"instead of whites-only bathrooms and drinking fountains, they had a "white tree" that black students considered off-limits. "

Given that someone hung nooses on the tree the day after black kids had been sitting there, I'd say that the white kids at the school also thought the "white tree" was off-limits for the black kids.

The quoted line above from the article reminds me of the majority opinion in Plessy [the case that upheld "seperate but equal"] where the Supreme Court decides that segregation is just a neutral policy which black people are choosing to read as something that marks them as inferior.

A quick Google search of this case will show that there's more to the story than what was presented in this article. (although some of it leaks through - waving around a gun is a pretty damn immediate threat)

I can't tell if "harlem" is trying to claim that the author of the article was wrong, or not. It sounds like he's trying to pretend that social segregation and legal segregation are the same thing by citing Plessy. But he doesn't really take the argument anywhere.

"Such prosecutorial overzealousness is not necessarily racist, but because blacks are disproportionately embroiled in the criminal justice system, it does fall with disproportionate force on them."

I just don't think someone--even a Stanford professor--can make that statement as if it were all that simple. It seems to refer to what many regard as systematic racism endemic in the judicial system as a fact without cause: the system falls with disproportionate force because blacks are disproportionately embroiled. Why haven't civil rights agitators thought of that solution: get those black men to stop disproportionately embroiling themselves!

--another white person weighs in

Why haven't civil rights agitators thought of that solution: get those black men to stop disproportionately embroiling themselves!

Is this supposed to be sarcastic?

"Free the Jena 6" suggest that the tactics of last century's civil rights movement may be an anachronism for today's racial conflicts.

Martin Luther King represented last centuries civil rights movement. He was a firm believer in non-violence. I think that rings pretty true today. Instead, they just kicked a kid in the head until he blacked out.

Sorry. I can't defend their violence. Lock-em up.

Mike, is there nothing someone could so, are there no circumstances that would make you hit someone? Not saying we should approve of violence but shouldn't the circumstances be taken into account? After being told by the establishment via the previous incidents that they are not equal, these boys were verbally assaulted by the "victim". I would have a hard time not slugging him. Again, this isn't to say they should get off but attempted murder is clearly overkill.

I doubt it. But why not address the point at face value? It's a perfectly legitimate question irrespective of the race issue.

Attempted murder is overkill indeed. However they are being held on aggrevated battery. Trying one as an adult is overkill too. These are high school kids, they act irrationally as we all did at that age. That doesn't mean we let them off scot free when they gang up on someone and beat them unconscious.

This was no school yard brawl, 6 on 1 hints at premeditation

What those six kids did was not justified.

If it is okay for them, does that mean when someone burns the flag i can beat on them?

Bush has done a lot of things to make me mad ,should i beat him? Actually if the white kid that was beaten would have pulled a gun and shot the attackers he would have been justified as self defense.The blacks that were offended should have protested the nooses and they could have filed a lawsuit.What the Jena 6 did was fan the flames even higher than the white kid.

this article and these discussions are exactly the reason why the march in Jena was necessary. the facts have been so distorted in so many media outlets that it's sickening. this case has been going on since last year, yet u.s. media is just now feeling like it's worth their while. in a country that so boldly proclaims it's freedoms, it should also proclaim its many hypocrisies. this march was a tool to shed light on something that this country continues to ignore - the injustice of the "justice" system.

this article fails to highlight, or in some cases even mention, key events that led up to the final fight that garnered these ridiculous attempted murder charges. what about the frequent taunting from the white kids towards the black kids after the nooses were hung (racial epithets, etc.)? no mention of the district attorney's threat to the black kids (only) that their lives would be ruined "with the stroke of his pen" during a school assembly. what about the white kids that attacked the black kid at the party that led to the fight at the convenient store (instigated by the same white kids from the party, knowing they had a shotgun in the car)? if these same black kids were really trying to kill someone, wouldn't they have done it when they were able to wrestle the gun away from the white kids instead of turning it in to the police?? only to be charged with theft??? have we heard about ANY felony charges filed against ANY of the white kids involved? or how about charges for not only having a shotgun, but carrying it around in a vehicle?? NO, WE HAVE NOT! just as was mentioned previously, all anyone wants to talk about is the boys jumping on the 1 white kid, with NO mention of any of the attacks on the black kids.

i have not heard 1 black individual, leader or follower, say that the boys were justified in beating the white kid that was taunting them. this case has everything to do with JUSTICE FOR ALL. remember that phrase? no, he shouldn't have been beaten that way, but please spare me all the he almost died speeches cuz the kid was released from the hospital the same day and even went to an event later on that night! sounds like he came out pretty good compared to some other attemped murder victims. can't say the same for megan williams, can we? yet the bond amounts for her attackers have been set at the same amount as the jena 6 kids??? u have got to be kidding me. looks like lady justice is only blind in 1 eye...

in any case, the white kids who participated in these events should ALSO be prosecuted. attempted murder charges and being charged as an adult should never have entered the equation on either side. the march signified justice for all, not justice for some. when people say "free the jena 6", they are referring to the fact that the white counterparts of the black kids are free and never saw a bond amount above $10,000, let alone felony charges. yet, the jena 6 bond amounts were set at or near $100,000. sound fair to you? if so, you are simply ignoring the fact that racism and discrimination are alive and well in this county. no matter how the media tries to sugarcoat it, this kind of thing is happening everyday.

i'd like to see who filed the previous charges against mychal bell. i wonder if they used the same standard of justice as the one used here. i bet if someone did some digging, some of these white kids involved in this issue have some skeletons in their closets that have been "overlooked"...

What I was trying to point out is that in both cases the writer looked at a system of racial segregation (one legal, one social, but still followed) and decided that the system was only a problem because the black people affected by the system CHOSE to see it as a message of belief in their inferiority. Both writers ignored the fact that, again in both cases, the blacks were interpreting the message CORRECTLY; the whites under the system absolutely intended to convey a belief in white superiority and the appropriateness of white privilege.

i totally agree. i'm pretty sure this is not the first time that the black community in jena has experienced racism, so the response to not accepting the noose hanging as a "prank" per their school administration's/prosecutor's reasoning, as well as their response to the DA's behavior, is totally understandable. some of the things i've been reading here, including the article itself, would lead one to the conclusion that the black community's response is absurd simply based on the last fight. hanging nooses and personal threats from the DA are not something to be taken lightly in a rural Louisiana town. they most certainly intended to send a message of inferiority and the black community should not be perceived as "racially hypersensitive" for interpreting it as such

"This was no school yard brawl, 6 on 1 hints at premeditation"

That is absurd. How could the students predict that the white student would hurl racial epithets at them and taunt them that he could do whatever he wanted and get off? How could there POSSIBLY be premeditation when the WHITE kid instigated the fight? What it REALLY hints at is that the privilaged white kid who cruelly insulted sixe black kids was an idiot.