but for eff's sake - they're ignorant, Southern kids! That's absolutely no excuse for what they did - it was ignorant and reprehensible - but tying little nooses on a tree is a lot different from waylaying a kid, knocking him unconscious, and then kicking him senseless while he's down. It's the difference between striking a match and setting off a nuclear bomb. There is no excuse for what either group did, but making baseless threats - even if racially-motivated - and sucker-punching a guy, knocking him unconscious, then kicking him mercilessly with 5 of your friends are worlds away from one another.
If you do not understand that, you are an idiot. If you don't "believe" in that, you are a fool.
The simple fact of the matter is that most of the white kids involved are probably more infatuated with American black culture than they are with any other; I sincerely doubt they are truly racist - they just did what they did in order to "stick it back" to the black kids. Down here, it is not unusual to see a pick-up truck with a rebel flag superimposed across the back window, "bumping" gansta-rap and driven by a white kid with a grill and a baseball cap cocked to the side. In fact, that's pretty much the standard. It was a simple progression from two childish, passive-aggressive acts of adolescent rivalry to wanton, outright, and inexcusable violence of a murderous nature.
Where, exactly, were the teachers and administration while all of this was unfolding? They used to call in state troopers on campus when racial tensions got high where I went to highschool (and they did - about once every 6-weeks or so) - in fact, we had a full-time cop that worked there, busting everyone for smoking in the bathrooms. While these kids certainly segregated themselves, why would a school administrator tell the black guy he could go sit under that tree when the school administrator had to have known that it was considered "the white folk tree"? Or maybe that's why he told him he could.
That whole story is just that: a story. What a bunch of bullshit: this poor, innocent, little black kid just happened to wonder if he could sit under a specific tree where the white boys congregated, so he went and asked the principal before he did - he didn't mean to cause no harm, sir!
Bullshit.
Thank God I'm not as gullible as the majority of America - well, that's not true, my life would be a whole lot easier if I were - but I digress...
So, just to recap:
I went to an historically all-black school. It was integrated a long time after integration was supposed to be nationwide, largely because a lot of white people didn't want their kids to be integrated, so they erected a private school a few miles away and sent their kids there, instead. The black people did not like that their school was integrated - at all. This is important because the school is less than a mile from a housing project which is at least 98% black.
I was one of 12 white people who "graduated" from our 8th-grade class. I, along with the 11 others, got my ass beaten daily. One kid was held down by a group of black kids and had motor oil poured down his throat after a basketball game. That one got the cops involved. Aside from that, I remember roving gangs of black kids (always the same group, I'll add) who would encircle us and beat the living shit out of us at "recess," pushing us from one side of the ring to the other. All the teachers on the second-floor could clearly see this going on. Only the math teacher, Mr. Smith, came out there from time to time and broke it up. Mr. Smith was a great guy who didn't brook no bullshit from anybody - black, white, young, old, male, female. But, in all fairness, most of the rest of those teachers were either very old (in their 60s+) or very white.
White people had specific tables - actually one end of a table - in the cafeteria where we were allowed to sit and eat lunch. Even if you got along with most of the black kids, you knew better than to try and sit with them and the ones who liked you wouldn't have wanted you to, even if you had the nerve to try! Their friends would have seen them as "traitors to their race" and "Uncle Toms." Once, I specifically tried to sit at one of the tables just to make the point. My tray was thrown across the lunchroom and I got my ass beaten-down. The (white female) principal told me I "got what I deserved." The kids who beat me got one afternoon of detention (30 minutes).
You might not like it, but I paid for it in blood; that's just the way things were.
Now, what happened in the case of the Jena 6 is that there was an area of the grounds that was traditionally set-aside for white kids. It isn't right, but not much in this world is. This black kid knew that and intentionally sat there as an act of provocation. This was an instigating act toward the white kids of that school who normally sat there.
Of course, I'm the only one with the balls to say this.
Just hang on a second, if you can see past the red in your eyes, and listen closely: it isn't right. It isn't right that there was a "white kids" area on the playground, even if it was only "traditionally" so, but if you go to any school down around here and look in the cafeteria, the kids segregate themselves willingly! We can chew the sociological fat over why that is, but it is - there is no denying that. I'm sure it's a lot better than it was when I went to school, but it is still there; it's been many years since I set foot in any school, so I'm hoping things aren't as bad as they were when I was growing up, but this whole Jena 6 debacle tells me that it is still there, however slight it may or may not be, it is still there.
You might think it ridiculous that I say this was an act of provocation, but it isn't ridiculous in the slightest - it's the Cold, Hard Truth; even if this guy really just wanted to sit there, he knew it was where the white kids sat and he took it upon himself to sit there in an act, not of defiance, but pure instigation. This is a Sharks vs. the Jets mentality where race just happens to be the main factor; had this whole thing happened between two cliques of white kids or black kids or Mexican kids, it would have never gotten coverage - the "cool" kids vs. the "rejects" or the "3rd Street Crips" against the "Bowery Ave. Bloods." This was a gangland-inspired engagement, where the black kid specifically chose to sit where he did in order to "stick it to" the white kids. That the black kid had a "right" to sit anywhere he wanted to is not the issue; that the black kid knew sitting under that tree would anger the white kids is why he wanted to sit there in the first place - it's the only reason he did it!
Now, the white kids were very stupid with the whole noose thing, but for eff's sake - they're ignorant, Southern kids! That's absolutely no excuse for what they did - it was ignorant and reprehensible - but tying little nooses on a tree is a lot different from waylaying a kid, knocking him unconscious, and then kicking him senseless while he's down. It's the difference between striking a match and setting off a nuclear bomb. There is no excuse for what either group did, but making baseless threats - even if racially-motivated - and sucker-punching a guy, knocking him unconscious, then kicking him mercilessly with 5 of your friends are worlds away from one another.
If you do not understand that, you are an idiot. If you don't "believe" in that, you are a fool.
The simple fact of the matter is that most of the white kids involved are probably more infatuated with American black culture than they are with any other; I sincerely doubt they are truly racist - they just did what they did in order to "stick it back" to the black kids. Down here, it is not unusual to see a pick-up truck with a rebel flag superimposed across the back window, "bumping" gansta-rap and driven by a white kid with a grill and a baseball cap cocked to the side. In fact, that's pretty much the standard. It was a simple progression from two childish, passive-aggressive acts of adolescent rivalry to wanton, outright, and inexcusable violence of a murderous nature.
Where, exactly, were the teachers and administration while all of this was unfolding? They used to call in state troopers on campus when racial tensions got high where I went to highschool (and they did - about once every 6-weeks or so) - in fact, we had a full-time cop that worked there, busting everyone for smoking in the bathrooms. While these kids certainly segregated themselves, why would a school administrator tell the black guy he could go sit under that tree when the school administrator had to have known that it was considered "the white folk tree"? Or maybe that's why he told him he could.
That whole story is just that: a story. What a bunch of bullshit: this poor, innocent, little black kid just happened to wonder if he could sit under a specific tree where the white boys congregated, so he went and asked the principal before he did - he didn't mean to cause no harm, sir!
Bullshit.
Thank God I'm not as gullible as the majority of America - well, that's not true, my life would be a whole lot easier if I were - but I digress...
So, just to recap:
- That's how The South is - on both sides, by both races - not just how white people treat black people
- The black kid purposely sat under that tree specifically to provoke the white kids who normally sat there as a sort of "turf" rivalry. He didn't need to ask anyone if he could - he did it to instigate trouble
- The white kids had no reason to tie little nooses and hang them from that tree - that was stupid and intentionally done in order to provoke further racial strife - and they were punished for what they did
- No matter what the white kids did, 6 black kids had no right to waylay one (or all) of them, knock him unconscious, and continually kick him
- This will be the fifth (5th) time the black kid who was charged as an adult has faced assault charges as a juvenile. 5 - five - times. That's as many fingers as most people have on one hand: 5
7 comments:
I don't live in the south, but I think you've got it straight.
They are comparing apples and oranges by comparing the noose hanging and the 6 on 1 fight. Furthermore, the one kid who was still in jail with the 90K bail, he did have priors- and that explains it all.
Well said.
Well said. I agree 100% and no, I'm not a Southerner, but I can see with the eyes of an intelligent person- and what you've said sums up this whole media frenzy quite well.
Thanks for the encouragement. I grew up in the midst of all this, as I mention in the post, and the one-sided media coverage this story is getting just made me shake my head at first. But by this point, it's completely ridiculous!
That 17-year old boy has five prior assault charges and needs to be in jail! That Goddamned Al Sharpton should be in there with him!
If you flip this whole situation around and six white guys jumped one black kid for wearing a T-shirt that said, "It's a black thing, you wouldn't understand," they would have been charged with a list of offenses, including Hate Crime - why weren't these kids charged with a Hate Crime?
Because they're black!
Remember, black people can't be racist!
I came across this article which specifically describes the noose as "code for KKK" ???
Now, I haven't the first idea of what passes for "code" in any extreme racist group or organization, but I don't think a noose is "code" for the KKK. Obviously it is meant to evoke racist reactions and invoke the horrible past, when many black Americans were lynched, but the only "code" for KKK that I know of is the burning cross - and that is because it is written in history books and shown in TV shows and movies.
I believe this post clearly illustrates the kind of shoddy reporting that passed for "journalism" in this case. This was a media creation; about the only thing I read in the article which was correct was that it was a "cause celebre." And that's precisely what it was: a perfect opportunity for media maggots and whores to to get together and roll around in the shit they create - a perfect opportunity to stir-up some shit.
The judge has been removed from the case for making questionable remarks. He referred to the 6 accused (black) teenagers as "troublemakers" and "a violent bunch."
More here from NPR.
Mychal Bell, the ringleader and "icon" of the Jena 6, has been arrested again for a litany of charges including simple battery and resisting arrest.
The original charge was for shoplifting after Bell, now 18, and an accomplice were caught stealing nearly $400 worth of merchandise from a Dillard's store. Bell ran from security guards pursuing him and hid beneath a car in the parking lot. He emerged, swinging wildly, and hit the guard.
Bell was released on $1300 bail and faces up to six months for each offense. His lawyer says "preconceived notions" may have played a part in Bell's arrest, adding that Dillard's has a history of "racial profiling." Dillard's has been accused of racial profiling in lawsuits across the South, including Mississippi, Texas, and Georgia.
While Bell's lawyer also noted he believed Bell would have broken the law before now, "if he was going to," he fails to note that his client was underage at the time of his arrest in the Jena 6 beating and received sentences for three other, unnamed crimes at the same time. As he was considered a minor then, Bell has no criminal record.
Bell shot himself in the chest with a .22-caliber gun and was taken to a hospital. Officials will not release his condition, but say his wounds are not life-threatening.
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