The Jena 6: Sending The Wrong Message

OK, let's forget the fact that Mychal Bell has four previous adjudications, the equivalent of an adult conviction. (2 criminal damage to property and 2 battery charges.) Let's forget that each time he was slapped on the wrist for these and allowed to continue playing football for Jena High. (Apparently sports stardom trumps racism in small town America.) Let's forget the racial overtones in this case. Let's operate on the facts alone.

Six children assaulted one child. One kid snuck up behind Justin Barker and hit him in the back of the head, so hard that it knocked him unconcious. Then the Jena 6 kicked and stomped him so badly that he spent almost three hours in the local emergency room for injuries to his head and face. That's it. A six-against-one sneak attack. And I'm supposed to feel sorry for these thugs?

I don't think so.

Now let's bring in the racial stuff and have some fun. If the little town of Jena, (for all you dumbass reporters in the media who still can't get it right it's pronounced Jeena, not Jenna) is supposed to be this 85% white mecca of racism, why was Mychal Bell not thrown in jail on any of his previous offenses? Oh, yeah, he's a football star in the making. A running back too. Apparently the next OJ Simpson.

Now let's examine the all white jury of six. Al Sharpton would have you believe that this is inherently racist, however of the hundred or so computerized summons sent out, not one single black person showed up! It has been rumoured that this was an intentional ploy to create a racially biased jury, ensuring that any convictions would be immediately thrown out on appeal, but I don't know how much of that I believe. Of the six jurors, only one is male and he actually attended school with and knew Mychal Bell's father. Were they freinds? Enemies? Or just acquaintances? That relationship alone could be grounds for dismissal.

"But it was racism that triggered the beating," you say. Well, let's see. According to the media, this is a result of white kids hanging nooses from a tree which a black student sat under. A tree which has traditionally been a white student gathering place on the school grounds. Now I'm not trying to downplay the incredible stupidity of the white students who received three day suspensions. They should have been expelled and charged with hate crimes for hanging those nooses. But of the 30-40 witnesses interviewed, none of them linked the beating to the noose incident!

On August 31, 2006, a black male freshman asked the Jena High principal for permission to sit under the "white tree." The principal rightly told the student that he could sit anywhere he wanted. The following morning, three nooses were found hanging in the "white tree." The students responsible were caught and the principal recommended expulsion, but the school board gave them three days of in-school suspension. Three months later, on December 4th, the beating occured. And guess what? Justin Barker had nothing to do with the nooses! Justin's beating came from his own incredible stupidity. Earlier that day Barker was overheard laughing and joking about how one of his attackers, Robert Bailey, Jr, was beaten by a white man the week before. Racism? Yes, but at least get the facts straight!

As for the attempted murder charges which everyone thinks is too strong, what would you call six people beating an already unconcious kid? If they stopped after he fell unconcious then I'd say assault and battery would be fine, but since knocking him unconcious was the first act followed by five or ten minutes of kicking and stomping... well, I say tough shit. If you continue to beat an unconcious person it shows that you have no concern for that persons life. That's attempted murder folks.

The upshot of all this is that there is an incredibly misguided public outcry of support for six thugs who snuck up on one kid and beat him unconcious, almost killing him. Even David Bowie has donated $10,000 for their defense. Right now, as you read this, the media is teaching children everywhere that it's perfectly fine to beat someone if he's white and you're black. It's utterly repugnant to me. Where were the so-called black leaders during the noose incedent? Why didn't someone teach these kids about the law and file suit against the noose hangers? That could have shown todays kids, the Jena 6 especially, that violence is not the correct recourse to racism. With all the mis-informed attention this case has gotten the Jena 6 will probably get off light and they better look at this as a second chance to turn their lives around.

But I'm white, so I guess I'm just another racist regardless of the facts.

The Race Is On!

It was only a matter of time before Bill Jefferson played the race card and apparently, that time is now. Jefferson's lawyers have filed a dozen motions for dismissal of charges but the one that really kills me is the one which claims that his trial was set in Virginia in order to reduce the chance of minorities on the jury. Jefferson wants the trial held in Washington, DC and has filed motions to view any and all documents regarding choice of venue in order to prove that racism was a factor in the choice.

Jefferson is basically saying that minorities are more likely to find him innocent and that white people are all racists and will find him guilty, an incredibly racist viewpoint in and of itself. Does Billy think black people are so stupid that they won't be able to understand the facts? Or is there some sort of unwritten rule that all black folks stick together when one of their own is on trial? Or does he simply distrust all white people? Either way, it's just more proof of how unfit he is to hold public office.

Rutgers vs Duke

Is it just me, or has anyone else out there noticed that this country is pretty fucked up? Is this what our forefathers fought and died for? For those religeous fanatics out there who believe God has a plan, is this it? Is this why our parents and grandparents fought in wars? Perhaps I should elaborate...

Scenario One: Don Imus made a joke in poor taste on his nationally syndicated cable-TV show. Al Sharpton and the Sharptonettes, (Jesse Jackson and other like-minded busybodies,) banded together in a show of solidarity and threatened boycotts of Imus' advertisers. The advertisers pulled out and the show has been cancelled. Over a bad joke. (Well, it was a bad joke two days ago. Now, according to the Big News Media, it's a "racially charged remark." Way to blow something out of proportion on a slow news day folks!)

Scenario Two: Some nobody 'escort' accused members of the Duke lacrosse team of rape. Prosecutor Mike Nifong withheld evidence of their innocence. The nobody 'escort' continued to lie to police, lawyers, judges, the media, and the entire nation. The members of the lacrosse team spent over a year under the scrutiny and derision of most of the nation and their coach was fired without evidence of any wrongdoing. Finally they were vindicated but where are Al and Jesse? Why aren't they calling for the nobody 'escort' to be fired? Is it because she's black? Hey, we all know 'escort' is a fancy word for whore. If Don Imus had used his "nappy-headed ho" comment on the nobody 'escort' would he still have a job?

For the women of the Rutgers womens basketball program, I'm sorry if you were offended by Don's remarks, but to state that you were "scarred for life" is simply insane. What you're going through now is nothing compared to what the Duke players have endured. Don't argue with me. It's true and you know it. All the ho jokes in the world wouldn't add up to a year being viewed as a rapist. And to the Rutgers coach, what red, green and purple people are you talking about? That's a statement used by closet racicsts when they try to convince others that they aren't racist at all. "Oh, I like everyone... black, white, purple and pink." For the record baby, there are really only three colors of people on this planet: white (pale pink to dark tan), black (pale brown to black), and yellow (sort of, well... yellow. Sorry.) Everything else is just variations on a theme. (Yes, everything else. There are albino whites, blacks and asiatics.)

I notice that the prosecutor in the Duke (non-)rape case may actually lose his job, license and freedom for his incredible stupidity, hubris and incompetence. That's cool, he deserves it, he brought it all upon himself and it didn't take a busload of buybodies picketing his office to do it. It's happening because it should. Because it's the correct reaction to his actions. You break laws, you pay consequences.

Imus on the other hand... he's a fucking joke. Whatever audience he has (sorry, had) probably didn't even register his comments during their morning commute. There is so much more worth fighting for in this world than faux hurt feelings. Give the girls a hankie and move on. The Gulf Coast is still a patchwork of trailer-homes and empty lots thanks to the incredible stupidity, vanity and graft of local and federal politicians! Our education system is crumbling to dust but we're building high-tech schools on the other side of the world while the people we build them for shoot at us! We're stuck in an un-winnable war that we started. A war that's had it's conditions for winning changed four fucking times already!

And we have to worry about hurting someone's feelings.

I hear people use the term, "my country," a lot. "Not in my country, you don't!" "This is my country buddy, love it or leave it!" Guess what? It's not "your country"! It's Our Country! Yours, mine and every other person with a birth certificate from the US of A. Here's a fact for you. Cram billions of people on one small rock and and chances are, more than two of them won't get along. People have the right to be offensive. You might not like it and I might not like it, but it's going to happen. Screaming for blood is not going to help anything.

Had you asked Imus to enter into some sort of racial-anger-management program, he might have learned something. That might have actually made a few closet racists out there think, "Wow. If Imus can adapt, so can I." Instead, you lit torches and chased the monster from the castle. Now all those closet racists are saying to themselves, "See, I was right! I knew they were fucking troublemakers!"

And now you can all feel proud knowing that because of your thin-skinned stupidity, NJ Governor John Corzine lies in critical condition due to a traffic accident that occurred while he was en route to mediate the pity-party between Imus and the Rutgers players. I just don't know what to do with you knee-jerk reactionaries anymore. I keep pitching 'em and y'all keep missing 'em. You want to keep calling it your country? Hell, go ahead. At least it lets me off the hook when I travel abroad.