The story of the Jena Six continues to grow. We brought you one angle yesterday, but the story certainly bears a little more discussion. Here's a timeline, which may help put some of these events in context. I will say, however, that the report from the AJC disputes many of the events described therein. Slate has taken on the issue as well.
There seems to be little room for debate on the fact that the Jena Six were grossly overcharged; this seems to have been largely corrected, however, as the DA has since reduced those charges. The decision to charge Mychal Bell as an adult, although it was reversed by the Court of Appeals, is squarely within the prosecutor's discretion. Given Mr. Bell's previous criminal record and probation status at the time of his involvement in the fracas that took place in August of 2006, it is not particularly surprising. And, as the Slate piece points out, the Jena Six seem to suffer most from bad timing rather than persecution at the hands of the local community. It reminds me of a hard-learned lesson from my grammar school days: rarely does the teacher catch the kid who throws the first blow; instead, the one who retaliates is more often caught.
There is one other thing I'd like to say about this whole situation, however, and Slate makes a small aside about it towards the end of their article. I resisted the temptation to include this in yesterday's piece, but I will say it here for what it's worth. A common, and often overlooked, side show in incidents like this is the latching-on by men like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. These men search out hardships and racial tension any place they rear their ugly heads, and then descend on the scene to wrangle whatever profit they can for their own private ends and political causes. Sharpton in particular, who has gone so far as to support racial self-segregation at Cornell University, seems to believe that the answer lies not in reasonable dialog but in furthering racial tension by advocating separatism. His efforts to heal the racial divide in this country have sparked riots, led to property damage, and cost him an adverse judgment in a defamation case. This type of profiteering is nearly as damaging to our country's tenuous racial situation as the events that inspire it.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
All Jena, All The Time
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2 comments:
Hey Hebb:
So I checked out the Jena Six timeline. Does the fact that the beatings/retaliatory beatings were so close in time make the prosecutions seem shady? I particularly love this snippet:
"A confrontation broke out and the white student went to his vehicle to get his shotgun. The black students wrestled the shotgun away from him and brought it to the police department and told them of the incident. The black students were arrested for stealing the gun. The white student was not charged."
Why were the black students were arrested for stealing a gun? How is it that someone can escalate a conflict to the level of pulling a shotgun, and the persons on whom the shotgun was pulled were arrested for stealing the gun? This is why people are protesting, dude.
People aren't protesting the arrest of the black student who "stole the gun."
Based on the lack of details that have come forward in regards to that particular event, it would seem that no prosecution has gone forward with it. That is, in many ways, a more chilling incident than the one that has resulted in charges here. And if a young black man was prosecuted in that situation, I would expect protests from all sides. No-one would benefit from the law being enforced in that way.
As for why no-one was charged before the "Jena Six," obviously I cannot say with any kind of certainty. It seems clear to me that this situation was continually escalating, and criminal charges were inevitable at some point.
The incident that resulted in these charges was a group beating in a public school; it is different in character and circumstances than the previous incidents. The fact that it was in a public school rather than at a private residence or some other location makes it an excellent candidate for prosecution. Teachers and school administrators will be available as witnesses, and there's a reasonable chance that the fight was caught on video.
It's a slam-dunk case for a DA, and an easy way for law enforcement (and, by proxy, the community) to put their foot down and show that they will not tolerate this back-and-forth that has been going on for so many months now.
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