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Racism still prevalent in society |
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Thursday, 04 October 2007 |
There are times when I feel that we are quite possibly the most backwards country on the planet.
While that is an extreme exaggeration, especially given the ongoing crisis in Myanmar, the cases of racism and bigotry that exist in the most powerful country in the world absolutely disgust me.
The recent stories of the court system abusing their authority to inflict harsher penalties on a particular race are unacceptable.
I cannot even describe how embarrassed these stories make me feel,
knowing that they are happening in our backyard. You should be
embarrassed, too.
Several years ago, the story of Genarlow Wilson emerged and it has been in the news ever since.
Wilson, who is black, had consensual sex with a 15-year-old at a party when he was 17.
He was extremely popular, smart, athletic and was even his high school’s homecoming king.
Despite all of this, he was charged with aggravated child molestation and is now sitting in a jail cell.
Why did this story get the attention that it did? Well, while Wilson is black, the 15-year-old girl is white.
The girl’s mother testified in favor of Wilson and said that her
daughter was the initiator and he did not deserve to be sent to jail
over it.
Since his conviction, Georgia has changed its laws but has decided to not grandfather Wilson in.
You cannot tell me that if he had been a white student this would’ve happened.
The same goes for the current case occurring in Jena, La.
Racial tensions have been building since last year after a group of
black students sat under a tree in their schoolyard that was
historically a place that only white students sat.
The next day several nooses hung from the same tree. Several white
students were suspended over the incident, but no further action was
taken.
Shortly after this, a black student was beaten for attending an
all-white party and in another incident, a young white man pulled a
shotgun on three black students at a convenience store.
None of these white individuals were charged with any crimes.
However, it all came to a head on Dec. 4, 2006, when a group of six
black students, now referred to as the Jena 6, beat up a fellow white
student, Justin Bell, claiming he had been shouting racial slurs at
them.
Bell was taken to the hospital, treated and released and was even well enough to attend a party that same night.
All six of the black students were expelled from school and all except
one were charged as adults with attempted second-degree murder.
Conventional wisdom is that young men involved in a schoolyard fight aren’t usually charged with second-degree murder.
Even with the revelation that charges are being reduced and the last of
the Jena 6, Mychal Bell, was going to be released on bail after nearly
nine months in jail, things still haven’t been made right.
After huge, and peaceful I might add, demonstrations two weeks ago, it
seems as though the judge and prosecutors in the case came to their
senses at least a little bit.
However, it shouldn’t take demonstrations for people to get a hand on some common sense.
We’ve been taught since elementary school that justice is blind. However, sadly, this is not the case.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau and BlackAmericaWeb.com, while
blacks make up about 13 percent of the population, they make up 41
percent of the population in prison.
This is completely unacceptable.
Have we not learned anything since the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s?
I don’t want my children growing up in a place where such blatant and perverse racism still exists.
I certainly don’t have all the answers, if any real answers, but I do know that something needs to be done.
However, if peaceful demonstrations are the key, since they seemed to
have helped in the Jena 6 case, then I say we should march until our
legs can’t march any longer.
Jamison Doran, a senior political science and journalism major from Morganton, is the news desk editor.
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For a truer picture of the facts, from a black man, follow the link: http://www.kansascity.com/spor...84511.html
Heck, residents both black and white in Jena blame the media (such as yourselves) for blowing the entire issue out of proportion. Get your facts straight before you live in world of supposed evil racists.