I agree totally. In fact, D.K. I am composing an email to Al now.. You
will notice that he does not attribute the source of most his information.
Von
On 9/25/07 6:42 PM, "E. K. Daufin" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I have been urging ³AL² from the Poynter Institute who has a listserv
> with news ideas to do something about the Jena 6. It seems he is relying on
> White racists/supporters for his ³facts² in some cases. I am sorry I asked
> him to do anything on the Jena 6 because this bloody message is the one that
> went out across the country to journalists and I think it belittles the racism
> these kids have to deal with. From this message Al seems to me to write like
> a racist in ³objective journalist¹s² sheep¹s clothing.
>
> What do you all think? Have I taken ³Al² wrong? Feel free to email the
> guy ([log in to unmask]) about it only send me a copy will you? Thanks
>
>
> By Al Tompkins (http://www.poynter.org/profile/profile.asp?user=1557)
>
>
>
> There is, of course, no defense for hanging nooses from trees. There is no
> excuse for students who beat one another out of hate. There is still much to
> be explained about why some students are vigorously prosecuted while others
> are not. All this poses a challenge for journalists, who have reported and
> repeated many popular myths in what has come to be known as the "Jena Six"
> (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-je
> na_21met.ART0.State.Edition2.4294d21.html) case.
>
> Think about how many times journalists have reported about the "white tree"
> (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sally-kohn/blinded-by-the-white-oj-_b_65283.htm
> l) or the "noose incident" directly connected to the December 2006 attack. It
> turns out that much of what you may know about this case is wrong.
>
> The Associated Press ran a piece
> (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070922/ap_on_re_us/a_place_called_jena) on some
> of the subtle complexities of the story:
> -The so-called "white tree" at Jena High, often reported to be the
> domain of only white students, was nothing of the sort, according to
> teachers and school administrators; students of all races, they say,
> congregated under it at one time or another.
> -Two nooses -- not three -- were found dangling from the tree.
> Beyond being offensive to blacks, the nooses were cut down because
> black and white students "were playing with them, pulling on them,
> jump-swinging from them, and putting their heads through them,"
> according to a black teacher who witnessed the scene.
> -There was no (direct) connection
> (http://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/jena6.asp) between the September noose
> incident and the December attack, according to Donald Washington, an attorney
> for
> the U.S. Justice Department in western Louisiana, who investigated
> claims that these events might be race-related hate crimes.
>
> -The three youths accused of hanging the nooses were not
> suspended for just three days � they were isolated at an alternative
> school for about a month, and then given an in-school suspension for
> two weeks.
> -The six-member jury that convicted Bell was, indeed, all
> white. However, only one in 10 people in LaSalle Parish is African
> American, and though black residents were selected randomly by computer
> and summoned for jury selection, none showed up.
> -In July, the first to be tried, Mychal Bell, was convicted after two
> hours of deliberations by an all-white jury on reduced charges of
> aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit it. It was widely reported that
> Bell, now 17, was an honor student with
> no prior criminal record. Although he had a high grade-point average,
> he was, in fact, on probation for at least two counts of battery and a
> count of criminal damage to property. In any event, his conviction was
> overturned because an appeals court ruled he should not have been tried
> as an adult.
>
> This is the "Color of Change" Web site (http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/) ,
> which asserts the "facts" of a white tree to be true. The site also makes the
> case for why the local prosecutor acted unfairly when prosecuting the black
> students but not criminally charging white students who were also involved in
> fights.
>
> What I do not understand (maybe those of you who have covered this story can
> clarify), is why the feds don't prosecute the noose incident and the fights
> (involving both sides) as federal crimes. Even if the state prosecutor says he
> has no state law that would make the hanging of a noose a crime, there is
> federal legislation that says
> (http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/civilrights/statutes.htm) :
>
> Title 18, U.S.C., Section 241
> Conspiracy Against Rights
>
> This statute makes it unlawful for two or more persons to conspire to
> injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person of any state, territory or
> district in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured
> to him/her by the Constitution or the laws of the United States, (or because
> of his/her having exercised the same).
>
> Those who put up the nooses seem to have filled every criteria. There were
> more than two of them, and they clearly were meant to threaten, injure and
> oppress others. The oppression seemed to have to do with the black student's
> First Amendment right to peaceably assemble.
>
> Some have suggested the noose incident would be a candidate for federal hate
> crimes, but as I read the federal crime law, passed in 1994, I saw that it
> requires the hate crime to be focused against an individual or an individual's
> property as opposed to a generic spewing of hate against a group of people.
>
> Public Law #103-322A, a 1994 federal law, defines a hate
> crime as:
>
> "a crime in which the defendant intentionally selects a
> victim, or in the case of a property crime, the property that is the
> object of the crime, because of the actual or perceived race, color,
> religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual
> orientation of any person."
>
> Read more about what federal hate crimes say
> (http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_hat3.htm) .
>
> Here is Yahoo.com's constantly refreshed collection
> (http://news.yahoo.com/fc/US/Jena_Six_Case;_ylt=Ag22ZutVMQRHInYAwR6.p1sE1vAI)
> of Jena Six stories.
>
> Click here for the Anti-Defamation League's interactive map
> (http://www.adl.org/learn/hate_crimes_laws/map_frameset.html) , which links
> you to individual state anti-hate laws. Would the Jena noose incident have
> been considered a hate crime in your state?
>
> Getting Local on the New National Violent Crime Data
>
> The FBI Violent Crime Statistics
> (http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/index.html) are just out. Once again,
> violent crime is up nationally.
>
> Here are some links to help you get local:
> National Data
> (http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/offenses/standard_links/national_estimates.ht
> ml) Region
> (http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/offenses/standard_links/regional_estimates.ht
> ml) State
> (http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/offenses/standard_links/state.html) County
> Agency
> (http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/offenses/standard_links/county_agency.html)
> City Agency
> (http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/offenses/standard_links/city_agency.html)
> Universities and Colleges
> (http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/offenses/standard_links/universities_colleges
> .html) Cities and Counties Grouped by Size (population group)
> (http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/offenses/standard_links/population_group.html
> ) Metropolitian Statistical Areas
> (http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/data/table_06.html)
> What NOT to Do with the New Crime Stats
>
> Many of you, and maybe many of your city officials, will try to use the data
> to compare the safety of your town to others. But the FBI says you shouldn't.
> The comparisons, it says, won't stand up
> (http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/about/variables_affecting_crime.html) :
>
> Each year when Crime in the United States is published, many
> entities -- news media, tourism agencies, and other groups with an
> interest in crime in our Nation -- use reported figures to compile
> rankings of cities and counties. These rankings, however, are merely a
> quick choice made by the data user; they provide no insight into the
> many variables that mold the crime in a particular town, city, county,
> state, region, or other jurisdiction. Consequently, these rankings lead
> to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading
> perceptions adversely affecting cities and counties, along with their
> residents.
>
>
>
> We sometimes have problems with our server rejecting incoming email. If your
> reply to this email is returned to you, PLEASE call me at the number below.
> Apologies...We are working on it. Sincerely,
>
>
>
> Rev. Dr. E-K. Daufin, Professor
>
> Department of Communications
>
> Alabama State University
>
> 915 South Jackson St.
>
> Montgomery, AL 36101-0271
>
> 334.229.6885
>
> Thank you in advance for your
>
> Scholarly & Creative Activity Referrals -
>
> Lectures, Performances, Workshops, Consultation Related Info:
> http://home.earthlink.net/~ekdaufin/ <http://home.earthlink.net/~ekdaufin/>
>
>
>
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