Racism Today

I just cut and pasted this from the colorofchange.org website. Even if you don't go online to sign the petition, I highly recommend informing yourself. This is a terrible situation and has gotten very little media coverage. The more outraged the wider world becomes, the less people can get away with stuff like this.


Dear friend,

I just learned about a case of segregation-era oppression happening today in Jena, Louisiana. I signed onto ColorOfChange.org's campaign for justice in Jena, and wanted to invite you to do the same.

http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=1909-224014

Last fall in Jena, the day after two Black high school students sat beneath the "white tree" on their campus, nooses were hung from the tree. When the superintendent dismissed the nooses as a "prank," more Black students sat under the tree in protest. The District Attorney then came to the school accompanied by the town's police and demanded that the students end their protest, telling them, "I can be your best friend or your worst enemy... I can take away your lives with a stroke of my pen."

A series of white-on-black incidents of violence followed, and the DA did nothing. But when a white student was beaten up in a schoolyard fight, the DA responded by charging six black students with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

It's a story that reads like one from the Jim Crow era, when judges, lawyers and all-white juries used the justice system to keep blacks in "their place." But it's happening today. The families of these young men are fighting back, but the story has gotten minimal press. Together, we can make sure their story is told and that the Governor of Louisiana intervenes and provides justice for the Jena 6. It starts now. Please join me:

http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=1909-224014

The noose-hanging incident and the DA's visit to the school set the stage for everything that followed. Racial tension escalated over the next couple of months, and on November 30, the main academic building of Jena High School was burned down in an unsolved fire. Later the same weekend, a black student was beaten up by white students at a party. The next day, black students at a convenience store were threatened by a young white man with a shotgun. They wrestled the gun from him and ran away. While no charges were filed against the white man, the students were later arrested for the theft of the gun.

That Monday at school, a white student, who had been a vocal supporter of the students who hung the nooses, taunted the black student who was beaten up at the off-campus party and allegedly called several black students "nigger." After lunch, he was knocked down, punched and kicked by black students. He was taken to the hospital, but was released and was well enough to go to a social event that evening.

Six Black Jena High students, Robert Bailey (17), Theo Shaw (17), Carwin Jones (18), Bryant Purvis (17), Mychal Bell (16) and an unidentified minor, were expelled from school, arrested and charged with second-degree attempted murder. The first trial ended last month, and Mychal Bell, who has been in prison since December, was convicted of aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery (both felonies) by an all-white jury in a trial where his public defender called no witnesses. During his trial, Mychal's parents were ordered not to speak to the media and the court prohibited protests from taking place near the courtroom or where the judge could see them.

Mychal is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31st, and could go to jail for 22 years. Theo Shaw's trial is next. He will finally make bail this week.

The Jena Six are lucky to have parents and loved ones who are fighting tooth and nail to free them. They have been threatened but they are standing strong. We know that if the families have to go it alone, their sons will be a long time coming home. But if we act now, we can make a difference.

Join me in demanding that Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco get involved to make sure that justice is served for Mychal Bell, and that DA Reed Walters drop the charges against the 5 boys who have not yet gone to trial.

http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=1909-224014

Thanks.
Anne

My New Favorite Phrase

I've found myself using the same phrase over and over again lately. It's not a new phrase, or a particularly exciting one. Rather, it's an expression of frustration using words that are not directly blaming one individual. The phrase is, "I find that problematic."

This phrase has really come in handy a lot lately. For example, it was very useful when my boss called me all in a tizzy saying she hadn't yet received documentation for all the transactions done in September, October, and November of 2007. My initial reply was, "it's August." Not immediately comprehending, she said, "I know." I replied, "No, it's August of 2007--September, October, and November of 2007 haven't happened yet." When two accountants and a vice president don't notice that they're getting all hot and bothered about documentation for fictional transactions, and it takes a lowly student worker to point this out, I say, "I find this problematic."

The great thing about this phrase is that it's not, "I find you problematic" (although I'm sure that's a useful phrase as well). It's not a mean phrase or a phrase that shocks. It is understated yet clear. "I find this problematic" just has so many fine qualities.

The good news is I'll be starting a new job soon. While I'm sure I'll have my share of frustrations there, it will give me a fresh start and new skills to learn. It might even be quite some time before I find anything in particular problematic.

Has anyone else needed to use this phrase recently?

My Bizarre Jobs

Someone donated stock to the school today, and I had to wait until the New York Stock Exchange closed in order to get a "historical quote," which is basically the average price of the stock for that day. I've done a lot of crazy things for work--shoveled horse manure, repainted the lines on a football field, led young children on a fictional bear hunt, crawled through a giant 3-dimensional ant hill...and yet...waiting for the NYSE to close somehow seems the strangest of them all.

I guess I really am meant to work in non-profits for the rest of my life.