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August 15, 2007

Racism: Still a problem in America

I know I've written about this before, but...

Almost a year ago, in the small northern Louisiana town of Jena, a group of white students hung three nooses from a tree in front of Jena High School. This set into motion a season of racial tension and incidents that culminated in six Black youths facing a lifetime in jail for a schoolyard fight.

The story that has unfolded since then is one of racism and injustice, but also of resistance and solidarity, as people from around the world have joined together with the families of the accused, lending legal and financial support, adding political pressure, and joining demonstrations and marches.

The nooses were hung after a Black student asked permission to sit under a tree that had been reserved by tradition for white students only. In response to the three nooses, nearly every Black student in the school stood under the tree in a spontaneous and powerful act of nonviolent protest. The town's district attorney quickly arrived, flanked by police officers, and told the Black students to stop making such a big deal over the nooses, which school officials termed to be a "harmless prank." The school assembly, like the schoolyard where all of this had begun, was divided by race, with the Black students on one side and the white students on the other. Directing his remarks to the Black students, District Attorney Reed Walters said, "I can make your lives disappear with a stroke of a pen."

The white students who confessed to hanging the nooses never received any meaningful punishment.

It gets uglier...

Posted by Andrew at August 15, 2007 10:03 AM

Comments

Am I alone in finding it eminently weird that "Black" is capitalized every time it's used, though "white" isn't?

Posted by: Ross [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 16, 2007 11:44 AM

Well... you _were_ alone. Then you pointed it out...

Posted by: Andrew Cory [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 16, 2007 01:00 PM