How should the 'Jena 6' incident be handled? What can we learn from it?

Question

I am bothered by the events before and after the Jena 6 incident. I am ashamed with both sides, white & black. Perhaps you may even say a 3rd side is responsible, the apathetic bystanders that do nothing.

Consider this:
1) Regardless of color, any group of people that 'gang up' on a single person to beat on him, are out to do serious damage. Damage that may be unrepaireable and even cost someone's life. Such violence is a serious weapon and a serious crime and should be handled as such.
2) ANY acts of hatred against another, whether due to race, color, or creed, should be addressed immediately and fairly. If it boils down to an issue of non-existant law, take the steps to put the law in place.
3) Equal rights organizations need to work together on issues like this. This is not just a 'Black' issue. True justice must be addressed equally across the nation. Change needs to occur in Jena.

As for CNN: Yes I have seen much of what they showed and agree there is inequality in Jena that needs to be addressed. Personally I do not like CNN much as of late, as they have also shown biased reporting. In this specific reporting, I believe it is acurate however.
I do not trust American media much lately. Sometimes it sounds more like a gossip column than factual reporting.

I also agree that if you cannot trust the authorities to handle a case fairly, than we have serious problems that need to be addressed.

As for the gun: Can someone clear this up? My understanding of the gun, was that he brought it to school and was kicked out of school for that reason. This was not the same day as the beating, nor was it clear whether it was before or after the beating.

Can anyone else verify if this is true:

Nooses were "placed in the tree for an upcoming ballgame between Jena and a town in Texas and it was to say "Hang em High".

Answer 1

I sure wish everyone knew the WHOLE story!!!!

The media was soooooooo wrong!!!!!!! From the start they should have stayed out and let the town alone and things would have been OK.

The noose deal was not what it seemed to be. They were placed in the tree for an upcoming ballgame between Jena and a town in Texas and it was to say "Hang em Hing" and the stupid media and the people who wanted to stir up trouble took it the way they wanted to.

Edging everything on to a big riot where a child almost got killed.

I just wish you knew the whole story as I know it. and I do know it because I live here!!!!

nfd♥

Answer 2

I've watched little bits and pieces of this story now and then but haven't been following it really close, nor do I care to. You want to know why? As a previous answerer mentioned, we probably don't know the whole story here, nor will we ever. Maybe years from now when this is all over, and passions have cooled down, someone will come out with the true story on what really happened here and why. That's why I don't get too worked up when I see a story like this on the TV news - it always seems as though three fourths of it is pure BS. I don't really trust our mainline media to tell us what's really going on with anything anymore. Everyone has an agenda to push. I'm not biting on it. I'll wait for the book about it to come out in about ten or fifteen years.

Answer 3

I think those who beat up that guy should be punished fairly. Using your fists is not the way to go. Also, those responsible for the hanging of the nooses should be expelled or punished fairly. It was done in poor taste. Now for the school officials who decided (stupidly) to not do anything about the noose display, they should be investigated and possibly replaced by individuals who can change the paradigm of hate and discrimination down there.

What we can learn from it is if we don't all take a stand or do something about it, it will get worse and all the progress that many have fought for will slowly go away. Like you said, it isn't just about one group of people. It is about all of us. The thing that irks me the most is most people will not take action unless one of their own is hurt/affected/killed. Why do we have to wait for tragedy to occur to stop stupid practices or improve situations?

Transgression begets transgression. If we keep letting instances like this slide, how much longer before everything else backslides?

Answer 4

The noose thing was done to provoke. The six guys beating up one was just what they wanted. The "victim" lodged the complaint with the most serious charges he could conger up for the publicity.The six defendants that unwittingly fell into a stereotype behavior and all the honest well meaning justice seeking people that went to protest the injustice will be used as a recruiting tool for the KKK.I agree this is an American cultural problem not just black and white.

Answer 5

I agree. All sides currently represented seem to behave like idiots. The rule of law is being compromised by a prosecutor who makes threats worthy of Jim Crow, the kids involved are avoiding responsibility for whatever they've done, and the media has turned it into a circus.

It is not a black issue; as with all so-called black issues in the US over the last 500 years, it is a symptom of a society in need of serious, immediate change.

Answer 6

The "noose-hangers" were racist assholes. The anger of the Jena 6 is understandable, but assault, especially 6 on 1, is not an honorable, legal or mature response. I don't say solution, because it was not a solution.

The racists should be held accountable for their actions by the landowner, school, and the community, and any legal liability under current law.

The Jena 6 should be held accountable for assault - not attempted murder, nor tried as adults! By all accounts, they are youths incensed by racist provocation, not premeditated killers and thugs.

Answer 7

Racism has been rearing its ugly head and now its right in your face. Those three white boys hanging the noose from the trees simply because a black kid wants to rest under the tree. I cannot imagine that happening in my country. It just wouldnt happen here and we are a very racially diverse country. It feels like the 1940s its really horrible. I cannot imagine being black and having to endure constant racism like they have to tolerate in the south. No thanks. Try to put yourself in those kids shoes saying you arent allowed to sit under a tree its just for the white kids. WTF is that? Then the ropes hanging. These kids arent that far removed from the stories of the KKK and what they had to go through to demand equality. The south has alot to answer to and maybe just maybe some things will finally be addressed.

Answer 8

In the Jena 6 I think that what they did to that boy was wrong so they should get some jail time but not 22 yrs! maybe 2 at most, and as for the boy he's not innocent at all. He pointed a gun at them before they beat him and he wasn't charged with anything, but they were charged with theft of a gun. In self defrense they took the gun and were charged! And for the boy's who hung the nooses. they should be charged with a hate crime!

Answer 9

What I've learned is that if you can't trust the law to do the right thing, who can you trust?
And if it was six white guys that murdered a black guy, they would have either gotten like, 5 years or gotten off on probation! You know I'm telling the truth!

Answer 10

unfortunately, RACISM still alive in this country.

reasons:
1. school administration couldn't handle this case properly.
2. system damaged and need drasstic changes, .