A White Person's Meditation on the Jena 6 Students

SAVE AS FAVORITE

VIEW FAVORITES

By Kimberly Wilder, Posted by 2kiwipress (about the submitter) Page 4 of 5 page(s)

opednews.com Permalink

Mychal Bell deserved a jury of his peers, a jury of black people, to determine his fate. But, it was a white jury that convicted Mychal Bell. (Which verdict has been overturned.) I just saw a media justification saying that it was an all white jury, because there are not a lot of black people in Jena, and the black people who were called as jurors did not show up. That is a ludicrous argument. Could it be there are so few black people in Jena, because the nooses and the attitude that produced them makes black people feel a little unwelcome? Could it be that potential black jurors are too economically oppressed to take time off for jury duty? Or, that potential black jurors are afraid of what happens to them if they vote against white people on a jury? Any understanding of diversity and lack of diversity would say that you recruit, seek out, and encourage until you find black people for the jury box in such a situation.

And, in the wider sense, it is the community of black adults who should decide what happens to a black child who makes a mistake. White progressives do not need to interfere with the messages that black leaders are sending out about what needs to be done, and what needs to be demanded.

The Black Community--not just Rev. Al Sharpton, but also more moderate figures such as Rev. Jesse Jackson, Congressman John Conyers, and the NAACP--have said what they think is fair. They have expressed their understanding of the system and the situation, and they want to say what to do with this young child of theirs. All that white progressives need to do is follow the direction of the black leaders. The black leaders are the ones who can best identify with the students. The black leaders are the ones that the families’ of the black students have met with in person, to share the story with.

Second-guessing the strategy of the people “in the frying pan”

Also, when a white person says that it is wrong to demand “that all charges be dropped”, that white person is judging the criminal justice system and what should be done by her own, personal integrity. She is saying, "The students deserve some small sentence, so I should go on record asking for a small sentence."

Here is the problem with that: The criminal justice system is totally unfair. And, sentencing and the law are executed as manipulative games by prosecutors. So, if the black community takes the time for 20,000 people to go down to Louisiana, and asks for "time served or 7 months", then that is their highest demand, and the system will probably negotiate them down from that, anyway.

Actually, prosecutor's almost always trump up the charges against a defendant. In this case, almost everyone agrees it was a distorted lie to have ever charged Mychal Bell with attempted murder. But, the prosecutor probably did that manipulative move partly in order to frighten the defendants into agreeing to something else. If the prosecutor can set a fake and wrong mark in the sand that overreaches, then the defendant--the weak person in the system--and his supporters need to be able to make a fake mark in the sand that overreaches. And, who is a white progressive in another part of the country to question the defendants’ right to do so?

When you are watching from the sidelines, removed, and not privy to all the history, and all the confidential information, you can not demand that the people more passionately involved-in this case the families of the students and the black leaders-act in the same way you would. You are most likely missing private information, important strategy, and the expertise of the legal team. Again, since you can’t understand everything, and you are not the person facing a long prison sentence, you should either help or get out of the way.

That is why I think that white people must understand that the white system "took" a 16 year old; the Black Community wants to propose we do and say xxxx to try to get the child back from the jaws of the racist criminal justice system. So, we should support the Black Community and say xxxx - even if that means to drop the charges. We should not consider if by asking to drop the charges, we are being too harsh on the criminal justice system, or troubling our own sensibilities about what the punishment should be.

Saying that criminal charges must be upheld, in order to teach Mychal Bell that violence is not acceptable, also assumes that he did not already learn his lesson based on what he has been through.

A white prism

It is so difficult for white people to hear accusations of racism.

I suppose that because I had recently attended a “Dismantling Racism Workshop” and happen to feel in an understanding flow about race issues, when I heard about the NAACP and thousands of people going to Jena to demand justice for the Jena 6 Students, I viewed it as a beautiful sign of support for young people caught up in the criminal justice system. It was even stated that part of the gathering was a celebration, because the appeals court had overturned the lower courts decision against Mychal Bell.

But, some white people in Jena became so reactive to the thought of all those demonstrators, they seemed convinced that the demonstrators’ presence was an indictment of their town. So, that some white people from Jena interviewed by the news seemed more interested in defending themselves as “not being racists”, than in considering the situation at hand. It is sad that the white people’s fear of being called racist is so dynamic, that it precludes those white people from hearing other important messages being communicated, such as: “We are blaming the system, not the people in the town for being racist” or “We know you are not being racist on purpose, but please help us with this subtle racism which is hurting our children.”

Though, it is not only the white people in Jena who are blinded by their abject worry to not be called racists. I believe some white progressives are tied in knots, trying to figure out which position they should take, to be sure that they are being objective and not racist. But, to truly free oneself from racism, you have to admit that, as a white person, you carry the burden of racism to some extent, because here you are in this culture, benefitting from your white privilege. And, honestly, I would say, that as a white person in our culture, it would be nearly impossible to not hold some subliminal racist stereotypes in our minds. (And, I beg you, please don’t let admitting to such baggage make you feel guilty. The situation can not bear more paralyzing feelings of shame. When we understand our white privilege and racism, we are supposed to face it and work through it.)

When you are a white person, it is so hard to examine a situation and admit that racism is a factor. If you are a white person, you don’t have to deal with discrimination and prejudice everyday, as black people do. So, it is easy to look at a situation, write a script for yourself where it is fair, and assert that racism did not happen. A lot of white progressives are trying to do this with Jena. They tell themselves something like: The 6 kids actually did beat someone up. That is violence. I don’t like violence. The kids have to be punished. There is a court to take care of it. I know I would feel the same if 6 white kids beat up a black kid. The part about racism must be made up.

If you are a white person, and you want to test to see if there is any racism involved in a situation, you will have to go to extreme measures to overcome your own training, and your own desire for racism not to exist. In order to measure if there was racism, you might try various exercises to look as objectively as possible at the situation.

For example, you could apply a “white prism” to what happened in Jena. Imagine the Jena 6 Students as white, and reverse all the other roles. Then, write or recite this new, white story. And, study these new characters and how you feel about them.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.

Contact Editor

Book Recommendations for "Change Children Community Culture"

Children and Adolescents in Trauma: Therapeutic Approaches Through the Arts (Community, Culture and Change)

$32.95

Number of pages: 176
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Cultures, Communities, Competence, and Change (The Plenum Series in Social/Clinical Psychology) (The Springer Series in Social/Clinical Psychology)
by Forrest B. Tyler

$129.00
Lowest New Price $28.97
Number of pages: 474
Publisher: Springer

Making Friends: The Influences of Culture and Development (Children, Youth

$48.95
Lowest New Price $144.06
Number of pages: 456
Publisher: Brookes Publishing Company

View All Book Recommendations

Share this page: (what's this?) Tell a Friend:

(More...)