Are You Kidding Me, Rev???

What’s going on here? In Wednesday’s edition of the New York Times, an article titled “In Louisiana, a Tree, a Fight and a Question of Justice”, covers a racial controversy being called the Jena 6. It all started with a tree, then a racial act, then a protest, and finally a fight. Now we have six high school kids charged with attempted murder, one of them who was put in jail while awaiting his trial. All of this has exploded into a national issue and is sweeping over college campuses and justice organizations. The article goes on to explain what’s being done about the whole situation and its affect on the town of Jena. What caught my attention was an argument between the parents of the accused and Rev. P.A. Paul who, by the way, is white. He has the nerve to tell those parents that what the white students did, hanging up nooses on the tree, is just “kid’s play.” What???!!!
As much as I’d like this world to be all happy and dandy, that’s just not reality. He later goes on to say that as a child he hung nooses around his neck (for fun…I guess). I don’t know about his mom, but if I knew my kid was hanging nooses around his/her neck, I’d be the one hanging him/her off a tree for even thinking about playing with that stuff. I thought Ms. Jones, mother of Carwin Jones (one of the accused), was absolutely hilarious. She told him, “Well, you didn’t pull it tight enough.” HAHA!!!
Those kids are in high school, and most likely well aware of what is considered racist and what isn’t. I highly doubt that the white student had no idea that calling a black student the ‘n-word’ would be offensive. He definitely knew what he was doing. He meant to hurt him. I’m not defending anyone. I just believe in justice, and what’s being done to these kids is not just.
Back to the kid’s play. Hate crimes are not unusual to teens now. According to SafeYouth.org, “almost two-thirds of reported attacks are committed by individuals under the age of 24,” where “young white males commit most of them.” Just because they’re ‘kids’ doesn’t mean that they’re not capable of committing a racist act. They’re old enough to know the difference between right and wrong, or at least they should. In regards to the hanging of the nooses, the act was dismissed. Nothing much was done to punish those who did it. However, interestingly enough, the University of Maryland experienced a similar display of racism. Recently, a noose was hung on a tree just outside of a cultural center. This case, however, is being seen differently. In an article by ABC News on September 10, Paul Dillon of the university police stated, “We will treat this like any other serious crime on campus.” Whether it’s a hate crime or not, it’s still a crime.
So once again, Reverend, what were you thinking???