Jena 6

So a friend of mine yesterday is asking me if I knew anything about the Jena 6. I said "hell, yes." Not that there has been a lot of news coverage about it until recently, but the Field Negro has been blogging about it for some time now, so has the Angry Black Bitch and Pam's House Blend. NPR and MSNBC have had some coverage, too. It's not exactly a hidden story, even if the New York Times apparently didn't pick it up until the 15th. If this is the first time you have heard about this, clearly you have not been paying attention.

She tells me that the folks in her office were discussing it the other day. She said something along the lines of "as the only Southerner in the room, I'm really embarrassed that stupid shit like this can still happen."

And this isn't the only example of such stupid shit. Two weeks ago, a noose was found hanging from a tree outside of the Nyumburu Cultural Center at the University of Maryland at College Park.

Let's be clear about this: Hanging a noose up for Black folk to see is as offensive and disgusting an act as is spray-painting a swastika on a synagogue.

No rationalizations on this one. I don't see why Blacks are expected to sit back and take shit like this. If some guy was painting a swastika on the local synagogue and he got shot for his trouble, I'd be pretty damn happy about it and I can't see why Blacks are supposed to feel any different.