According ot CNN, two men were arrested in Alexandria last night for "inciting to riot" because they tied nooses to the tailgate of their pickup truck and drove through town near where the Jena protestors were staging. (Note: the driver was also DUI so that part appears to be a good bust.)

While not saying this is a good thing to do, I am slightly confused.

After all, I can quite legally use an American flag for a diaper and burn it in public.

I can hang the President in effigy and even set fire to it.

I can dress up like a Nazi and march through Jewish neighborhoods.

I can take out a full page ad in a major newspaper and accuse a respected General of treason.

But were I to display a hangman's noose, whether in jest or as synmbolic speech, I' a criminal.

Why?

According ot CNN, two men were arrested in Alexandria last night for "inciting to riot" because they tied nooses to the tailgate of their pickup truck and drove through town near where the Jena protestors were staging. (Note: the driver was also DUI so that part appears to be a good bust.)

While not saying this is a good thing to do, I am slightly confused.

After all, I can quite legally use an American flag for a diaper and burn it in public.

I can hang the President in effigy and even set fire to it.

I can dress up like a Nazi and march through Jewish neighborhoods.

I can take out a full page ad in a major newspaper and accuse a respected General of treason.

But were I to display a hangman's noose, whether in jest or as synmbolic speech, I' a criminal.

Why?


You can do all the things mentioned above, but if a crowd is present, you will certainly be putting yourself in jeopardy of inciting a riot. A riot needs a crowd, and no matter how it gets presented in court, a noose displayed in front of this extremely large crowd is exactly that: inciting a riot. All the scenarios you listed could qualify for the same charge, given the right crowd and mood conditions. If the guys weren't anywhere near the crowd, and drove through a drive-thru or to the local wal mart, they probably wouldn't be facing the charge at all....except for the DUI.

F*ck them, I think racists are pieces of shit anyway.

Reminds me of the scene in Die Hard with a Vengeance where McClane wore a sandwich board in Harlem with the words "I Hate N*ggers" written on it. :)

They will get what they deserve in jail. Some people need to evolve a bit faster or become extinct,,, which is good with me.

If you were to burn a cross or paint a swastika somewhere you can be charged with a hate crime, while I dont believe that a noose constitutes that, the kids in Jena have never been charged, you are risking an ass whooping

Let's take a minute here- the Jena 6 gang beat some kid almost to death. Jesse and Al are wanting to free them? I can understand being pissed about it.

And the Jena 6 certainly were charged: with attempted murder (later reduced).

Actually, the Court has said all those things are perfectly legal and the police have an obligation to protect those being foolish with their safety in front of people who don't agree with them. I believe the quote was "the cure for bad speech is more speech."

Remember, not talking about burning a cross on someone's private lawn or otehr vandalism (Swastika on Jewish Community Center). That's clearly illegal.

Not defending racists. Just saying that many other things that appear far more offensive to my eyes are unquestionably legal while a noose is not.

Do we have a double standard where a "babbling buffoon" (his description of himself on website) who disrupts a public meeting, and gets tased for his trouble, at UF has lots of people upset with the obstruction of his freedom of speech, while two idiots driving down the street somehow shouldn't have the same protections?

Agreed. If someone wants to be an idiot and put themselves in danger of getting a good @#% whoopin, then so be it.. They shouldn't be put in jail over it though.. There are enough unsolved murders, thefts, burglaries, child abuse, extortion, ect, ect, ect going on that they should stop being so anal about the little shit. SOLVE SOME MURDERS AND STOP WASTING OUR TAX DOLLARS ON THIS TRIVIAL CRAP, is what I think. :cussing:

I hate a plain out racist person myself but let them put their own well being in danger, maybe they'll wipe themselves out from contributing to the gene pool! :moon:

I'd like to see someone brandish a noose around my hometown, they better be ready to fight, these folks would take justice into their own hands.. I'm sure the beating they'd receive would be a much worse wound to their pride (and body) instead of fining them or locking them up for a few days..

Agreed. If someone wants to be an idiot and put themselves in danger of getting a good @#% whoopin, then so be it..


They are putting more than just theirselves at danger (law enforcement, medical assistance, even the majority from in-fighting and trampling)

I think it was stupid of them to do it, but just like it is legal to burn the flag, I don't see what makes this illegal.

I bet the ACLU will defend the guys on the grounds it is their 1st ammndment right.

I am offended by the people who fly the African Flag, Mexican Flag, Puerto Rican Flag, Cuban Flag, Canadian Flag, Etc. in the United States, but it is their right to do so.

In Jena there were 3 white kids that hung a noose under a tree, they got kicked out of school for that, then 6 black kids beat the crap out of a white kid, and they get charged with a hate crime, now Jesse and the other shit-bag racists are bitching about it, they think only white people should be charged with hate crimes.

Those stupid bastards (Jessie and Al) are insiting a riot. They walk up a down the road with 25 thousand people (that apparently have no jobs or they would be there) yelling about white people this and white people that. They get on the news and yell whatever and nothing is done. Now thats racism at its best.

In Jena there were 3 white kids that hung a noose under a tree, they got kicked out of school for that, then 6 black kids beat the crap out of a white kid, and they get charged with a hate crime, now Jesse and the other shit-bag racists are bitching about it, they think only white people should be charged with hate crimes.

I didn't think they got charged with anything other than attempted murder, or aggravated assault. I'm certain had it been the other way - 6 white kids beating a black kid unconscious, screams of hate crime would have been resonating around the world. Remember Duke Lacrosse?

I think hate crimes are BS. A crime is a crime.

I am offended by the people who fly the African Flag, Mexican Flag, Puerto Rican Flag, Cuban Flag, Canadian Flag, Etc. in the United States, but it is their right to do so.Does this mean my avatar offends you?

Does this mean my avatar offends you?

No it does not, but people who fly other countries flags do.

I live in Plant City and there are quite a few migrant workers from Mexico and when I see them flying their home countries flag I find it offensive, especially when there are illegal aliens protesting our immigration laws.

I'm not trying to be a smart ass, this time :D , but what exactly is flying? A full size flag on a pole at someones home or can it be as little as one hanging off a rear view mirror. Just trying to gauge the level of offense that this generates. I myself am not into flying flags at all.

Waving a flag around, flying it on a flag pole, holding up large flags at a bus stop, protest, in a window like a curtain, back window of a vehicle with a graphic of a flag.

I have only been outside the United States one time, I went on a cruise to Mexico, when we pulled into port and I saw a Mexican flag flying, it seemed strange to me, but I knew I was in a foreign country, I was very respectful while I was there and I would never consider flying the United States flag there or protesting the Mexican government, I guess some people have respect for others and some do not.

Here's a good article on Jena. http://www.thebulletin.us/site/news.cfm?newsid=18841790&BRD=2737&PAG=461&dept_id=576361&rfi=6

Bret, I understand what you're saying, it's when it gives you the "in your face" type of feeling. It actually depends a lot on the circumstances and not so much on the size of the flag.

Let's take a minute here- the Jena 6 gang beat some kid almost to death. Jesse and Al are wanting to free them? I can understand being pissed about it.

And the Jena 6 certainly were charged: with attempted murder (later reduced).


thats BS the kid that got beat up was back at school later that day, they hardly beat him to almost death

They charged that blacks that did it with attempted murder , but earlier that white kid and his friends beat a black kid with a bottle and were give probation

http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-now-jenatimeline.s19,0,1448758.story

Fall 2006 -- Racial tensions mount, and there are a series of fights between black and white students at the high school. In late November, arsonists set fire to the high school's main building. Off-campus, a white youth beats up a black student who shows up at an all-white party. A few days later, a young white man pulls a shotgun on three black students at a convenience store.

Dec. 4, 2006 -- White Jena High School student Justin Barker, 17, is beaten during a fight with black students. Barker was temporarily knocked unconscious and suffered cuts and bruises. He was treated and released at a local hospital. Six black students -- 17-year-old Robert Bailey Jr., 17-year-old Theo Shaw, 18-year-old Carwin Jones, 17-year-old Bryant Purvis, 16-year-old Mychal Bell, and a 14-year-old boy -- are arrested in connection with the assault. All but the 14-year-old are charged as adults with attempted second-degree murder. All six are expelled from school.

Charging some high school kids with murder for a fist fight is BS and then giving someone who assaulted someone with a bottle probation because they are white is BS too.

I can't believe anyone would say anything to support those racist POS down there

Now that's BS. Six kids jump on one. They need to be gone from the human race for ever. Six kids all bigger than the one that was beaten is crazy. If you are bigger than me and I feel the need to protect myself and there is a bottle laying there, guess what...your new name will be "bottle head" because it will be busted up side your head. Its ok for minority's to shout racist remarks,fly their flag , have their marches but, if a white group does it we are called racist. I have the NAACP in Gainesville this week. To me they are just a racist group that are allowed to organize. If I created a group like that It would outlawed.

thats BS the kid that got beat up was back at school later that day, they hardly beat him to almost death

They charged that blacks that did it with attempted murder , but earlier that white kid and his friends beat a black kid with a bottle and were give probation

http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-now-jenatimeline.s19,0,1448758.story



Charging some high school kids with murder for a fist fight is BS and then giving someone who assaulted someone with a bottle probation because they are white is BS too.

I can't believe anyone would say anything to support those racist POS down there

When six kids beat 1 kid, I think that is where the charge comes from, the prosecutors may have dropped the ball on some other cases, but that is no reason to allow the gang of six to get away with it.

Did you guys hear about the case in Knoxville where a couple was carjacked, tortured raped, the mans penis cut off, and killed and the woman's breast was cut off before she was murdered?

I doubt you did because all of the major news organizations ignored it.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/newsom.asp

I doubt you did, because they were white the assailants are black, and they have not been charged with a hate crime, where is the outrage?

jesse jackson and al sharpton are nothing but a bunch of shit-bags, I wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire.

thats BS the kid that got beat up was back at school later that day, they hardly beat him to almost death


The difference between beating someone unconscious and beating someone to death, when six teens are doing it to someone on the ground is about this >< far. Ask someone who knows martial arts how much much it would take to kill someone unconscious (or not).

If it was my kid they beat unconscious, they would be keeping them locked up for protective custody. Jena lies in the middle pine'y woods country, a lot of area to get lost in. If those boys want to grow old they best beat it to another part of the world. Maybe like New Orleans where thugs like them are welcomed with open arm, or maybe they will be in greated danger than in Jena.

Now that's BS. Six kids jump on one. They need to be gone from the human race for ever. Six kids all bigger than the one that was beaten is crazy. If you are bigger than me and I feel the need to protect myself and there is a bottle laying there, guess what...your new name will be "bottle head" because it will be busted up side your head. Its ok for minority's to shout racist remarks,fly their flag , have their marches but, if a white group does it we are called racist. I have the NAACP in Gainesville this week. To me they are just a racist group that are allowed to organize. If I created a group like that It would outlawed.

I don't know if you read the links I posted but the white kids ganged up and beat the one black kid with a bottle before the other black kids retaliated

The group of white kids got in no real legal trouble, while the blacks were charged with attempted murder and tried as adults

Like I said I can't believe anyone doesn't see the inequality in criminal justice system down there

I don't know if you read the links I posted but the white kids ganged up and beat the one black kid with a bottle before the other black kids retaliated

Like I said before, just because the prosecutors may have screwed up one or more cases, it does not give 6 guys the right to gang up on 1 other kid.

What do you think about this case?
http://www.sullivan-county.com/wcva/liberal_racism.htm

Like I said before, just because the prosecutors may have screwed up one or more cases, it does not give 6 guys the right to gang up on 1 other kid.


I never said they shouldn't be prosecuted, they assaulted someone but they are minors. They shouldn't be prosecuted any differently then the white kids that did the same thing previously

I never said they shouldn't be prosecuted, they assaulted someone but they are minors. They shouldn't be prosecuted any differently then the white kids that did the same thing previously

There have been 16 year old kids prosecuted as an adult before, you do an adult crime, you should expect to do adult time.

Is there a case in Jena where 6 white kids beat up a black kid and were not prosecuted?

Is there a case anywhere that you are aware of where 6 white kids beat up a black kid and were not prosecuted?

What do you think about this case?
http://www.sullivan-county.com/wcva/liberal_racism.htm

This has been blown way out of proportion. The kids who put up the nose were suspended as they should have been. The six kids who beat the other student should have also been suspended and thrown off the football team. The only reason anyone should be outraged is because the prosecutor filed attempted murder charges against the kids. It should have been handled by the school, the parents and the commnity. The judicial system should never have been involved. Seeing the arguments being raised over this makes me realize that racial issues in this country are still unresolved. People should get over their skin color, it was a high school fight, nothing more nothing less.

There have been 16 year old kids prosecuted as an adult before, you do an adult crime, you should expect to do adult time.

a fist fight between minors is not an adult crime, rape , murder are adult crimes

you never got into a fight when you were little?


Is there a case in Jena where 6 white kids beat up a black kid and were not prosecuted?

yes, not prosecuted in the same manner

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/2007/09/17/2007-09-17_jena_6_teen_seeks_bail_as_race_roils_rur.html

When a black student, Robert Bailey, 17, was beaten by whites at a party, one man charged with breaking a bottle over the victim's head was given probation.

white kids beat someone up and use a weapon = probation

black kids beat someone up without a weapon = attempted murder


What do you think about this case?
http://www.sullivan-county.com/wcva/liberal_racism.htm

Which case? that page talks about like a dozen cases

There is no excuse for any of that BS. The day that Jackson and Sharpton stand up for someone besides a black person "wrongly accused", is the day I will give any ear to what spews from their mouths.

It's easy to look from the outside and see the disparity in prosecution and punishment. But, we are on the outside looking in. And, between the media and the NAACP and whoever the hell else has twisted the story into the cluster f*ck it has become, who knows what the story is. I say we just take out the trash and move on...

a fist fight between minors is not an adult crime, rape , murder are adult crimes

you never got into a fight when you were little?



yes, not prosecuted in the same manner

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/2007/09/17/2007-09-17_jena_6_teen_seeks_bail_as_race_roils_rur.html



white kids beat someone up and use a weapon = probation

black kids beat someone up without a weapon = attempted murder



Which case? that page talks about like a dozen cases

I got in fights when I was younger, but I never ganged up on a kid with 5 of my friends, hands, feet and fists can be considered weapons.

There are quite a few crimes other than rape and murder that are considered adult crimes, apparently there was enough evidence for a jury to convict one of them for attempted murder, it was later thrown out, but I guess we will see how the cases play out once they are tried.

The kids that beat up a black kid and hit him with a bottle should have gotten a more severe punishment, but at least they were charged with a crime.

How about the case where 4 black men and 1 black woman kidnapped raped tortured and murdered the white couple in Tennessee.


Please show me any case where 6 white kids beat up 1 black kid and was not prosecuted.

Can you even find a case where 6 white kids beat up 1 black kid?

No one here really believes that these teenagers should be charged with attempted murder do they? That's what all the hoopla is about. Nothing more, nothing less. Pointing out other examples of racial inequality doesn't justify this absurdity and has no bearing on it.

No one here really believes that these teenagers should be charged with attempted murder do they? That's what all the hoopla is about. Nothing more, nothing less. Pointing out other examples of racial inequality doesn't justify this absurdity and has no bearing on it.

Depends on the facts of the case.

The hoopla is because blacks are being prosecuted and held accountable for their actions.

Where was jesse and and al sharpton after the real facts came out about the Duke Lacrosse team that was charged with rape, when the facts said otherwise?

The hoopla is because blacks are being prosecuted and held accountable for their actions.

no the hoopla is about the inequality and racist judgments by the jena justice system


Where was jesse and and al sharpton after the real facts came out about the Duke Lacrosse team that was charged with rape, when the facts said otherwise?

what does that have to do with the jena case?

no the hoopla is about the inequality and racist judgments by the jena justice system



what does that have to do with the jena case?

jesse and al have no problem race baiting like they did in NC, yet when the facts come out, they have nothing to say about it, al sharpton has done crap like this before, remember tawanna brawley?

The Jena case is about a bunch of racists (al sharpton and jesse jackson) getting publicity, if they truly cared about the jena 6, they would make sure they got adequate representation, instead of further inflaming the situation by busing people in to demonstrate.

jesse and al have no problem race baiting like they did in NC, yet when the facts come out, they have nothing to say about it, al sharpton has done crap like this before, remember tawanna brawley?


I hate to break this to you but jesse and al can do and be whatever but it doesn't change what happened down there


The Jena case is about a bunch of racists (al sharpton and jesse jackson) getting publicity, if they truly cared about the jena 6, they would make sure they got adequate representation, instead of further inflaming the situation by busing people in to demonstrate.

maybe that is what it is about to you, since you seem way more outraged that opportunistic actions of al and jesse, then the racist actions of the courts of jena

Why is that?

I hate to break this to you but jesse and al can do and be whatever but it doesn't change what happened down there



maybe that is what it is about to you, since you seem way more outraged that opportunistic actions of al and jesse, then the racist actions of the courts of jena

Why is that?

What I am outraged by is that when a white person commits a crime against a black person, it is a hate crime, yet when a black person commits a crime against a white person it is not.

The case in Tennessee is a great example, if the people tortured raped and murdered were black and the assailants white, it would have been all over the news, yet it never made the national news.

Then compare that to the case in NC where the black stripper made false accusations, their race (White) was blasted all over the news, jesse and al went there to protest it, yet the girl lied about it, what happened to her?

Hate crime laws are bullshit anyway, murder, rape, torture etc. is illegal, why have hate crime laws, when only 1 group is prosecuted for it?

What Really Happened in Jena

Jared Taylor, Special to AR News, September 21, 2007

Everyone in America has now heard of Jena, Louisiana, and its alleged racial abominations. Its crimes are said to be so great that on Sept. 20, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton had to lead a massive “civil rights” march through the sleepy town of 3,000 to drag it into the modern era. Young blacks from all over the country took part, many comparing the demonstration to events in Selma or Birmingham half a century ago.

It takes some digging to find out what actually happened in Jena, but we are not witnessing a return to Jim Crow. Although blacks have treated LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters like a reincarnation of Bull Connor, the more closely his actions are examined the more reasonable they seem. These events have become a rallying cry for “civil rights” for only one reason: The national media have shamelessly warped them to fit the pattern of unregenerate Southern bigotry. Here is what actually happened.

The Nooses

On August 30, 2006, there was a back-to-school assembly for boys only at Jena High School. An assistant principal covered rules, dress codes, etc., and called for questions. One black asked a question that was clearly a joke: Could blacks sit with whites under a particular shade tree in the school’s courtyard. Everyone in the room laughed. The assistant principal answered that, of course, anyone could sit wherever he liked. There were a number of other questions—some funny, some serious—and the assembly broke up in good spirits.

National commentators have assumed whites had been keeping blacks away from the tree, but no one in Jena says this. There are places where whites often sit and places where blacks often sit, but there are no rigidly enforced boundaries. The question would not have gotten a big laugh if there had been tension about who could sit under the tree.

The next day, Aug. 31, the first students to arrive at school found nooses (some reports say three, some say two) hanging from the tree. Administrators immediately took them down, and the majority of students, who arrived after 7:15 a.m., never saw them. They later learned about the nooses from television and newspaper reports.

The school quickly found the three white students who had hung the nooses but concluded—and this is admittedly surprising—that they had no racial motivation for what the school called a “prank.” It should be underlined that the local police and the FBI also interviewed the boys and found no racial motive. The local US Attorney, Donald Washington, who is black, later looked into the nooses incident, and he, too, and found no grounds for action. The nooses were painted in the Jena High colors—black and gold—which does suggest a non-racial motive. Jena High School does not release details about student disciplinary matters, but word leaked out that the culprits were imitating something from a television program.

The high school principal nevertheless recommended expulsion, but the LaSalle Parish School Board overruled him and the three were suspended. For several weeks they attended a special school for expelled students, and were only later let back into Jena High. Meanwhile, blacks held meetings to complain about the nooses, in which they refused to see anything but racial hatred, and were angry that the white students were not expelled.

The continuing press about the nooses seems to have raised racial tension in a school that had seen little of it. On September 6, there was a nasty argument between a black girl and a white girl, and a white boy went to the emergency room for stitches after he was hit in the head from behind. These were exceptional events for Jena High School, and police were assigned to the school all day September 7. The next day, there was a report that someone had brought a gun to school. Students were kept in classes for three hours while police searched students and school grounds. All the police found were a large number of cell phones, which are forbidden in school by state law.

It is important to note that from Sept. 9 through Nov. 30—nearly three months—there were no racial incidents reported either at the high school or in the city or Jena. That night, however, someone set fire to the main high school building and gutted it. There are still no suspects, and nothing but speculation about motive.

The Fights

The school was closed for four days, during which there were some racial incidents in town. On Dec. 1, there was a private party at the Fair Barn, a big metal building used for social events. The crowd was mostly whites with a few blacks. At about 11:00 p.m. five black Jena High students tried to crash the party, but a woman told them they could not come in. The boys insisted, and a white man—not a student—stepped in front of the woman to prevent them. There was a fight, which continued outside. A number of other whites—not students—got involved, the police were called, and one of the whites was arrested and pleaded guilty to battery. At least two of the black students were later among the “Jena 6.”

The next day, Dec. 2, there was a fight at a convenience store called Gotta Go, between three black students and the same white man. There have been conflicting accounts of what happened, with the blacks charging that the white man was brandishing a gun. Accounts from witnesses led police to charge one of the black students with battery and theft. Jena High student Robert Bailey, 17, was involved in both the Fair Barn and Gotta Go fights, as well as the famous assault that took place a few days later.

December 4 was the first day of school after the fire. There was considerable chaos, with students meeting in makeshift classes. After lunch, black football star Mychal Bell walked up to a white student named Justin Barker and punched him to the ground from behind. Some eight to ten boys—all black—then started kicking him. Witness statements taken later used phrases like “stomped him badly,” “stepped on his face,” “knocked out cold on the ground,” and “slammed his head on the concrete beam.” According to court documents, Mr. Barker was probably unconscious before he hit the ground, where his attackers stomped his “lifeless” body. The Jena Times calls it “one of the most violent attacks in Jena High School’s history.”

When Assistant Principal Gawan Burgess got to the scene, he thought the boy was dead. He was bleeding from ears and nose and showed no sign of life. An ambulance took Mr. Barker to LaSalle General Hospital, where he was in the emergency room for about 2-1/2 hours and racked up a bill of $5,467. A brain scan showed no anomalies, and he was released.

Much has been made later of the fact that that evening he attended the school’s annual class ring ceremony where, as a junior, he was to get a ring. “I waited 11 years to go to it,” he has since explained. “I wasn’t going to let that get in my way.” Mr. Barker had a swollen face and was in considerable pain. He left the ceremony early, as soon as he got his ring. He says he was blind in one eye for three weeks, and was still suffering from headaches six months after the beating.

At the trial of his main attacker, Mychal Bell, he said he had no idea why he was beaten, but this sounds disingenuous. Blacks claimed that earlier he had taunted one of them for having his “ass whipped” at the Fair Barn. A student who testified at the trial said that just before Mr. Bell attacked Mr. Barker she heard a black say, “There’s that white mother *******er that was running his mouth.” It should be underlined that Mr. Barker was not one of the three whites disciplined for the noose affair, nor did he have anything to do with the fights at the Fair Barn or at Gotta Go. He does not appear to be a choir boy, however. Just a few days before the end of the school year, he was expelled from school after a hunting rifle was found in his car on school grounds. Students are strictly forbidden to bring weapons to school.

The Whooping

Blacks were outraged when LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters charged six of the black attackers with attempted murder and decided to try Mr. Bell as an adult. He had good reasons to. Mr. Bell, who was 16 at the time of the attack, had been on probation since he committed battery on Christmas Day, 2005. Since then, he had been found guilty under the juvenile system of three other crimes—two violent attacks and one property crime—before he even attacked Mr. Barker. Bail was set at $90,000, a figure his family could not meet. His father, who is now being portrayed as the caring parent, has been living in Texas for years, and resurfaced only after the boy was charged.

Just before the trial this summer, District Attorney Walters reduced charges to aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy. On June 28, after deliberating for less than three hours, a jury of five women and one man found Mr. Bell guilty. He was to be sentenced on Sept. 20. Much has been made of the fact that all the jurors were white, but none of the blacks called for jury duty that day showed up (plenty of whites dodged jury duty, too). The jury pool was white, so the jury was white.

The guilty verdict made Mr. Bell into a hero. He and the five other defendants were baptized “The Jena 6,” and the trial was soon being touted around the world as a classic case of bigoted white justice.

On August 5, Al Sharpton came to town with his usual message: “You cannot have some boys assault and charged with nothing, some boys hanging nooses and finish the school year and other boys charged with attempted murder and conspiracy. That’s two levels of justice, and two levels of justice is an injustice.”

Jesse Jackson was in town on Sept. 10, with a not-so-veiled threat. He demanded that the sentence for Mr. Bell be thrown out and that the charges for the remaining attackers be reduced to misdemeanors. If not, he said, there would be a “major demonstration” spurred by the “national and international outrage” with as many as 40,000 people likely to descend on poor little Jena. “The DA and the judge can go a long way to relieve this tension,” he said.

Maybe the judge was listening. On Sept. 24, 28th Judicial District Court Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr. vacated Mr. Bell’s adult conviction, and ordered him retried in juvenile court. As an adult, the maximum sentence would have been 22-1/2 years; in juvenile court, Mr. Bell will face no more than 15 years. District Attorney Walters did not give in. He intends to try everyone on felony charges.

On Sept. 20, Jena got its demonstration, with the usual bombast about racism and unequal justice for blacks. Perhaps as many as 10,000 people—almost all back—were bused in from as far away as Dallas, Nashville, St. Louis, Chicago and Philadelphia. Blacks all across the country have been whooping up the “Jena 6” as the great civil rights cause of our era.

The whooping has been based on distortions that the media have done everything to encourage. The story now going around the world is that there were parts of Jena High School where blacks were not allowed. Whites strung up nooses when blacks asked to be let into those places. The whites got off scot-free. There followed a series of fights between blacks and whites—the off-campus fights in which no white students were involved get a lot of attention here—in which no white student even got arrested. Racism reached an ugly paroxysm when yet another “school-yard fight” resulted in attempted murder charges against blacks while whites again got off scot-free. The charge of attempted murder is obviously trumped up because the white “victim” went to a school function that same evening. Here is the storied Southern racism of old, come back from what all liberals will assure us was never the dead. Even British pop star David Bowie has given $10,000 to the NAACP’s “Jena 6 Legal Defense Fund” to help fight injustice.

The media are almost entirely to blame for this. All too ready to assume the worst of whites, all too happy to encourage blacks to scream “racism,” they have, in effect, driven them to ask for freedom for thugs who knocked a boy down and stomped him as he lay unconscious. This is what “civil rights” now means for the NAACP and the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.

Brett thanks for posting the whole story, I had thought about doing it, but figured it would be of no use. some people out there only want ammo for their own prejudices, and that is often against southern whites.

I dunno why anyone listens to either Sharpton or Jackson. They're nothing but race baiting poverty pimps looking for ways to make themselves important.

I dunno why anyone listens to either Sharpton or Jackson. They're nothing but race baiting poverty pimps looking for ways to make themselves important.

People listen to them for the same reason that people swallowed Hitler's syphillis infected venom.You take a group of people who are disenchanted and redirect their energy towards a scapegoat ie. German working class vs. Jewish merchants or Black under priveliged vs. the White establishment.

It's much easier to place blame on a group or organization than it is to motivate people to take charge of their lives and invest in themselves.

Wow...I've read this story several times through alleged reputable sources. I am incensed that the true version isn't in the media. Although, I still believe that attempted murder is absurd.

Brett thanks for posting the whole story, I had thought about doing it, but figured it would be of no use. some people out there only want ammo for their own prejudices, and that is often against southern whites.

I know the poor oppressed whites

so how do feel about these people calling for lynching the jena 6 http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g_B895UEtV38cUvZWav9zg08hh3Q ?

anyways what is different about the accounts , everything that is in the article that brett posted where in many of the accounts I read

it even mentions the white kid getting charged with battery for fighting

A number of other whites—not students—got involved, the police were called, and one of the whites was arrested and pleaded guilty to battery.

while the black kids were charged with attempted murder for doing the same thing

I know the poor oppressed whites



It's true when it comes to media spin or the race baiters involvement.

It's true when it comes to media spin or the race baiters involvement.

everyone want to be the victim in America it seems

everyone want to be the victim in America it seems

Because in America, the perceived "underdog" yields power in the mainstream media.