The TV is full of videos of thousands of protesters wearing shirts and carrying signs demanding that the Jena 6 not be punished for their actions. That is wrong... I dont care what color they are... that is wrong. A physical attack in response to name calling is wrong... no matter what the name.... it is wrong. A six on one attack is wrong... no matter what color any of them are ... it is wrong. Six football players stomping an unconscious opponent on the ground is wrong.... no matter what started it... no matter what color they are.... it is wrong. Some things are wrong... there are no extenuating circumstances... they are wrong. My parents raised me to know these things. To excuse these things because the Jena 6 are black is wrong. Angel

I dont doubt what you are saying is true, not just about Louisiana, but about a lot of places in this country, both urban and rural. Be that as it may, it is not right for six people of any race,gender or creed to knock one person of any race, gender, or creed on the back of the head and stomp and kick them while they lay helpless on the ground unconscious. It is equally wrong to excuse the six stompers from judgement because of their race, color, or creed, and to do so sets the Civil Rights movement back 50 years. The goal of those marches in the 60's was to ensure equal treatment, under the law, for people of all races; not to exchange preferential treatment for one race for preferential treatment for another race. Angel

I hadn't heard about this story until recently, so I took the opportunity to investigate a little before replying here. From all indications, the attack on the white student which led to the arrest of the so-called Jena6 is a clear escalation of an already troubled situation. Are the charges too high for the crime? Maybe, but I am not familiar enough with Louisiana law to make that judgment. I found this article by Bob Parks of NewMediaAlliance, which was printed in the September 13, 2007 edition of the Post Chronicle.com. Here is the link to the article: Jena Six, And The White And Black "Eye-For-An-Eye" From reading this article and comparing it to some of the other things I've read about the Jena6 situation, I find that the usual suspects are making political hay with it. But, what I do know is that the coverage of this case and racially-charged accusations do illustrate the different standards of reporting we see in this country. Compare the Jena6 (black youths attack white student) with the coverage of the Duke rape case (white students accused of raping black woman). Even though the Duke case got non-stop media attention, marches by the New Black Panthers on the Duke campus, and national breastbeating over the "inherent racism of evil whites", there was a deafening silence once the black stripper was found to be lying. I posted elsewhere the blatant, disgraceful lack of media attention for the Wichita Massacre, which had two black males killing four white people in a most heinous crime. Taking everything into consideration, I would say that this lack of coverage is probably part of the unspoken media code that black-on-white crime is not to be covered unless absolutely necessary or politically expedient. Even if these six youths are being railroaded, they are being railroaded to protect the status quo of media-engendered race relations. Do I feel badly for them? Yes and no. I feel badly for every victim of injustice, regardless of race, but I also do believe that justice needs to be served. (Beating a man unconscious and continuing to beat him is wrong, no matter how racially-justified the black youths felt at the time.) That, of course, also means that I will continue to bring to light what the media chooses to ignore in the name of racial hypocrisy, too. _______________________________________________________ "Treason doth never prosper, what's the reason? For if it doth prosper, none dare call it treason." -Sir John Harrington, 1561-1612