I don't have as much original content as I prefer for this diary-- I was just sort of amazed that I missed yet another Jena Six story. Per Yahoo News:
Marchers surrounded the Justice Department headquarters on Friday to demand federal intervention in the "Jena Six" case and enforcement of hate crimes against those who hang nooses in public.
On a chilly but clear day, busloads of people packed a downtown plaza seeking a big government response to small town injustices. They were angered by charges they consider overly harsh and unfair against six black teens accused of beating a white high school student in Jena, La. Tensions between black and white students had run high for weeks in Jena, including an incident where a noose was hung from a tree at the high school. No one was charged with a crime for hanging the noose.
UPDATE: CNN now has VIDEO:
I'll post more updates as I get them. Any of you who have more details about this, please post them in the comments and I'll get them up into the main dairy as updates.
I can't believe I didn't know this was going on.
Again.
UPDATE: per the comments:
Rev. Lennox Yearwood and many other groups will hold a rally protesting police brutality starting at noon Saturday (Nov17). Be there if you can.
SOME THOUGHTS I'M ADDING LATER:
So... here's the thing: I wonder how much of my own lack of attention to what's been going on with the Jena Six is because I'm a white person living in one of the whitest places in the nation and I've got a little more racism than I want to admit.
I mean, I had no idea that this was coming and I feel like I'm interested in this but I don't do anything other than write about it after the fact.
I think I can say, on behalf of most white Americans: we kind of suck when it comes to paying attention to issues related to race. We like to think that we're not racist, and most of us probably aren't racist as in using racial epithets or overtly disliking non-whites. But I think most of us are racist in the sense that we just tend to maintain a willful ignorance about injustice.
Or maybe I'm just being an ass by making this diary about me, and not about the broader issues. Like I said, we suck.
Oh, and by the way, please do not use the comments section to try to tell me that I don't suck as badly as all that. I don't need ego stroking or support. I'm posting this as an attempt at having a discussion, not to whine or get any sort of assistance.