This is Fucked Up

I don't normally swear in the title, but this story is appropriate enough for it. This post is for all of the people who say that Black people are being reactionary and delusional for saying that racism still exists in America.

Six Black youths in Jena, Louisiana now face the prospect of being in jail until their 30s because they reacted to someone calling them "niggers". The following is the write-up from While Seated. I will also note that this story has not received a lot of national traction, but is a major issue in the rest of the industrialized world. Fancy that.

In September 2006, a group of African American high school students in Jena, Louisiana, asked the school for permission to sit beneath a "whites only" shade tree. There was an unwritten rule that blacks couldn't sit beneath the tree. The school said they didn't care where students sat. The next day, students arrived at school to see three nooses (in school colors) hanging from the tree.

The boys who hung the nooses were suspended from school for a few days. The school administration chalked it up as a harmless prank, but Jena's black population didn't take it so lightly. Fights and unrest started breaking out at school. The District Attorney, Reed Walters, was called in to directly address black students at the school and told them all he could "end their life with a stroke of the pen."

Black students were assaulted at white parties. A white man drew a loaded rifle on three black teens at a local convenience store. (They wrestled it from him and ran away.) Someone tried to burn down the school, and on December 4th, a fight broke out that led to six black students being charged with attempted murder. To his word, the D.A. pushed for maximum charges, which carry sentences of eighty years. Four of the six are being tried as adults (ages 17 & 18) and two are juveniles.

Yesterday, I was in Jena for the first day of the trial for Mychal Bell, one of the Jena Six. The D.A., perhaps in response to public pressure, tried to get Bell to cop a plea. Bell refused, and today, jury selection began. After today, we'll know whether or not the case will be tried in front of an all-white jury. Jena's 85-percent white, and it remains to be seen whether or not the six can get a fair trial.

Both off-the-record and on, Jena residents told me racism is alive and well in Louisiana, and this is a case where it rose above the levee, so to speak.

In the next few days, I'll be posting a few photos from Jena that are related to the case, as well as linking to a multimedia piece I'm working on. CNN began reporting on the story today, following the lead of the BBC, who crafted an excellent hour-long documentary that can be found on P2P networks.

This is clearly a mistrial of justice based solely on race. If you want to do something, go to Pandagon. They have a list of organizations who are working on behalf of the group to get them appropriate legal representation.

One of the Few Things that the Government is Doing Correctly

I am usually critical of the government, but the one thing that they have done is gone after people who committed crimes during the Civil Rights era of the 1950's and 1960's. The travesties that were done during the era such as letting the two men who killed Emmitt Till get away with it despite overwhelming evidence putting them at the scene of the crime will have to stand. But, other travesties will be tried such as this murder reported on by the BBC.

Racial Harassment

Today, the Supreme Court has decided not to hear a case on racial slurs in the workplace. According to the Los Angeles Times, Robert Jordan was fired shortly after complaining about a comment made by a co-worker following the capture of John Muhammad and Lee Malvo, better known as the DC Snipers. The White co-worker said, "They should put those two black monkeys in a cage with a bunch of black apes and let the apes [sexually assault] them."

If I were in Jordan's place, I would have been offended as well. That's an offensive comment. Period. Also, this was not the first time that the co-worker had made a racially insensitive comment, as Jordan found out from other employees. With little action available, Jordan reported his issue to the manager. He was summarily fired. He sued the corporation.

This case is now over as the Supreme Court refuses to hear it. But, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Paul Niermeyer said, "No objectively reasonable person could have believed IBM's office was in the grips of a hostile work environment." The lower court also said that an isolated racial slur does not create a hostile work environment.

As you can see, there are two primary problems with this issue. To deal with the 4th Circuit first, I do not know how saying letting two men get raped in a cage with black apes does not create a hostile work environment. That's liable to get me on a swearing tangent if someone said that in my workplace. To deal with the lower court, this was not an isolated slur as the employee had a history of making such comments. Counseling does not eliminate systemic racism. It is offensive to me that discrimination rules do not apply in racial situations. Racial discrimination is just as nefarious as sexual/gender discrimination and should be offered the same protections under the law. I am disappointed in the Supreme Court for not taking a positive step in ensuring that EVERYONE can work in a safe, trusting environment.