Saturday, June 27, 2009

JENA 6 Plead NO CONTEST!!


So, the JENA 6, the six young men from Jena, Louisiana that were all charged with Attempted Murder after fighting or beating another white, male schoolmate after he allegedly said a racial slur in 2007, pleaded no contest to lesser charges and ended up with: 7 days unsupervised probation, $500 fine, court costs. However, only five of the six young men were the beneficiaries of this plead deal, Mychal Bell, accused of initiating the fight/beating, has already be sentenced and served 18months behind bars. What I have to ask is how after two years, just two, does one's charges get reduced from ATTEMPTED MURDER and possibly life behind bars to unsupervised probation for a week, $500 fine, and court costs??? It is a mystery as to whether Justin Barker (accused of a racial slur) actually uttered a racial slur at all and if the boys actually reacted the way the prosecution accused them of reacting but what is proven, IN MY OPINION, by the outcome of this case is that the prosecution involved in this case certainly were driven to punish these young men on the basis of race. The guys' plea deal forces one to ask "Well, had they started the case out with the lesser charges, could this all have been over with two years ago?" The answer is YES!! Instead the Prosecution wanting to paint a hateful, violent and racist picture of the six young men that allegedly beat Justin Barker.
I am proud of the African American community for taking a stand for the sake of the Jena 6 when the case became nationally known however, this case proves that while we have an African American President, more prominent African Americans in this country than ever before....WE HAVE YET TO GET TO THE MOUNTAIN TOP THAT DR. KING SPOKE OF IN HIS LAST SPEECH in MEMPHIS!! IT'S TIME FOR US TO MAKE MOVES IN THIS COUNTRY. The once "impossibilities" are becoming achievements all around us....I'm happy for the Jena 6 but sad that race has proven, yet again, to be principal in this country!!!! STILL OVERCOMING....

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