ladi scribe – thanks alot and you are doing wonderful work in particular around the Jena coverage!

ks- yes, the comparison is absurd, and I too am wondering exactly the horrible deed that Sharpton and jackson did to the Duke boys. As far as I know all JJ said, regardless of the verdict he would pay the troubled girls tuition. Big deal. Did they they issue a threat like the Jena DA? (griswold, FYI, Walters looked at all the black student in the auditorium when the threat was made) Did Sharpton and JJ help to facilitate a 22 year sentence? The Duke case shows one thing and one thing only: the ridiculous gap between what different groups of people often call injustice. For some ALMOST having to serve time despite innocence is a grave injustice, and for others actually SERVING time is the injustice. The comparison is both completely absurd, yet at the same time oh so very revealing.

Finally, ks, I would have to disagee with you about the central park jogger comparison. the story of the Jena 6 separates itself from central park jogger in that it is LEADERSHIP AND THE LAW that is the story down in Jena. Horrible and racial crimes will happen all the time. We take extra notice when leadership in a community are the one’s perpetuating the problem.

“We, black people, begged for integration.”

With one ill-conceived sentence, are all those of us who find common cause with Martin Delany, Marcus Garvey, Elijah Muhammad, El Hajj Malik-el Shabazz and Kwame Toure to be thrown under the bus with the likes of petty integrationists?

From where, sir, do you hail that affords you the luxury of such reprehensible amnesia?

It is common sense to say that a group of students would gather in one area and other groups would gather somewhere else. This is often a fact seen in many classrooms and school lunch rooms as well as outside of school. Obviously, that is not to say one group owns any particular area. It is also obvious that a few of the white students acted like idiots when they hung the nooses. It was a horrible thing to do. And as I said before, they deserved much more punishment than what they were given.

However, I heard that Mr. Purvis asked to sit under that so-called white tree in a joking/smart-alec manner. I also read that several of the teachers, a few of them African Americans, made comments that the students both white and African American, were seen playing with the nooses on the days that followed the incident.

Let’s talk about the DA’s comments. No one is playing dumb here. I promise not to insult your intelligence if you don’t insult mine. I was not there at Jena when all of this happened, maybe you were. I suppose you may have been in that auditorium at the time to witness the DA’s comments yourself?. If you were not there then you heard this second hand just like me. And if you heard this second hand, would your sources be sympathetic to both sides of the story?

Mychal Bell was on probation for 2 counts of battery and 1 count of damage to property. Several sources on the internet say that Mr. Bell broke the jaw of his 17 year old girlfriend. Is that a lie? Maybe Mr. Bell was treated more harshly because he had a record?

YES,the Duke case is a “mirror image” of the Jena 6 case. How many years do you think those boys faced for rape? Oh, excuse me, false rape charges. I thought we were talking about fairness for everyone? Jackson, Sharpton and many of the African American teachers at Duke spoke out against them before they even had a trial. Those boys spent a year where everyone associated them with this rape case. They were expelled from Duke. Their parents had to come up with hundreds of thousands of dollars to bail them out. Their parents had to spend thousands of dollars for legal defense. Now, the city of Durham is being sued for millions of dollars that the tax payers will have to pay. All because of a lying stripper who wanted a pay day.

Nobody knew who Ms. Mangum was for a year. Obviously, that was to protect the identity of a poor rape victim. She had the DNA in her from several other men, none matching the DNA of the Duke boys. It is amazing that so many African Americans still feel to this day that those rich “white boys” got away with something. It amazes me that so many African Americans still supported her even after she was proven to be a liar and a woman who slept around.

Ol’ Jessie Jackson commented that he was going to pay her college tuition weather she was telling the truth or not. Let me ask you, how many days did SHE spend in jail for all the trouble she caused? Yes Modi, this is a blinding mirror image of the racial injustice and bias that you talk about.

Secondly, the DA threat was made in the auditorium with all the students present with that Black students all sitting together on one side. Walters looked right at them when he made this statement. It’s not hard to figure out what was going on. But just in case anyone wants to “play dumb”, Walters confirmed EXACTLY who he was talking to with the variance in sentencing.

Thirdly, the nooses were the beginning of a SERIES of incidents. While from an indirect LEGAL perspective the nooses did not DIRECTLY cause the beatdown of Justin Barker, but it is absurd to argue that the nooses weren’t a major part of the whole equation. If 3 months ago someone pulled you aside and pointed a loaded shotgun at your head and threatened you, do you think that is something that you would simply forget about 3 months later? Even with interim incidents? Of course not!! Well, hanging nooses in the south have unmistakeable meaning. This line of reasoning must be put to rest.

I can accept that someone believes that Bell should serve some time if they are consistent with punishing all parties during the various incidents.

“Mirror image” at Duke? What mirror image? Sharpton and Jackson “hung the Duke Boys”? What are you talking about? Any comparison of these two events fails on every single level. I think that there should be a moratorium about talking about “the Duke boys” being that no one spent one day in jail and the prosecutor was ultimately fired. Is that a mirror image? While false accusations are bad, they shouldn’t be spoken about in the same sentence as cases like the Jena 6, Genarlow Wilson (17 year old still in jail serving 10 year sentence for consensual sex with a 15 year old); Shaquanda Cotton and others. There is just as much evidence of wrongdoing by Reed Walters as there was Nifong. Why does this man still have a job?

Sometimes stories become twisted on both sides of the color spectrum to suit an agenda. First, I have read there was no “white” tree and that statement was made by one of the African American teachers. Second, the comment the DA made about the “stroke of a pen” was directed at ALL students involved, including the white boys. It is interresting to note that the noose incident happened three months before Bell decided to join in on a 6 against 1. I am not saying that all of what I have heard is correct. I am asking, how many folks who are upset with this have actually looked deep into both sides of the story?

I agree that the 22 year sentence for Bell is excessive. It is sad that Mr. Bell’s father did not get involved until after his son was in trouble for the second or third time.
Mychal Bell has a record for assault. I do feel that he needs to spend some time in jail. How many chances do you give someone?

As far as Jackson and Sharpton are concerned. They love to be where the cameras are. And as I said before, If you disagree with them and you are white, you are labeled a racist. Talk about nooses,Jackson & Sharpton hung the Duke Lacrosse boys. What about the vocal African American teachers at Duke who stood up and announced that the boys were guilty before a trial? Where was racial justice at that time and place? Some would say that this is a mirror image of the unequal justice and bias that you talk about.

Now on a personal level I have been to multiple fatherhood conferences and initiatives to help young fathers of all races. But I’m wondering, have you personally done anything to fight the kind of institutional racism that goes down in Jena? In our juvenile justice system as a whole http://www.cosellout.com/?p=126 If your favotite people Jackson and Sharpton weren’t down in Jena would you or anyone you know have been leading the charge for justice? Or would Bell and the othe Jena 5 doing 22 years and the justice system be EXACTLY the same? Please tell me after you and Whitlock are all finished with your fatherhood speeches what would be your solution about our broken justice system.