This seems like something folks at Razoo might act on.

[edited: to insert link to Razoo.]

Michele, thanks for flagging this up on <Ned>.

I would add that the case has received more worldwide attention than your post suggests. It has been the subject of coverage and an in-depth report on UK national TV in recent months - but, I agree, that is still not enough.

Peter, I agree that Razoo seems like a good idea but I would suggest that we can all at least do one simple thing from here: we can sign the online petition now !

I have already signed and I would ask everyone else not resident in the USA to note that the petition makes provision for submissions from outside the USA.

On issues of racism and injustice, international voices have always counted. Make it clear that this is not a parochial matter. Please take the time to support the Color of Change petition.

Amazingly - there is a wikipedia article about this, and I saw a an article in the Washington Post. It seems like there is more to this than cited in the first post and that the issue many activist are focusing on is the imbalance between how the black teens were tried for their assaults and how white teens are treated.

The case highlights the fact that racial tension is far from a thing of the past.

It was good to see from reading this that there is a US Attorney on the case so it is not just being ignored by the federal government.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jen a_Six

This report by the veteran British journalist and TV reporter, Tom Mangold, is worth reading together with the more recent follow up in this week's Guardian by Gary Younge in Jena.

NPR (National Public Radio) is following the story.

Do I read this correctly? - 34,200 on Facebook have indicated support for the Jena 6 - Wear BLACK on Sept. 20th! Thanks to Kate Casavecchia Crisp for the alert.

I think you are reading it wrong Haney. It says right now that 34,341 MIGHT attend this event and that 64,238 are confirmed to attend.

Yeah, Michelle, I believe such things still go on. What is the ratio of blacks in prison compared to THEIR ratio in the population at large. That ratio is not an accident, or the result of black folks being so much more criminal than whites.

White on black crime goes largely unpunished EVERYWHERE in the US, not just the Old South.

When ya throw cops on black crime into the mix, the numbers go off the chart. WE still live in one of the most racist countries ever to exist.

Love to you, RicHie

Today's Jena 6 Rally is receiving coverage on national TV News in the UK and, as Sky News 24 are giving particular coverage, I guess that would be reflected by similar coverage in the US.

And Richard, I guess Gary Younge also makes your point in the article that I linked to above. As Gary Younge pointed out:

According to the Sentencing project, a pressure group for penal reform, the 10 states with the highest discrepancy between black and white incarceration include Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York - which all consider themselves liberal - but there are none from the south. Jena's problem is not that it has proved itself more racist than the rest of the country, but that it has manifested its racism with insufficient subtlety.

Yes, Richard, I do agree that we live in a racist country. But I would like to note that our racism as a society is certainly not limited to black and white. Here in California I am often appalled at the treatment of Latinos. Then add in the Viet Namese, the Middle Easterners, and the Asians. And the comments I hear coming out of educated, white middle to upper class people is mind boggling and horrifying. Where I see the least amount of racism is in the lower economic groups. Hmmm....is that an idication that money messes up your thought process?

I was happy to see CNN's coverage today of yesterday's events in Jena.

I really hate to start a thread and not participate so much, but tonight is Yom Kippur through tomrrow and I'm just swamped. looking forward to catching up on Ned across the board, soon!

Best to all,

Michele

Justice in Jena an OP-Ed item by Reed Walters, the district attorney of LaSalle Parish.

Does this mean we too could receive such treatment if we were to come to the USA tomorrow, then am scared to death , because I love freedom so much, It looks like I may never come to America .

Peter, I think Reed Walters' explanation of the limitations of the law in Louisiana is very illuminating and I find it particularly surprising that there are no statutes covering incitement to racial hatred whereas expressions of militant opinion by Muslims can be cited as evidence of incitement to terrorism.

The symbolism and even the tattered reality of the KKK represent signals of racial terrorism that - as we have seen - have echoes that still resonate today.

Maybe the perception of what constitutes terrorism is in the eye of the beholder - or the white law maker - but racist acts are multiple acts of unseen interpersonal and systemic terrorism that are committed everyday to the lasting shame of us all.

What happened in Jena is important because the loaded symbolism of the case should make us all pause to take note and question both ourselves and the societies that we have made.

John said:

[...]I think Reed Walters' explanation of the limitations of the law in Louisiana is very illuminating and I find it particularly surprising that there are no statutes covering incitement to racial hatred whereas expressions of militant opinion by Muslims can be cited as evidence of incitement to terrorism.

The symbolism and even the tattered reality of the KKK represent signals of racial terrorism that - as we have seen - have echoes that still resonate today.

Maybe the perception of what constitutes terrorism is in the eye of the beholder - or the white law maker - but racist acts are multiple acts of unseen interpersonal and systemic terrorism that are committed everyday to the lasting shame of us all.

What happened in Jena is important because the loaded symbolism of the case should make us all pause to take note and question both ourselves and the societies that we have made.

---

John,

In Walters' OP-ED piece I was struck by the expression of "helplessness" - or more accurately not having the legislative tools available to confront the issues of racism and race motivated crime.

Further it struck me as an opportunity, more so during an election year, for those moved to action by the reports from Jena to now engage and draw attention to potential legislators who view the "loaded symbolism" of Jena as unacceptable.

Grace you would have nothing to worry about.

And John, under the US constitution it would be impossible (without amending the constitution) to enforce a law "covering incitement to racial hatred ".

Hate crimes laws are really only about bigger punishments if the crimes motive was hate, but the hate itself can not be made a crime in the US.

Grace - it's true that there is prejudice and hatred here in the US and one might say that the south is perhaps more backward than other places when it comes to black/white integration across all aspects of life and society.

That being said, there are people everywhere who only know hate...a few days ago in conjunction with the Jewish holidays swastikas were spray painted across a whole neighborhood in Brooklyn - cars, sidewalks, synagogues, buildings - all over. And there was also a giant swastika carved out of a cornfield in NJ. That's frightening to me. And there are still secret KKK meetings and even not so secretive KKK marches not too long ago.

I think free speech is one of the most important yet frustrating aspects of a democracy. For someone who hasn't lived their whole life in such a culture, it must be disconcerting to experience the downside of unrestricted expression.

Grace - I do hope you will come to the US and not let the prejudice of a few people keep you from all of the amazing things and people that has also made our country great. And I hope to come to Africa someday, too (despite any scary things that I imagine may be there). I'm so glad we have the Internet to learn from each other. :-)

Whats in a colour?Why do we have to be these prejudiced towards fellow human beings?I know this scaring issue is more evident in west than you will find in Africa.Imagine being segregated to an extent you hate your self?to an extent where your pride is all taken away?Think of MJ.