Feedback Forum

Tell us what you think about the media storm surrounding the so-called "Jena 6." Who's right, who's wrong, and what does it say about the state of racism in America?

Submissions for this question are no longer being accepted. Previously submitted comments appear below. Comments may have been edited for content or space.

Poster: DONI NAIR
Comment: Yes they are being treated in an unfair way-how can the DA call a tennis shoe a deadly weapon? The victim spent only a brief time in the hospital. I understand that the six black youths have been in jail for a year. All the white adults are in denial-the DA, the school principal, the white parents. Normal high school kids of all races get in fights from time to time. Punish all equally and fairly-use it as a teaching moment. Is that expecting too much in Louisiana?

Poster: Jennifer Logan
Comment: This is the kind of justice that the people of color get, in every state of this country. If it was the other way around, and it was a bunch of white kids who beat a black boy, chances are we probably wouldn't of even heard about it.

Poster: W. McGinnis
Comment: Race will always be a factor where social interactions are concern here in the United States, and the entire world. One should never be surprise when racism raises its ugly head no matter where. So-call racism can be found in Asia, Africa, Europ, The Far East, The Near East, as well as North and South America. We're all locked in a condition that's been with us form the begining of time. Welcome to Life! God help us all.

Poster: dave
Comment: Hey, they (supposedly) committed a crime. And 6 on 1 ain't fair anywhere. The other crime is to let the whites who instigated teh problems go scott free! But two wrongs don't make it right.

Poster: Joe
Comment: I lived in Jena for a while. The older white folks (and their kids) have always held themselves as superior to blacks and to newcomers. This town has a long history of violence and unrest, despite the best efforts of some to change it. They are so set in their ways that they need to build a fence around themselves to keep the rest of the world out.

Poster: JSB
Comment: Charged with murder? Seems a little out of line. Had the skin colors been reversed, would the police have been involved?

Poster: Pat McLaughlin
Comment: Obviously, it is a racist situation. The Prosecutor must have gone to the same school as the one that Prosecuted the innocent students at Duke Univ. This Prosecutor needs to be fired and the case dropped. Will the Jena 6 ever get to college, will they ever get a job in that town? Not if that town's whites can stop it. This is a long racist story about to begin.

Poster: Les Barrett
Comment: The hanging tree symbology runs chills up my spine. The resultant violence was wrong but understandable. The wiping out of a person's life by stroke of a pen is even more disgusting. Unfortunately, although not all prosecutors are dumb enough to make such threats, I believe that many of them are inflicted with the same hubris. Power should not be in the hands of such people. There are plenty of good people out there who can perform public duties fairly and humbly.

Poster: Sue Mallott
Comment: Sadly, the Jena school administration missed an opportunity to educate both the white and black students in the history of race relations. They should have suspended the white students for a stupid, insensitive stunt, called a school assembly and talked honestly about what the nooses meant. Someone in Jena said that the students were too young to know, but, apparently the white students did and from the reaction of the black students...they did also. There is still a lot of racism everywhere in our country and maybe this will initiate a new dialogue.

Poster: Andwele Gardner
Comment: This just happens to be Jena, Louisiana. It could very well be Jena, New York if there was such a place. Racism can be blatant, as in Jena, or refined as it is in most places in this country. I think we're looking at a revival of blantant racism, and it is not limited to small southern states.

Poster: Damani
Comment: Racism never died, nor was it ever slipped under a rug. People fight to come to this country for what? If we can't treat each other respectively, how can we expect other countries to respect us? This country that functions on the backs of the media perpetuate the majority of the problems we have. Instead of forming dialogue between the nations within this country, they allienate our diversities amongst our neighbors. The media can do good jounalism but they do little to help the strain on the cohesion that keeps this country together.

Poster: Hannah -Spring Lake, MI
Comment: what the jena 6 did was wrong, no matter how you look at it. the student(s) who put the nooses in the tree also did something wrong. even though there is no law that can be used against the first offenders, the school should have at least taken more initiative in finding and punishing the students who hung the nooses. racism is still rampant in america, and i wish somehow people would be be able to put idiotic prejudices aside and work together with everyone and anyone else to make our country better.

Poster: jmalus@sent.com
Comment: Folks who bother to read the details concerning what happened, i.e., more than a couple of paragraphs, know that the young black people ARE being treated unfairly. I leave it to discerning people to find out the truth. It IS published.

Poster: Andy Rumph
Comment: I am going to do a bit more investigating, but one thing has drawn my attention. The situation was given, and the charges of attempted murder were gone over, but in the amount I have paid attention to in this story (and I am a news hound), I did not see how badly the victim was injured. Did he have a busted tooth and some bruises, or did he spend some perilous hours in a hospital on the verge of death? If that was the case, then the attempted murder charges might have been appropriate; however, if he had some cuts and bruises a a broken tooth or nose, then the charges would not be appropriate. For some reason, the amount of damage the victim received has seen very little coverage at the front level of the story. The fact that I will have to investigate more reveals that. To me though that is a very important part of the story; that is the very thing that determines if the charges were to severe or right on target.

Poster: Cathy Wright
Comment: It takes an istance like this for people to see how scewed their view is. I think good things will come from this, more lessens learned about being fair to all people. The kids in the school will learn that having a tree that excludes people is not right, not cool. The judges and the towns people will take another look at their behavior and hopefully, believe the voice inside that tells them it is wrong to allow that kind of behavior in their community, in their schools. I commend all those that did not let this pass without notice! Thank you!

Poster: Mary L. Schroeder
Comment: I do not think that they are being treated fairly. If the incident had been the other way around the white children would never have been arrested in the first place. I think the state of racism in America has not come as far as we think it has. More education for people of color has helped but what can each of us do to help change deep seated attitudes?

Poster: NOW on PBS
Comment: You can learn more about this news event at The Washington Post