Tuesday, July 24, 2007
The State of Racial Relations in the Deep South
TruthOut headlines a story about racial relations in the Deep South with the following headline: "Black High School Students in Louisiana Threatened With Lynching."
Spare the lynching, spoil the child.
It all began when a group of white high-schoolers in tiny Jena, La., population 2,867 (down from 2,971 in 2000), thought it would be great idea to fasten three nooses to their "whites only" shady tree to ward off blacks. In school colors, of course.
You see, some African-American kids had the sheer audacity to sit under their tree after asking school officials for permission to do so.
The boys who hung the nooses were suspended from school for a few days and administrators "chalked it up as a harmless prank." As one might imagine, the black community didn't exactly share this perspective and let authorities know about it.
Next thing you know, law officials were threatening black students with dire warnings that they could "end their life with a stroke of the pen."
It's hardly surprising that after such an outrageous response from authorities "[b]lack students were assaulted at white parties." And a law-abiding white sympathizer even went so far as to "dr[a]w a loaded rifle on three black teens at a local convenience store. "
Here's a Web page to Jena, Louisiana with demographics, addresses and links.
Spare the lynching, spoil the child.
It all began when a group of white high-schoolers in tiny Jena, La., population 2,867 (down from 2,971 in 2000), thought it would be great idea to fasten three nooses to their "whites only" shady tree to ward off blacks. In school colors, of course.
You see, some African-American kids had the sheer audacity to sit under their tree after asking school officials for permission to do so.
The boys who hung the nooses were suspended from school for a few days and administrators "chalked it up as a harmless prank." As one might imagine, the black community didn't exactly share this perspective and let authorities know about it.
Next thing you know, law officials were threatening black students with dire warnings that they could "end their life with a stroke of the pen."
It's hardly surprising that after such an outrageous response from authorities "[b]lack students were assaulted at white parties." And a law-abiding white sympathizer even went so far as to "dr[a]w a loaded rifle on three black teens at a local convenience store. "
Someone tried to burn down the school, and on December 4th, a fight broke out that led to six black students being charged with attempted murder. To his word, the D.A. pushed for maximum charges, which carry sentences of eighty years. Four of the six are being tried as adults (ages 17 & 18) and two are juveniles....That's right, folks. You see, Justices Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Thomas and Kennedy were absolutely right and this story is just more proof that discrimination is indeed dead in the land of milk and honey in Dixie.
Here's a Web page to Jena, Louisiana with demographics, addresses and links.
// posted by Howling Latina @ 12:49 PM 
