Jena Six - What seems to be left out.?

Question

It seems to me. Everyone is going.

"Oh my god! Some 'black' people beat up a 'white' kid! See, they *are* horrible and violent!"

However, hardly anyone talking about it on Yahoo Answers talks about that horrid tree and the nooses.

Now. Let's say you wanted to sit under a tree but you couldn't because it was the 'white tree' and only 'white' people can sit under it. (How do they decided whom is 'white' and 'black'?) So you get permission and sit under the tree.

The next day there are nooses hanging from the tree.

Now I don't know about you, but I would be mighty pissed off.

Sure the 'Jena Six' could be charged with bashing the kid up. But not 'attempted second-degree murder' for God's sake. Imagine if the 'colours' were reversed. How would people react then huh?

twinkletoes: Aye. I forgot to put that in.

"Also, the kid that was beaten up was seen at a school function later that day..."

Patrick: I know. What I was saying, as although the 'black' kids beat up the 'white' kid, they should only be charged as such. I don't think they should get off scott-free, they should be punished for bashing someone up. But that happens at schools all the time. And those children don't get 80 years in prison.

What I *am* saying. Is although nothing "illegal" happened. Having a tree that only 'white' kids can sit under is just disgusting. And the nooses, well, it shows that the kids agree with the idea of racial superiority.

PEOPLE: I'm saying they (the 'black' kids) should be punished! Just not quite as harshly as they are now. I'm also saying that I'm against the tree and the nooses, while not agreeing with the 'black' kids methods of retaliating.

Answer 1

mychael bell and the other 5 kids were well known athletes that pretty much went where they wanted. i've questioned that he or any of them had to ask to sit under the tree. as far as whites only, the media ran with it, and you and others are buying it. justin barker was attacked at his school, he didn't hand any noose or involved in any of the outside violent acts.
the six are getting filthy rich with the donations people are sending and flaunting it, which leaves a bad taste. the majority of the people that i've talked to agree about the sentencing seemed harsh, yet, in the back of my mind, i was thinking the d.a. was trying some scare tactics to straighten the boys up. our community has been raked thru the coals from all the negative publicity. i plan to pursue surfing the web and commenting every chance i get to shed some light on our the other side of the story.

Answer 2

everyone knows about the nooses around the tree and the 6 boys beating up the kid, but what is gettin left out is what happened between these events. there was a black kid that was beat up at a party by a white person and the white person was charged with simple battery and was put on probation. then there was the convenience store incident- 3 blacks had a gun pulled on them which was taken away from the white boy, then the blacks were charged with theft of a firearm, second-degree robbery and disturbing the peace. the white boy who had the weapon wasn't charged with anything. i think what most people are standing up for is equal rights. what the black kids did was wrong and should be in trouble for it. but why wasn't the other kids charged for what they did? that is the real question

Answer 3

Let me get this right. If a group is told that they can sit under a tree and they find several nooses hanging in that tree, then they can just find a single individual and almost kill him? That's what many of the blacks went through during their fight for equal rights. It was not right then and it's not right now. The issue everyone should be talking about is if the D.A. is within his discretion to charge these 6 youths as adults. Is it within the legal law to charge them as adults. If it is, then the families must work through this D.A. to come to some type of understanding and compromise. Alienating him will just make it more difficult for the 6 youths. If is not, then the families have the law on their side and there are courts they can get help. I feel the protests are just driving a wedge between understanding and compassion in this issue.

Answer 4

I agree that the noose was completely out of line and that the charge of second degree murder was also out of line.

But the fact remains that: the white kids did nothing illegal. While completely distasteful and disgusting, it was not against the law, and that is something I think people are missing.

The student who beat the kid up did do something illegal (was it attempted murder, no, but it was still illegal).

Also, had the fight occurred right when the noose incident happened, I could even understand (but not excuse) their actions.

But to wait days after the incident to jump the kid completely takes the "noose incident" out of the equation.

Answer 5

that whole situation is wrong. there should not be any allocated place for White's only...be it a tree or "insert your answer here". should the offended beat the crap out of the possible offender? No. should the beater of the offender be charged like they are?? No. Does this old school, backwards, southern type need an education? Yes. It's really so very sad on all accounts.

Answer 6

The white kids would get their asses tossed in jail too! They smashed that kid to hell. And aren't sorry at all. They were without a doubt trying to kill him. You can't possibly be saying that this was acceptable. Wrong is wrong is wrong is wrong and that is all there is to it! Didn't anyone ever teach you that two wrongs don't make a right? If you can commit the crime you should do the time. Let them be the men they were trying to be and stand up and accept the punishment!

Answer 7

The kid that was beaten had nothing to do with the noose incident and one of the attackers has several prior violent convictions and was on probation at the time. 2D

Answer 8

If anyone bothered to go to the Jena newspaper site and read the complete and accurate chronology, you be would flabbergasted at how the story is misappropriated by the other media. That should be the real outrage: how our racial sensitivities are exploited.

Answer 9

The issue is that the penalty is mismatched.

The noose was claimed by the school officials as "a joke". (I think that is a joke.)

I think that people should fight for what is right. But, that doesn't mean beating someone.


However, if someone did that to me, I would have punched him too.

Answer 10

Also, the kid that was beaten up was seen at a school function later that day...