Thousands of protesters flooded DC today, and, led by (who else?) Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III, marched to the Justice Department, where circled the building “seven times in a gesture reminiscent of the biblical Joshua’s procession around the walled city of Jericho.” Okay.
Well, the marchers are marching to protest the Justice Department’s lax response to “hate crimes and hate signs” that are popping up all over, most notably since the Jena Six story hit the mainstream.
In a statement, Justice Department said officials remain “deeply committed to the vigorous enforcement of our nation’s civil rights laws” and said more people were convicted of civil rights violations last year than ever before in the agency’s history.
On Freedom Plaza this morning, huddled against the blustery chill, participants said they wanted more support and vigilance from the federal government.
“I feel that they’re ignoring African Americans, Hispanics and other minorities, and treating us as if we’re insignificant and don’t need anything,” said Sheila Barnett, who came to Washington with a group from Cleveland.
Others, however, said people of all ethnicities were hurting. “A lot of injustice is being done to the black race, white race, green race, whatever. We need to pull together,” said Ruth Blackwell-Rufus, a 52-year-old nurse from Temple Hills. “I think that the Justice Department has fallen down. I think that they’re closing their eyes and they’re forgetting about the poor people.”
[WP]
The story I read on CNN mentioned the Jena 6 more times than needed IMHO. In light of some of the things that have come out later, I don’t want this particular event getting bogged down in that debate again. I know the Jena 6 is just an example of the things we are fighting, but it’s a bad example for to keep using.
BMD,
I agree. Especially after those two Jena 6 boys showed up at the BET awards & there was that video of that Jena boy waving wads of cash around.
Will Al Sharpton please just go away? Pretty please, with sugar on top?
His involvement undermines the seriousness of everything he touches.
Agree with all of you. Al Sharpton gets more power from the media than black people. At some point, people decided that he was the source for the “black view” and that is all sorts of bull.
so what if they were waving cash around or if they got into trouble after the fact no one is perfect…(clean up your own back yard before you talk about someone) That doesn’t change the fact that they were going to be sentenced to a crime that they did not commit…. I applaud them for standing up to the classmated that were disrepecting thier race !!! I wonder how many others have turned thier heads and allowed this to happen in and have done nothing…!!! This is the problem now… Our people always has something to say about how someone should act… stop talking crap and start supporting MY peole … YOU stand up and put yourself on the front line to fight it you have a problem with the people who are currently doing it… It doesn’t matter how or when they do it they ARE doing it… Try praying for them and the situation or stand up and do better!!
You don’t stand up to ignorance with violence which is both ignorant and illegal. There are ways to handle things that any one with anything going on between the ears would do. The options aren’t fight or walk away with your tails between your legs. The kid said something racist. Use your brain and confront him on it. Report him. Get like-minded students together and take a stance against hatred. MANY minorities are confronted with racism and the way you deal with it matters.
You do not take money that hardworking people around the country have raised for your defense and flaunt it. Many people who are probably living paycheck to paycheck gave money for their defense. They are incredibly foolish and unappreciative of what millions of people have done to rescue them from a situation they wouldn’t be in at all if they used their brains.
They did indeed commit a crime that they should be held responsible for, but you are right on one thing: they weren’t being sentenced for the right crime.
lol “report it” to the justice system that obviously is trying to send them to jail 4 life??
IF they didn’t beat a kid up, they could confront him and report it to the principal at the very least. The school at least reported the noose incidents to the police department and as segregated as the school was, that’s something.
I hate equating this to the work done for civil rights. If these kids got arrested protesting the inaction on the part of the police department or for demanding a stop to the problems, I would be 110% behind him. If you get into trouble, 5 people at that, beating a kid up, I’ll support you not getting sentenced for attempted murder and that’s it. Fairness is fairness. If 5 white kids beat up a black kid for saying some shit, yeah, I would want them to face the consequences too.
Daria,
Everyday I come to this blog and every day I see you talking mad *&ish about how someone else is ignorant when you are obviously the most ignorant person on the comment pages.
Are you deaf dumb and blind? You think millions of people are standing behind these boys for nothing? WHat happend was flat out wrong, plain and simple. If they beat that white boy so bad then why was he at a party a few hours later???????
Damn I hate it when we as Blacks come down on each other so tuff, like more than you would any other race biz you have no faith in Blacks and what we go through.
To all of yall haitng on AL SHARPTON- Dont talk shit about what someone else is doing to better the community unless your are doing something else that is better. Sharpton spoke of this not three days ago at my school Howard U. in a rally for this march. WHat organization are yall a part of? What are yall doing to get Black people out of this unjust hellish existance that many of us must face daily?
Monica, since you obviously didn’t read all that I wrote, I’ll repeat that I support them but they’ve acted poorly. On some level, I can see why someone would act out of anger but their decisions since are beyond poor which limits my sympathy. Do you seriously think they did nothing wrong? Genarlow Wilson made a mistake and he’s carried himself incredibly well. I 110% support him.
As for Al Sharpton, his handling of most of the high-profile cases is troubling.
What do I do? I volunteer at a rape crisis center and do reproductive rights education and advocacy work. I am definitely a victims’ rights advocate and helping people make good decisions and thrive after being put through hell is important to me. I wish civil rights leaders would pay some attention to the loads of black girls and women who are put through hell, many victims of repeated assaults. I’m not going to be a sheep. Thinking for myself and doing what I believe is right is far more compelling than doing something because someone else tells me that I’m supposed to. I’m not alone on this.
Late pass please. Where to begin…?
“The kid said something racist. Use your brain and confront him on it. Report him. Get like-minded students together and take a stance against hatred. MANY minorities are confronted with racism and the way you deal with it matters.”
That is probably the only point of contention in this discussion. When the original noose incident was brought up to school officials, they not only failed to expell the guilty party, they failed to take any disciplinary action at all. We must also look at the events that led up to the day that the young boy was beaten.
The six males who fought him, had previously been racially insulted, harassed, beaten and even threatened with an illegal sawed-off-shotgun. The police even charged two of the Jena six with theft, even though they took the shotgun from their assailent, in order to defend themselves (they later returned the illegal weapon, to the police).
It is quite obvious that any measure of the law has never been and most likely never will be, on the side of the Jena 6. I admire your idealistic view daria, but their response was to be expected. There is only so much that they could take. They were invited to a whites only party and one of them was beaten just as bad as the white individual who this entire fiasco focuses on.
I am not saying that violence is to be accepted, but in this very extreme situation it is beyond justified. It was a matter of self defense that sent out the message that they were no longer to be threatened, beaten and harassed. What else could they do when they were literally battling an entire city?