JENA 6: NO VERACITY INTENDED

Racial disputes,violence, teenagers, a town divided all seem to be the parts for a great cinematic feature; yet, all these characteristics are not subplots for a movie. Instead they are real-life sequences from the now, very popular Jena 6 case in Jena, Louisiana. I must admit, I heard about this case in snippets. First, about two-weeks ago, on The Bill Maher Show, Harvard Professor Cornel West and Rapper, Actor, and Activist Mos Def both commented on the incident in Jena. Of course, their rantings were, now I see, but at the time I didn't, really biased. But, "race" I will agree with some of their sentiments race was, and still is an issue in this case. They reported that six African-American teenagers were being charged with attempted murder. While the white children involved were virtually receiving no punishment at all. This was the basic gist. Now, this past week I have heard even more about the case and like many I immediately formed an opinion, without really knowing all the facts. Our news media seem to thrive on sensationalizing every "news" story--forgetting to tell the story accurately. But, not to digress, something seemed off. I felt like I was not getting all the facts; there was something missing from the accounts I had heard on radio and television. I decided to do some investigating of my own, and found an article that seed to shed some light in many dark spots of this story. Visit this address for a full account of the Jena 6 story. http://news.aol.com/story/_a/black-and-white-becomes-gray-in-la-town/n20070922140809990002 After I read this reporter's account, I have come to "see" the events in Jena somewhat differently. Although I do believe the boys [Jena 6] are being treated unfairly, and in part it could really be racially motivated, I cannot in good faith, rally behind leaders such as Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson who will use and exploit this event for their own professional gain. Let's consider keeping this incident in the context of the community in which it happened. For example, according to the report, eye witnesses describe kids of both races playing with the nooses, pretending to hang themselves. Also, African-Americans jurors picked randomly for jury selection did not show up. The white boys responsible for the nooses were suspended for a longer time than what's being reported. All the African-American children involved were not "good" students, one was on probation. Basically, there is a lot of misinformation in circulation--leading people to make hasty judgements about what should be done. This most surely is a time for both Black and White to come together across the lines and forge new relationships--it is a time to educate getting past and getting over our differences.