The nooses were a joke perpetrated by both black and white students in a response to what they were learning about racism in class. They simply didn't understand what the were doing was inflammitory The local news in Jena has reported this, my local AM news/talk AM station WJR has reported this, as did Bill O'Reilly just a week or so ago.
Stop conencting the noose incident to the six-on-one beating because there isn't one. It only exists in the minds racists looking for a reason to get other racists off the hook for commiting a crime.
I'm getting pretty tired of how much fathers in our society get beaten up by the Media.
Being a father has nothing to do with genetics - what happened one night does not entitle you to the moniker. Racing your son to the ER at 2:30am with stomach pain so bad it wakes the kid up, however, does - as I just did this morning (Kid okay BTW). Turning the football game off to help your son with his math homework does. And singing the stupid "LOLCats" song ("Dance... I'm a kitty cat. And I meow meow meow and I meow meow meow...) with your kid in the grocery store does.
More importantly a father passes along his biases - something that I'm extremely careful to do. For example, I grew up knowing African-Americans as every nasty racist epithet you can imagine - and a few my dad must have made up on his own. I'm passing along my bias NOT to treat Africa-Americans that way.
I also grew up hating gays, as everyone that I knew did at that time. I'm making it clear to the Kid that being gay doesn't disqualify you from being a valued member of the human race.
Fathers have critical roles in their sons' lives, and one of their duties is to make sure that their sons grow up without the BS and racist and sexist cr@p that they suffered through.
But watch TV for long enough, and you'll see that fathers are always peripheral, usually wrong, and often the object of ridicule.
I was one of those who stressed that Jason Whitlock is black.
I thought it was relevant because your first post made it as a polarized white vs. black issue, including assertion that nooses were hung by white kids only and emphasizing the fact that Bell jury was all white.
I thought it was relevant to point out that not all black people see it that way.
Several people in the last thread and via (thoughtful) email pointed me in the direction of more information regarding the Jena 6, which have served to substantially cool my earlier anger about the issue.
See? If we'd only had email way back when, nobody would've gone off the deep end and wound up lynching people because they'd believed trumped-up BS.
The best way for a black (or white) father to ensure that his son doesn’t fall victim to a racist prosecutor is by participating in his son’s life on a daily basis.
Bravo, Aziz.
10.3.2007 5:42pm
Commenting on Dean's World is a privilege, not a right. Dean is your host, you are his guest, and you should behave in that fashion. Dean is not your babysitter, nor is he your punching bag. Please remember this. In general, you are free to disagree with anyone on any subject you wish, but abusive behavior will not be tolerated.
Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.
Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.
One small nit: I don't think Jason Whitlock thinks it's irrelevant that he is an African-American.
Yours,
Wince
Stop conencting the noose incident to the six-on-one beating because there isn't one. It only exists in the minds racists looking for a reason to get other racists off the hook for commiting a crime.
Being a father has nothing to do with genetics - what happened one night does not entitle you to the moniker. Racing your son to the ER at 2:30am with stomach pain so bad it wakes the kid up, however, does - as I just did this morning (Kid okay BTW). Turning the football game off to help your son with his math homework does. And singing the stupid "LOLCats" song ("Dance... I'm a kitty cat. And I meow meow meow and I meow meow meow...) with your kid in the grocery store does.
More importantly a father passes along his biases - something that I'm extremely careful to do. For example, I grew up knowing African-Americans as every nasty racist epithet you can imagine - and a few my dad must have made up on his own. I'm passing along my bias NOT to treat Africa-Americans that way.
I also grew up hating gays, as everyone that I knew did at that time. I'm making it clear to the Kid that being gay doesn't disqualify you from being a valued member of the human race.
Fathers have critical roles in their sons' lives, and one of their duties is to make sure that their sons grow up without the BS and racist and sexist cr@p that they suffered through.
But watch TV for long enough, and you'll see that fathers are always peripheral, usually wrong, and often the object of ridicule.
I thought it was relevant because your first post made it as a polarized white vs. black issue, including assertion that nooses were hung by white kids only and emphasizing the fact that Bell jury was all white.
I thought it was relevant to point out that not all black people see it that way.
See? If we'd only had email way back when, nobody would've gone off the deep end and wound up lynching people because they'd believed trumped-up BS.
Bravo, Aziz.
Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.
Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.