Jena 6; Justice or Not?

Today I am going to talk about the injustice African Americans face in the United States, but especially in the southern part of this vast country.

Found the following article in yesterdays Age, and left it open knowing I wouldn't get a chance to blog about it yesterday.

Teen freed in explosive Louisiana race case

A BLACK teenager whose prosecution in the beating of a white classmate in a Louisiana school prompted a massive civil rights protest, walked out of a courthouse after a judge ordered him freed.

Mychal Bell's release on $US45,000 ($A51,000) bail came hours after a prosecutor confirmed he would no longer seek an adult trial for the 17-year-old. Bell, one of the teenagers known as the "Jena Six", still faces trial as a juvenile for the December beating in this small central Louisiana town.

Bell is among six black Jena High School students arrested in December after a beating that left Justin Barker unconscious and bloody, though he was able to attend a school function later the same day. Four of the defendants were 17 at the time, and legally adults under Louisiana law.

Link: The Age: Teen freed in explosive Louisiana race case

Let me first answer a few questions I know are going to be asked of me, either through email or comments:

1. Do I believe the Jena 6 should be punished? Absolutely. But not to the extent the racist assholes want to.

2. Do I believe because he is of African American decent the punishment should be worse than that of a white male doing the same? Absolutely not! Colour should never be brought into a crime, unless we are talking about a hate crime.

3. Isn't the victim a victim of a hate crime? Not in my eyes. If the African American boys were yelling racial slurs while beating, then it would be considered a hate crime. But I am going to talk from experience here and believe the victim simply got what he probably deserved.

Now, why would I say something like that, when I am an Australian living in Australia? Simple. I have travelled to the U.S. I have even stayed in Louisiana and been a first hand witness to the disgusting way African Americans are treated.

I was shocked the first time I heard a gay woman (who should know better) use the "n" word. I was so stunned I didn't know what to say. I ended up responding with something along the lines of how she should know better, being a minority in a rich white mans country herself.

When you are a minority in a country, when pushed too far you are going to retaliate, the Stonewall Riots are a good example of this.And the way the African Americans have been treated, when I read about things like this, I have to admit I am not in the least bit surprised.

I don't believe violence is the solution either, the best way to make enemies is through the use of violence, the Iraq War only proves that. But when the cries of a minority fall on deaf ears, then the ones to blame are those with the deaf ears.

I think Mychal Bell deserves to be freed, but at the same time, he should have a punishment which fits the crime. While a bashing sounds bad, let us not forget that the victim actually was out partying at a school function later in the same day of the bashing. The punishment should be perhaps 100 hours of community service in a hospital which deals in the after effects of exactly what violence brings.