Can't We All Just Get Along?

No. Sixteen years later and the only thing that has changed, is that the attitudes are worse. Nothing like a charge of racism to bring out the wingnuts. This all started with blacks not keeping to their place and sitting under a tree that only white students had sat under previously. Next day, three nooses appeared. That is when the school and town made their biggest mistake. They didn't handle the incident then, they waited until tensions had swelled out of control. A white kid getting knocked unconscious during a brawl is nothing new, teenagers have been doing that for many years and attempted murder charges have not been filed against the perpetrators and charging them as adults. Until now.

Some of the comments are more revealing than the incident.

why was it so important for the black students to sit under the same tree as the white students? why couldn't they just sit under another tree? maybe because it wouldn't of made of scene. maybe all of the white people should just move out of Jena, but then the town would lose it's tax base.
Posted by:
dontcare007 12:49 PM

Ah yes, to the back of the bus we go. Another commenter wanted to know why Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton can't teach black men to get an education and for black women to stop having three babies before they turn 18. Umm, maybe because the schools suck, birth control and sex education aren't taught, no science labs and they can see that there are no opportunities after they graduate? Some people have their head so far up their asses that the only light they are ever going to see is the one you see just before the end. Nobody seems to be in the least concerned that the first instance of obvious racism were the nooses. I may not have grown up in the south (thank you God) but if I stepped outside and found a noose or a burning cross, I would report it as the hate crime that it is.

Everything escalated from the inaction of the school and the authorities until it culminated in an incident where they could arrest black students and show them who's in charge. It was also done as a warning to prevent any other blacks in town from stepping out of their place. The one at the bottom of the barrel, the back of the bus, the segregated lunch areas.

Some people persist in believing that blacks have created and enjoy being victims without ever really trying to understand how difficult it is to make your way in a country that despises you and isn't afraid to show it. Being followed around a store, people refusing to serve you or give you the bum's rush out of an establishment and then everything you see on television is about how bad blacks are. Black History Month is the biggest farce, nobody cares that black people have contributed, all they care about is that they look different so they must be bad.

I grew up outside the United States for most of my formative years, so I had the same education as all the other children in the area. It wasn't until seventh grade in the late sixties that I was not the only black person in school and it was very strange for me. My friends consisted of Sabrina, a beautiful black girl and Laura a rather overweight white girl. We were inseparable due to our love of Star Trek. One day I was beaten up and had my glasses stolen on the school bus by a group of black girls because they said I was acting white. The bus driver stepped off the bus and let them do what they wanted, which was pulling most of the hair from my scalp. The principal wouldn't do anything because he said it was up to the bus driver. There was no punishment and I was told that maybe I should hang around with my own kind. I got my glasses back three days later and I continued to hang out with Laura and Sabrina. Obviously I've never forgotten the incident.

When we got to high school the first thing I noticed was that all of the cheerleaders were white and the drill team was almost all black and didn't get to participate in a lot of the sporting activities. It was like a token position. They had a few Hispanic girls for "color". Once again, I refused to participate. I wanted to be a cheerleader (thank goodness that never happened) and since that wasn't open to me, I retreated back into the world of books. For most of my life, I avoided crowds of black people and I was proud of myself that unless you meet me in person, you can't tell that I'm black. I'm really biracial but the world persists in seeing me as black.

Racism didn't really bother me because I was more concerned about the fact that my options were more limited because I was a woman. Now that I'm in my early fifties, racism bothers me. A lot. I had the educational opportunities of an advantaged white person and I tried to make the most of them. Society hasn't been very helpful in this matter, but I keep trying. There is a problem in this country and it has gotten worse over the last twenty seven years. Jimmy Carter was absolutely correct when he said that if Reagan was elected that the country would fracture. Just look at us. North against South, men against women, blacks against whites, whites against anybody different, rich against poor, old against young, etc.

Over the last seven years, the racial situation has deteriorated even more. No child left behind, has left enough children behind that they could start a new country. The dumbing down of America is having serious consequences, not the least of which is an increase in racism. The elephant in the room is now breaking things in an effort to make itself known.