Is the media coverage of the Jena 6 racist?
I was not planning on posting anything while Cate is away on vacation, but recent events have motivated me to write an article about the Jena 6. If you have not heard of this case, I recommend you read some of the articles I've listed at the bottom of this post to familiarize yourself with the events. Because you often can't separate racism from sexism, it's important to increase awareness of them to feminists around the globe. The Feminist Wetblanket will return shortly.
If you haven't heard about the Jena 6 by now, it's probably because major media networks haven't been willing to touch it until recently. I'm of the opinion that the story so classically represents how racism is still alive and well in the United States and, that because of this, networks like CNN, ABC, and especially FOX, weren't sure how to approach the issue when it was so obvious. I've seen dozens of stories that hinted at a racial bias that have been aired on major media networks, but I've haven't seen anything akin to the Jena 6 story in quite awhile.
To the viewer, the attempted murder charges of the 6 black students are obviously racist. While those boys do deserve some punishment for their actions, so do the white boys who hung the nooses. It's my understanding that expulsion was the intended punishment, but was later changed to a 3 day suspension. A 3 day suspension does not teach a teenager what they've done wrong. It gives them time to hang out with their friends and relax. And if there is even a hint of social learning here, I doubt their parents cared enough to punish their children. I could be wrong - their parents could be a paragon of democracy who punished their sons as gravely as they deserved to be. Even if it was a prank, the children should be punished severely enough to make it clear that pranks of this magnitude should not be allowed. These boys are still children: only a child would be stupid enough to do something so hateful and either not realize the ramifications or believe that they could get away with it, either because they knew others felt the same way or because they were cocky.
Everything in the coverage of this is implied. We're supposed to just know that the nooses were meant to tell the black boys they didn't belong at this tree. Anyone who isn't familiar with the KKK and their lovely tactics or the history of tension between blacks and whites in the south wouldn't know this was the message. Sure, they would understand the threat, but they wouldn't understand the background and why this is such a shocking incident. They wouldn't understand just why it is that the nooses were so terrible to invoke 6 boys to beat up a fellow classmate. And anyone not reading between the lines wouldn't pick up that the charges are biased because they are based on more than just the fact that 6 black boys beat up 1 white boy. They're based on a traditional view that blacks "can't do that" to whites because they're inferior. Not understanding the history of the south and the racial tension that still exists there makes this case feel like it was all a simple misunderstanding. But it's not just a simple misunderstanding: it's a frighteningly real chain of events set into motion based on antiquated views of race that relied on violence to send messages of who is allowed access to what and who can and can't do certain things. Myth of the black rapist, anyone? I'm sure poor Angela Davis is not very happy with the current state of events.
I'm of the opinion that the Jena 6 should receive the same punishment as their antagonizers: a 3 day suspension. Essentially, a slap on the wrist. To not correctly punish an act that sends a message of hatred as strong as the nooses did to the black students also sends the message that these acts of hatred will go unpunished. The fact of the matter is, the white students "hinted" (I would go as far as saying they actually threatened) that they were going to commit a hate crime if the black students sat under the tree again.
But there is a root to this story that I don't think any of the reporting networks have yet addressed: why did the black students feel they had to ask if it was ok for them to sit under the tree? When you look at the case from this point of view, it shouldn't come ask a shock that the black students are being tried for attempted murder while the white students faced literally no criminal charges. Louisiana may not be the most liberal of states, but they do have a court system that will hopefully recognize this case as a prime example of racism. The sad thing is, it shouldn't even have to come to that: the boys should have never been charged in the first place. How often to 6 white boys get charged with attempted murder after beating up another kid at school? I guarantee you the same thing happens with gangs in southern California and they aren't getting brought up on attempted murder charges.
In the case of black and white, it seems little has changed since 1865. What actually scares me the most about this case is the media coverage. I have yet to hear the word "racist" uttered by any reporter or journalist. It seems as the though the media, in an attempt to remain neutral (as if they ever are), refuses to even say "racist" in their news reports. But by ignoring this message of hate based in racism, are they conveying a message of ignorance and racism themselves?
Since I've written this article early this morning, the charges for two of the boys have been reduced.
News coverage:
CNN | Residents: Nooses spark school violence, divide town
Truth Out | Injustice in Jena as Nooses Hang From the "White Tree"
The Observer | Racism goes on trial again in America's Deep South
Props for a fine article, but I do want to mention that people are quick to throw off on the South as a hotbed of racism. I've lived in several parts of the US and found racism to be alive and well everywhere from New England to the West Coast. No area of the country has a monopoly on racism. In fact, for a period of time the largest KKK membership in the nation was in the midwestern state of Indiana.
Posted by: Allison | September 4, 2007 6:51 PM