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silverthorneI've seen more race wank today thanks to the Jena Six situation than I had in the past six months. Way to go internets.
1) Okay, even with my grouchy 'I don't fully ascribe to your news letter', I can get this:
Racism= Privilege plus power. IE: White privilege, which grants a disproportionate amount of power to white people, liberally sprinkled with prejudice against POC. It's considered to be a 'white thing' because of that reason.
Prejudice= Actions based on a hatred of a specific group of people, whether because of race, culture, where they live, religious beliefs etc. This can apply to everyone, whether or not their race holds the 'top' position in their society. Hence, a POC can be prejudiced (basing hatred, on, say, the color of an other person's skin), but not racist (because they are not a member of the predominent ruling race of their area--in this case, the united states.
This is how it gets defined in colleges these days, and by white folk writing the curriculum (so we can't blame the POC for 'appropriation' of the term--we agreed to it and put it there ourselves as well). So, even if you disagree with the current view of how those words are used, you need to be aware that that's how the two terms are often applied these days in regards to racial interactions, if for no other reason than to keep from tripping over yourselves in discussion and adding fuel to a fire that doesn't need any more fuel.
2) Jena six:
There's more to this than 'six over-sensitive black kids beating up on one white kid'. There's months of back and forthing between the two races in Jena, starting with the noose incident, with the white kids getting little more than a slap on the wrist each time, while the black kids would get leaned on and leaned on hard.
No, it isn't right that six ganged up on one, (it never is, no matter who is doing what) but you know, shit like this happens all the time and if it had been involving, just say, a gang of white kids beating up on another one, they'd get suspended for the fighting, but not arrested and held in jail on bond for attempted murder. And ultimately, when taking the racial element right out of it, the situation would have been dismissed as 'just kids being extra dumb'. We all know at least one incident in our lives during highschool where something like this happened and it was no big deal--right up to the ganging up on one kid, and often even him getting smacked by available books, and even, OMG shoes.
Other than suspensions (and expulsions for repeat offenders), how often did these kids get arrested? Think about that.
Now, add back in the racial element, starting with the nooses, and escalation to one black kid showing up alone at a party and getting a shotgun waved in his face by the white kids there. And then further that image with understanding that the white kid that got beat up was taunting the black kids with even more racial ephitats that day.
Ask yourself how much a person, or a people, can take before something gives.
Then ask yourself the difference between a shotgun and a shoe.
And THEN ask yourself why the kid with the shotgun was basically slapped on the wrist with a 'don't do that again', and six kids who beat up another with nothing but their hands and a shoe were the ones to get put in jail and charged with attempted murder rather than being suspended from school instead?
I (and many people) am not going to say the Jena Six should have gotten off scott free for beating up another kid. Problem being is not only did they not got off scott free, but they wound up just short of 'old south' justice and a hanging tree for their actions. That is what the support is about--the acknowledgement that for all they did something any group of kids would have/should have gotten suspended for, their punishment instead snowballed into six lives looking at jail time and a lifetime label as 'attempted murderers', and it happened that way because of ingrained racism.
That's the reason for the support. That's why you should care, and why you should question the punishment they did get and that the racism-influenced system in Jena is trying to put on them. Supporters are not looking for total exoneration; they're looking for acknowledgement and understanding of just how out of proportion the actions against those six kids were, and how those actions were and are fueled by racism.
Anyhow...*gets off soapbox*.
There's your uneducated white person speech for the day. Sleep well, guys.
1) Okay, even with my grouchy 'I don't fully ascribe to your news letter', I can get this:
Racism= Privilege plus power. IE: White privilege, which grants a disproportionate amount of power to white people, liberally sprinkled with prejudice against POC. It's considered to be a 'white thing' because of that reason.
Prejudice= Actions based on a hatred of a specific group of people, whether because of race, culture, where they live, religious beliefs etc. This can apply to everyone, whether or not their race holds the 'top' position in their society. Hence, a POC can be prejudiced (basing hatred, on, say, the color of an other person's skin), but not racist (because they are not a member of the predominent ruling race of their area--in this case, the united states.
This is how it gets defined in colleges these days, and by white folk writing the curriculum (so we can't blame the POC for 'appropriation' of the term--we agreed to it and put it there ourselves as well). So, even if you disagree with the current view of how those words are used, you need to be aware that that's how the two terms are often applied these days in regards to racial interactions, if for no other reason than to keep from tripping over yourselves in discussion and adding fuel to a fire that doesn't need any more fuel.
2) Jena six:
There's more to this than 'six over-sensitive black kids beating up on one white kid'. There's months of back and forthing between the two races in Jena, starting with the noose incident, with the white kids getting little more than a slap on the wrist each time, while the black kids would get leaned on and leaned on hard.
No, it isn't right that six ganged up on one, (it never is, no matter who is doing what) but you know, shit like this happens all the time and if it had been involving, just say, a gang of white kids beating up on another one, they'd get suspended for the fighting, but not arrested and held in jail on bond for attempted murder. And ultimately, when taking the racial element right out of it, the situation would have been dismissed as 'just kids being extra dumb'. We all know at least one incident in our lives during highschool where something like this happened and it was no big deal--right up to the ganging up on one kid, and often even him getting smacked by available books, and even, OMG shoes.
Other than suspensions (and expulsions for repeat offenders), how often did these kids get arrested? Think about that.
Now, add back in the racial element, starting with the nooses, and escalation to one black kid showing up alone at a party and getting a shotgun waved in his face by the white kids there. And then further that image with understanding that the white kid that got beat up was taunting the black kids with even more racial ephitats that day.
Ask yourself how much a person, or a people, can take before something gives.
Then ask yourself the difference between a shotgun and a shoe.
And THEN ask yourself why the kid with the shotgun was basically slapped on the wrist with a 'don't do that again', and six kids who beat up another with nothing but their hands and a shoe were the ones to get put in jail and charged with attempted murder rather than being suspended from school instead?
I (and many people) am not going to say the Jena Six should have gotten off scott free for beating up another kid. Problem being is not only did they not got off scott free, but they wound up just short of 'old south' justice and a hanging tree for their actions. That is what the support is about--the acknowledgement that for all they did something any group of kids would have/should have gotten suspended for, their punishment instead snowballed into six lives looking at jail time and a lifetime label as 'attempted murderers', and it happened that way because of ingrained racism.
That's the reason for the support. That's why you should care, and why you should question the punishment they did get and that the racism-influenced system in Jena is trying to put on them. Supporters are not looking for total exoneration; they're looking for acknowledgement and understanding of just how out of proportion the actions against those six kids were, and how those actions were and are fueled by racism.
Anyhow...*gets off soapbox*.
There's your uneducated white person speech for the day. Sleep well, guys.
