When the Jena Six story began gaining momentum around the blogosphere earlier this year, something about the whole thing just rubbed me the wrong way. While I certainly agreed that the sentence levied against the six young men was unfair (murder? c'mon.), something also said it was a little silly to have thousands marching for an incident so trivial in the grand scheme of things.
My AverageBro Blogs Live! From Jena, LA post was a ground breaker, because it amounted to a career best day of hits (2,500!) and also marked the first time my blog was being picked up by bigger sites. At the time, it also accounted for a record number of comments, and it also is when I coined the now much-copied phrase DriveBy Activism. If there's any single post that "put me on the map", this would be the one.
The next day, I followed up with Jena Six: The Day After, which in retrospect was a mistake. I made a rookie blogger faux pas by taking comments too personally and launched into a defensive "you don't know me" stance that probably undermined my point, as AverageSibling told me repeatedly. I guess I also realized that if I was going to keep lobbing criticism out there, I'd better be willing to take the hit. Lesson learned.
I still stand by everything said that day: Yes, Jena was indeed a travesty of justice, but so are the 8,000 black men killed each year, mostly by other brothers. While this is indeed protested, it's always on a small scale, and only temporary at best. And of course, the media doesn't cover these things.
But if the only way we can come together and rally is when white people commit a crime against blacks, while ignoring our own self-imposed ills, it's no wonder we stay losin'.
Peep the Jena Series:
AverageBro Blogs Live! From Jena, LA
Jena Six: The Day After
Those Jena Six Kids Are Starting To Get On My Last Damn Nerve
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1 AverageComments™:
"But if the only way we can come together and rally is when white people commit a crime against blacks, while ignoring our own self-imposed ills, it's no wonder we stay losin'."
Or in this case a rally when blacks commit a heinous crime againt a white. Call it whatever it is, but how many of those who marched would feel differently if they see their own kid was knocked unconscious and guys proceeded to stomp on and kick their kid's head repeatedly and not stopped until others intervened?
The charges were not murder, but attempted murder. And believe it or not, one can be charged with that in this country, white, black, Asian, or hispanic, if one is stomping on someone at head area when that person is defenseless.
Not saying that is proof Jena is a fair place to live. I don't think it is, but for different reasons from marchers. I think the city is way too liberal in not punishing anybody, white or black (how the hell is someone like Bell walking around free when he committed three violent crimes while on probation for a prior violent crime?), until that is something as bad as the Jena six incident takes place. It looks like overcharge since it wouldn't punish ANYBODY for anything up to that point. The ones treated unfairly up to that point are the victims of the seperate crimes done by all involved, regardless of color.
It is like a parent who won't punish his kid for many infractions, and finally punish the kid for one case, and the kid cries unfair, since the standard for punishment has already been set that one gets light to no punishment for such infractions.
I don't see a racist trend people want to read into here.
I see another disturbing trend in this country: teens treated like adults for crimes they committed. It is not a white thing or black thing or whatever color thing.
I don't know what is more disturbing: kids being treated like criminals or the actions so disturbing that led to them being treated like adults in the first place?
Thuyen
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