I would have loved to address some of the other media myths that have been spread by people like Yang but because I am limited to only 500 words in my column, I'll deal with the rest now.
First of all it should be noted that Yang has no sources in her guest column. With that said let us tear her points apart one by one. I'm going to reference an article written by the associate editor of the Jena Times entitled "Media Myths about the Jena 6." He is the only reporter who has been covering the incidents in Jena since the begining and his wife is a teacher at the highschool. He has more insight than I or Mr. Yang into the matter. A link to the article can be found here.
"A day after black students asked to sit under a tree known to be "whites only," three nooses hung from that same tree. I will let the reader decide whether he can believe this to be a harmless prank gone horribly wrong. Those students who hung the nooses were only given an in-school suspension."
"Myth 1: The Whites-Only Tree. There has never been a "whites-only" tree at Jena High School. Students of all races sat underneath this tree. When a student asked during an assembly at the start of school last year if anyone could sit under the tree, it evoked laughter from everyone present – blacks and whites. As reported by students in the assembly, the question was asked to make a joke and to drag out the assembly and avoid class."
"Myth 2: Nooses a Signal to Black Students. An investigation by school officials, police, and an FBI agent revealed the true motivation behind the placing of two nooses in the tree the day after the assembly. According to the expulsion committee, the crudely constructed nooses were not aimed at black students. Instead, they were understood to be a prank by three white students aimed at their fellow white friends, members of the school rodeo team. (The students apparently got the idea from watching episodes of "Lonesome Dove.") The committee further concluded that the three young teens had no knowledge that nooses symbolize the terrible legacy of the lynchings of countless blacks in American history. When informed of this history by school officials, they became visibly remorseful because they had many black friends. Another myth concerns their punishment, which was not a three-day suspension, but rather nine days at an alternative facility followed by two weeks of in-school suspension, Saturday detentions, attendance at Discipline Court, and evaluation by licensed mental-health professionals. The students who hung the nooses have not publicly come forward to give their version of events."
Note the independent investigations from the school, the police, the FBI, and the distrcit attorney.
Also note that it was way more than an in school suspension and that there were two nooses (Yang cannot even grasp the basic facts).
"Two months later, a black student by the name of Robert Bailey walked into a mostly white dance hall and was attacked by six to seven white men, at least one of whom had a beer bottle. Only one of those white students would be charged with battery and given probation."
"Myth 5: The Fair Barn Party Incident. On Dec. 1, 2006, a private party – not an all-white party as reported – was held at the local community center called the Fair Barn. Robert Bailey Jr., soon to be one of the Jena 6, came to the party with others seeking admittance.
When they were denied entrance by the renter of the facility, a white male named Justin Sloan (not a Jena High student) at the party attacked Bailey and hit him in the face with his fist. This is reported in witness statements to police, including the victim, Robert Bailey, Jr.
Months later, Bailey contended he was hit in the head with a beer bottle and required stitches. No medical records show this ever occurred. Mr. Sloan was prosecuted for simple battery, which according to Louisiana law, is the proper charge for hitting someone with a fist."
The attacker was also treated properly, given the punishment for hitting someone with a fist.
"Two days later, Bailey is confronted by one of the white students at a gas station. After having an unloaded shotgun pulled on him by the white student, Bailey and two friends are able to wrestle the gun away. Bailey was charged with theft of a firearm."
Myth 6: The "Gotta-Go" Grocery Incident. On Dec. 2, 2006, Bailey and two other black Jena High students were involved in an altercation at this local convenience store, stemming from the incident that occurred the night before. The three were accused by police of jumping a white man as he entered the store and stealing a shotgun from him. The two parties gave conflicting statements to police. However, two unrelated eye witnesses of the event gave statements that corresponded with that of the white male.
"Even if a truly awful person is wrongly convicted of murder, shouldn't we as a society still fight for their freedom despite our reservations? Thus, we of the NU Coalition to Free the Jena Six feel that these young men have already been punished enough for their actions (expulsion from school and one year's jail time already) and that they deserve to finally be rid of this ordeal."
This is a ridiculous statement. If an awful person is convicted of a crime they did commit, then they should be prosecuted for the crime. It is a contradiction to say you do not condone the Jena 6's actions but then to suggest that their freedom should be fought for.
I'd like to thank everyone who sent emails in support of what one person called "the pursuit of truth." People need to free their egos from false information and pursue truth to the best of their ability.
4 comments:
I just have one question, Mr. Kittle. What do nooses mean to you? I'm not asking whether or not they were aimed at the black students at Jena High School, or if they were used as a prank. As a matter of fact, the Jena 6 case completely aside...What do nooses mean to you?
I think nooses are a bit like swastika's. They represent something extremely hateful in certain instances. If we run with the swastika idea, you might understand why I say "certain instances".
If you went to Darjeeling, India, on the banks of the Teesta river, you would see a canyon painted with massive swastikas.
If you were in Iraq or Iran, you would see a swastika at the doorway of almost every mosque you walked into.
Now if Jew saw this would they be offended? Probably not, because these swastika's have no relationship to the Nazi's. Instead they are an old symbol of peace. The motivation behind the placing of a symbol has a lot more to do than the symbol itself.
Those of us who are culturally literate would cite that these swastika's I have mentioned are actually reverse versions of the one the Nazi's used. But most people cannot tell which is which, and futhermore if either was drawn on the whiteboard of Jewish person's dorm, they would be offended equally.
So with nooses, yes I find a malicious use of nooses as extremely offensive towards blacks and society as a whole. But the mere existence of a noose to me is not offensive, unless it has malicious intention behind it.
I'd like to point out another recent instance of nooses being in the news. At Denison University in the begining of the 07/08 school year. A student who was promoting a school event for a student group, placed a noose with a sign saying "come hang with..."
The student was from Germany and knew very little of the symbol of the noose or its role in American history. He was simply playing off a pun.
So to answer your question, nooses don't mean nearly as much to me as the intentions behind them. Knowingly trying to instill shame, disgust, hatred, or anger is something very serious and very wrong. Creating a noose for another purpose, I don't object to.
I wouldn't object if a monk chose to wear a reverse swastika necklace.
“I was like, what? [My son], myself and a lot of family members were really upset about that because to Black people that is offensive because you know over the years Black people were hung in trees. So I mean we felt like the white people were saying, ‘Well if you sit under this tree, we’re going to hang you.’ That’s how us as Black people felt, even though the white people said it was a prank. How could it be a prank when something like that was done to Black people over the years? And then they walk under this tree and then you hang nooses. And you know what that represents and that means to us -- if you go under this [tree] we’re going to hang you. I mean there’s no other way to look at that, and there’s nothing funny about that.”
—statement about nooses by Tina Jones, mother of Bryant Purvis who is one of the Jena 6
I'm sorry, Mr. Kittle. I did not ask for a scripted answer and for you to take things into other contexts and use whatever "evidence" you could come up with. I asked for a personal belief. Now, for you to say how you think nooses are offensive to black people, I don't even think that's within your line to discuss. So, back up with the whole "Sometimes, I'm going to act like I realize what goes on with other people in the world" deal.
Personally, I don't see how there could be but one context under which to put nooses. They were not lying around the high school; they weren't strewn beneath the tree as ropes; they were not tied around the tree in knots and bows. No, they were hung in what was initially called the "white tree" in the shapes of nooses. Hung. As nooses. For you to even use the term "certain instances," I think is a huge insult. It's disappointing to see how close-minded you are in that respect. While you're basing your argument off history, maybe you should really take a look at what happened to people when nooses were involved. No. Really.
So, maybe I'll pose my question differently since you chose to go all over and around the world with your answer. If you passed by the rock at night by yourself, with the recognition that no one would see the rock until the next morning, and you saw a noose hanging from the tree in front of it, what would you think? In what "certain instance" does that even begin to say, "Laugh, Cody. It must just be a prank."? At what point does it enter your mind that, "Oh, they must not have meant to hang nooses. This must just be for a fun activity!" Similarly, how does it even begin to cross your mind that high school students or anyone else--especially those in the South, where racism is the most prevalent today--don't know the history of nooses?
I think it's unfortunate that an obviously intelligent, high school graduate, accepted into as prestigeous a university as Northwestern can be so ignorant and oblivious to what is going on in the world right now. People were not only hung by nooses; they were burned, they were beaten, they were killed. And believe it or not, it does still happen today.
People recognize when someone is walking around with one eye closed. I would have to recommend that you take a long look at where you are, take off the rose-colored glasses that say to you racism doesn't exist today and that nooses can be taken in and out of certain contexts, and and open your other eye.
Post a Comment