http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/1002071jena1.html Students In Blackface "Jena 6" Reenactment OCTOBER 2--A group of white Louisiana college students dressed in blackface and reenacted the "Jena 6" assault while a friend snapped photos and videotaped the staged attack, images that were later posted to one of the participant's Facebook page. The photos, which you'll find on the following pages, were taken late last month on the bank of the Ouachita River, where students from the University of Louisiana at Monroe giddily acted out the racial attack. The photos (and the short video clip at right) were posted to the Facebook page of Kristy Smith, a freshman nursing student. The album of images was entitled "The Jena 6 on the River." In the video, three students with mud smeared across their bodies stomp on a fourth student, while two of the participants are heard to say, "Jena 6." One man can also be heard saying, "******s put the noose on." After the video and photos on Smith's page were discovered by fellow students, she removed the material and made her Facebook page private. Smith, who did not respond to a TSG e-mail sent to her school address, apologized for the images in several recent Facebook postings. "We were just playin n the mud and it got out of hand. I promise i'm not racist. i have just as many black friends as i do white. And i love them to death," she wrote. She added in a later message that her friends "were drinking" and things "got a lil out of hand." When faced with heated online criticism from fellow students, Smith yanked the photos and video from Facebook, but not before one student downloaded the photos and another videotaped the video directly from her computer screen (and then posted the clip on YouTube).
Maybe if he is talking about only Jena he might have nailed it. But I think he is doing way to much generalizing to be taken seriously.
Well, I do agree with this, although I am not versed on the subject...I had the same question as yaoluv...Did they committ a crime, absolutely...I didn't get the whole "free" thing when someone was beaten badly... They should do some time, but understanding the circumstances should it matter, breaking the law is breaking the law...
I disagree. Of all the things to march about, black leaders chose to march to free a kid who beat the snot out of another kid. Misplaced. I understand that there is a lot of racism in Jena, but asking to have a criminal freed for no other reason than he is black is not a solution...
They are trying these kids on attempted 2 degree murder. This is a pretty serious charge for a fight. I mean, bar fights happen all the time, and they are sometimes extremely violent. But I don't see these kinds of charges being filed. It was an assault, nothing more. Now you are giving these kids life in prison if convicted. This is outragous.
I bet you would be whistling another tune if, one day, you happen to be charged with attempted murder after a drunken bar fight. I bet you'd hold hands with Jessie himself, singing we shall overcome. It would be Jena Mr. Meowgi all over again.
Me and five of my buddies have never jumped somebody and put them in the hospital for any reason. Not goin to happen.
It wasn't a fight, drunken or otherwise. A person was attacked from behind, knocked unconscious before he even knew he was under attack, and then beaten while his attackers prevented anyone from coming to his aid. Maybe the initial charge was too harsh, but it was not ridiculous. There is no comparison between this situation and a drunken bar fight.
If he was so bad off, then why did he attend a school function after being released from the hospital. I mean, if I had been disrespected like those blacks at school were, see the rope nooses hanging from the tree, I would have lashed out too. I would have done something to let these people know that this kind of racism is intolerable to me. To me the nooses were the REAL instigator of this whole ordeal and the school board themselves need to be on trial for accessory to attempted murder.
To you the nooses were the instigator even though every official who's investigated the situation has said there is no connection? Even though most kids didn't even know the nooses were put up? Even though this event occurred months later?
You can be shot at and missed. You wont even have to go to the hospital. It doesn't make it any less threatening. And if you "lashed out" too, you should be in jail where you belong.
I said nothing about the extent of his injuries. The fact is that he was attacked from behind, knocked unconscious, and beaten. Being released from the hospital later that day does nothing to dispute those facts. Even if the nooses were determined to have racist intent, and were somehow connected to this incident (which everyone involved has concluded to the contrary) that still doesn't excuse the behavior. If the victim called them all n*ggers while wearing a Klan robe, that still doesn't excuse the behavior. You are not allowed to attack someone, certainly not from behind or while they are unconscious. Whatever your personal feelings, this is a society of laws, and the "Jena 6" broke the law. They all deserve to spend some time in a juvenile correctional facility.
Well said. Stupid people are trumping this up as more than it really is: A punk kid beat the hell out of another kid. Lock him up. Now, the racism in the town is worth fighting against - too bad the focus has been on this little punk. Thus my statement that Ted Rall nailed it in his cartoon.
Can you explain what you're point is...I mean, it sounds like you applaud the 6 for what they did? If so, I have a problem with that, whether black or white...A lot of things went wrong in this series of events, but it doesn't change the fact that they broke the law...Am I missing something?
The "extent" of his injuries do matter, though, no? That's the actual evidence to determine exactly how badly he was attacked.
No. You can kill someone by complete accident, and you can try to kill someone and have absolutely nothing happen to them. It's about intent, not extent of injuries.
