Mayor Of Jena Angry At Video
Posted by: From Arkansas in Are You Kidding Me?, Commentary, News And More Stuff, What's Your Opinion? on Oct 06 2007
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First there was a noose hung from the tree in front of the school. Three months later, a white student was beaten by black students. Students charged with attempted murder. Then came the mass inflow of people to the town. The media. A court case. More people. A video by Mos Def wanting students all over the country to walk out on Oct. 1st. to support the “Jena Six”, so labeled by the media. Through all of this, the mayor of Jena did not say much.
Then came the video with John Mellencamp’s song “Jena, Take Your Nooses Down”. Now the mayor is offended calling the song “inflammatory, so defamatory, that a line has been crossed and enough is enough.” Why has the line been drawn now with this song? Frankly, I thought the line had been drawn with the original noose but, hey, what do I know.
Doesn’t it strike anyone as odd that the mayor does not do much about all this until this song? Mellencamp states that his song is not a defamation of Jena but, rather, condemning racism. Yet, the song does pick out Jena specifically. So, I do see why the mayor would get hot about this song. Still, he didn’t say much about the other happenings. Nothing, apparently, was done about the first noose. When the black students beat up the white kid, the whole deal came to a head. Where in all this is the line drawn?
The line was actually drawn when the black people of Jena ended up living in one part of town separated from the white, much more affluent, houses and people in the other part of town. Then it was drawn again with a noose in a tree. Then again when black students beat up a white student. Again and again and again the line has been drawn. Does no one see this? Perhaps it is time that each of us see it for what it is.
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6 Comments
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The mayor’s got a problem because of his image. It’s the same problem I’ve seen in any city or town, when the image of the prettiness is taken away for marketing it’ll affect someone’s bottom line.
The mayor would have been better off saying he was sad and leave justice to justice and public reaction to public reaction. He could then make his decisions to what needs to be done to better the community.
By throwing in to the ‘game’ he won’t be seen as being in an position to take the role of leader to make those improvements later.
Just my two cents.
I believe that you are right, John. He should have made decisions to speak up long before he did and certainly about something other than a song.
Thank you for commenting!
I kind of wonder if the Mayor’s problem also has to do with the song’s title, as if it’s an accusation that the whole town hung nooses.
(Granted, his stance throughout this whole thing has been nothing short of appalling.)
The mayor has more to worry about than the song but, yes, I believe that he has a problem with the title as well. I do too but that really isn’t his biggest problem but that’s the way this looks..like he didn’t have too much problem til that song came out. Sigh.
Thank you for commenting!!
I am in Australia at the moment and don’t have time to watch television, so my whole knowledge of the Jena thing is from a couple articles on CNN.com.
I do know my principles though. When dealing with justice, each individual is just that, an individual! The individuals who hung up nooses are responsible for that, regardless of what anyone else does. The individuals who beat the guy up are responsible for their actions.
“Fairness” is less important. If we get overly concerned about fairness we will destroy justice.
Those who did the beating should be tried, and if found guilty, punished.
Those who did the noose hanging should be treated exactly the same, according to the law. I am not sure if there IS a law about that.
If there is not a law, I hope there are parents, friends, and others with the guts to correct them.
ThirstyJon
freedomthirst.com
Agreed on the justice thing, Jon, but those young black men WERE being charged with attempted murder originally when they beat up a white kid. This beating up thing is not the first time that’s happened and won’t be the last. But the young white man went from the hospital (on the same night) to a dance. He was not that hurt.
The biggest problem here is that people like Al Sharpton and others are making more of it than it should be. On the other hand, the blacks in that town have been getting raw deal for years. From what I can see, you step back some years going into Jena by the way the town is divided, black and white.
The tree was called a “white tree” and the black young man asked if he could sit there. The noose came up right after that. Then, three months later, the beating. More than those that got caught were involved both black and white. The way they are trying to report it, the Jena Six were ganging up on one white kid when it was not quite that.
The whole thing needs to tame down a bit and some people need to reassess their values to the extreme. The white people in that town have no idea whatsoever what the black people are going through because the white folks tell that the town is a great place. The black folks do not say that in the same way.
Thank you for visiting again.