Jena Six Case Shows Black Teens Get Short End of Stick

The issue is not whether they did the crime - that they beat the other kid pretty badly is not open to debate.

What is open to debate is the level of punishment, which is higher than that of the majority.
The article shows that if you are black and commit the same crime as a white person, you are likely to be more severely punished.

As for rockpucks rant - I'm not even going to dignify it with a response.
Obvbiously hasn't read the article and is not of the belief that people should be treated equally in the eyes of the law.

[edit on 19/9/2007 by budski]

rockpuck, I am usually very impressed at your posts, however this is an all-time low.

The punishment of the kids is justified, IMO - however the article brings up that this is NOT the norm. In the exact opposite situation, there would have been no national outcry whatsoever. That is the issue here. Your response seriously reeked of suppressed racism. Just my own impression.

It's seems to me that just because they are poor, doesn't give them the right to commit the crimes they do. If they would go to work not live off everyone else's income. Then they wouldn't be in the shape their in now. Poor that is. 6 on 1 what a bunch of bad asses.

A bit more info:

The "Jena 6" are six African-American teenagers in the central-Louisiana town of Jena who were charged with attempted murder after a white student was beaten unconscious at Jena High School late last year. The beating followed a string of attacks by white students against black ones that did not result in serious charges, as well as the escalating tensions sparked by an incident in which three white students hung nooses from a tree in the high school courtyard that black students complained had become an exclusive hang-out spot for whites. School officials dismissed the nooses as an "adolescent prank." That, combined with the serious charges against the six black teens, has made Jena the focus of a nationwide civil rights campaign. The local district attorney later reduced the charges to aggravated second-degree battery, and on Friday, a state appeals court vacated the conviction of the one teen who had already been convicted. But a rally is still being planned for tomorrow, with tens of thousands of protesters from around the country expected to converge on Jena.

source

For the record, the kid who got beaten was released from hospital on the same day and attended a social function in the evening.

CNN Video



[edit on 19/9/2007 by budski]

Originally posted by scientist
rockpuck, I am usually very impressed at your posts, however this is an all-time low.

The punishment of the kids is justified, IMO - however the article brings up that this is NOT the norm. In the exact opposite situation, there would have been no national outcry whatsoever. That is the issue here. Your response seriously reeked of suppressed racism. Just my own impression.

It is true that the ORIGINAL charges and original possible Max sentences where outrageous. All of the attempted murder charges for I believe all where dropped, and the charges where instead of blanketed on all 6 only given the strongest to the ring leaders.

Yes, I believe they deserve the sentence given to them. The only problem I have with the case is these two things.

The whole incident started with a white kid hanging a noose over a tree where black kids where sitting. Expel them. It was racial provocation.

The second being that this incident was allowed to sprial out of control.

The kids who provoked the incident where suspended. There was an imidiate escalation in racial fights..

It amounted to, eventually after various fights including times when weapons where used, this 6 on one beating....

It could only go so far.. would you feel better if the white kid who got beat up was thrown in jail to?

And please, notice WHEN this event happened. A while ago.

Why is it in the news now?

Jesse Jackson heard about it, and with the "reverend" Al they where rape the judicial system to fit their own personal gain. Any black man not supporting them and the 6 kids is just not black enough. Think im joking? .. Al Sharpton told the press Obama was being to white, because he was not exploiting the case to his advantage. I often wonder why blacks rally behind such open bigots.

But as someone else said, the case reeks for sure. But I do not believe their sentence was based on the fact that they where black, but the severity of the attack. Society is better without them on the streets until they mature a bit. With parol they will spend maybe a few years behind bars. Reasonable in my mind.. but then again I feel the same towards EVERY convict, regardless of race.

Sorry to disappoint you though.

reply to post by Rockpuck


The article is about the disparity of sentences received depending on the ehnicity of the accused.
There are links which clearly show that if you are a minority group, then you are likely to receive a much harsher sentence than if you are white.
The Jena case has simply been used as an example of this disparity, and in this case I have a few questions;
why were none of the white kids arrested or charged for their part in the violence,
why was no-one charged for threatening the black kids with guns,
why was no-one charged for hanging nooses from a tree - a clear example of inciting racial hatred.

Of course it couldn't possibly be because the town is 88% white could it?

I'd also question the idea of this being a severe attack - the kid was out of hospital the same day and went out the same evening.
Yes it was a bad assault, but not as severe as they would have you believe.

There was fault on both sides, yet only the black kids get charged, and charged as adults in order to increase the maximum sentence which could be imposed.

Something interesting the demonstration is going to be massive something that the littler town was not expecting.

It will be something to keep an eye on to see if the police will instigate violence so they can start arresting people.

Originally posted by marg6043
Something interesting the demonstration is going to be massive something that the littler town was not expecting.

It will be something to keep an eye on to see if the police will instigate violence so they can start arresting people.

i got cnn fixed on it....

there are a LOT of people there.

sharpton is already there comparing this to civil rights marches in the 60's...

something is gonna happen i think cause of the sheer amount of people and cops....telling ya....i don't have a number but there is a lot of people there

reply to post by Boondock78


Yes you are right is more people that they were expecting and buses and personal cars are still arriving.

You know that is something in the air in our nation and people are getting fed up and is not necessarily racist issues is many other issues, people tend to find an opportunity to voice their anger anyway they can.

Hopefully it will not be instigators in the march but you never know in this cases when is so many people around.

But it will be something to keep an eye on.

I think it’s time to stand up to the NAACP and make this backfire. Their saying they will keep this up till the chargers are dropped. First thing that needs to happen is for the town of Jena to SUE the NAACP for everything they tear up. As well as make them clean their mess up immediately.

The chargers do not need to be dropped. For one if this was the other way around and it was 6 white kids that kicked 1 black kids butt that badly they would be marching saying put them in prison. They would be screaming racism. However, when it’s black’s kicking a white person’s butt it’s all ok. Just a school yard fight. It’s not right how the black’s can just march and tear things up and they get their way. It’s time to stand up and punish the criminals whether they are black or white.

No something need’s to be done.

FIXED SPELLING

[edit on 20-9-2007 by Shar]

reply to post by Shar


This isn't about the punishment - it's about the level of punishment in comparison to similar crimes committed by white people.

I agree that they should be punished, but also think there should be a level playing field when sentencing.

why weren't the white kids punished for the nooses, for attacking the black kids and for threatening them with guns and other weapons?

Jeez, does anybody actually read an OP before commenting?
It's all there, and if you read it you'll see exactly what I mean.

Here's some more on the story:
www.alternet.org...

Incidentally, here's
something else which totally refutes your claim about only white people being charged for hate crimes.

Originally posted by Rockpuck
Jesse Jackson heard about it, and with the "reverend" Al they where rape the judicial system to fit their own personal gain. Any black man not supporting them and the 6 kids is just not black enough.

Jackson and Sharpton are merely using this incident to incite their followers to action and forward their agendas. It's the same strategy employed by Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Hannity, and the rest of the neocon talking head consortium.

The only difference here is that Jackson and Sharpton are absolutely right: Blacks are, on average, treated unfairly in our justice system. It continues to be a problem in this nation and it should be addressed.

Ok, the exact thing just happen in WV. 6 white people hurt 1 black person.

Guess what the NAACP is marching and screaming there just the opposite. Put these people in prison. Put them up for life.

Their pissed cause they are not getting life sentences. So don’t tell me it’s fair. They will march and scream no matter what is going on.


FIXING SPELLING

[edit on 20-9-2007 by Shar]

i can't beleive how many people are there and they are still rolling up....

i don't see how this can go down without incident....

jackson just addresed the crowd....

this is about all i got



jesse jackson is talking about MLK, right now.... wtf does that have to do wit what is happening now?[/jackson voice]

oh, now he is praying


he is still talking

"this is not just another chapter of the struggle..in 1955 we rallied together to end violations so we marched. here we are looking back in selma...we marched and god saw us through....
today we fight for criminal justice equality....the gov has been silent except to say there will be a lot of cops out today.
it is corruption in high places.
we needs

reply to post by Shar


ok - it happens all over - here's something that happened in the UK
devilskitchen.me.uk...

3 men convicted of murder that was NOT classified as a hate crime despite the fact that they were shouting anti white obscenity's and boasting they had killed a white man.

This does NOT alter the point of this thread - which is that black people are 6 times more likely to go to prison than a white person FOR THE SAME CRIME.

Don't you get it? or are you just intent on spitting bile against failed black politicians who are obviously going to use this kind of thing for their own agenda.

As far as civil rights movements go, this story shows just how far some parts of the US still have to go before there is any semblance of equality.

Why is everyone overlooking the fact that they almost beat a boy to death?

reply to post by budski


Thankyou for proving my point. They can do what they want.

reply to post by SpeakerofTruth


speaker, how did they nearly beat him to death?
he was out of hospital the same day, and went out that night to a party - doesn't sound like he as at deaths door to me.

But the injuries turned out to be superficial. Barker was examined by doctors and released; he went out to a social function later that evening.

Six black students were arrested and charged with aggravated assault. But District Attorney Reed Walters increased the charges to attempted second-degree murder.

source



[edit on 20/9/2007 by budski]

reply to post by Shar


Can you provide a link to the WV case?

reply to post by budski


This is at least a week old news. So this is changing on a daily basis about what the chargers and punishment is going to be.

It wasn't consider a hate crime at first. Until the NAACP started. Now I believe their going to say hate crime.

link

FIXING SPELLING



[edit on 20-9-2007 by Shar]