Jena 6- Could it ever happen here?

I've been reading with outrage the news about the "Jena 6". You've heard of it, I'm sure: the six young men (who are black) are being charged with murder and assault and batttery after getting into a fight with another kid (white) at their school after weeks of escalating tension and altercations stemming from one black student asking an assistant principal if he could sit underneath the tree where the white students routinely sat (he was told, "You can sit anywhere you want."), followed by nooses being put in the tree, followed by black students being (rightly) outraged, followed by an altercation at a convenience store between some of the black kids and white kids, with one of the white boys pulling a shotgun out of his truck and one of the black boys taking it away from him (the black young man was charged with theft of a firearm but nothing happened to the white young man!), followed by the scuffle at school, in which a white boy got hurt (and was treated and released from the hospital that day) and the 6 young black men, who by some accounts may have not done anything during the fight other than stand there, will do time in jail.

here's some info from the Southern Poverty Law Center.

NPR has some photos of the town and some of the people involved in the case.

It's outrageous! It's disgusting! And I think, "that would never happen here," but of course it does!

The reason why these children are now on trial is because of a physical fight. But there was so much that happened before the fight, and the authority figures in these children's lives (teachers, prinicipals, police officers) should have stopped it then.

It should have stopped with the idiots who put nooses in trees. They should have been expelled and the principal and superintendent and police and whoever else should have been involved to help declare a "no tolerance" policy for racism. But that's not what happened.

We know why..... because people in that town tolerated the racism. What I mean is, the white people in that town allowed it. The racism had been unspoken, and when it was given a voice (the black boy asking if he could sit under that tree), acknowledging that the racism was real, then that was enough of someone "stepping over the line" for the white people and the beating back began. The white people allowed it to fester and grow (this town is 85% white). The people in town let it fester. I don't know if there were any black teachers or staff in authority at that school.....

here's a post by someone about being in the south and dealing with "stepping over that line".

I can't help but think about my kids. I mean my two boys who I gave birth to but also to the young men who I teach. Most are black, or "people of color." Could something like this happen to them? Yes, I bet that it could. (Many of my students lack the critical thinking and reasoning to always avoid situations that could turn out terribly! What I mean is, they don't know how to high-tail it out of there if something looks like it's gonna turn bad. And it seems to happen to them more often than most...) But I don't think that it would ever happen to them at our school. I'm not saying that teachers and principals in the NYC public schools are not ever racist and vindictive (I'm sure that there are some!), but I feel assured that at my school they are cared for by staff who do not feel that way. Our staff are very protective of our kids. We love them and care for them and do what we can while they are with us. (It's what happens once they leave us for the day that scares us sometimes) it also helps that though there are white teachers at my school, there are lots of "people of color," too (including our principal).

But I feel terribly sad for all the young men and women who now must feel betrayed by what happened at a place where they are supposed to feel safe: school.

I love being a teacher, and I do it because I love the kids. Yes, even when they are rotten to each other and rotten to me (on occasion it happens) or to another teacher or to themselves. But imagine being in a place that is for learning and growing, and not feeling safe!

Is it any better here? No, it's just different. One of the reason I moved here is the mix of people who live here. There are a lot of people who recently came to America from somewhere else- Brazil, Bangladesh, Honduras, Mexico, China, Croatia, Montenegro, Ukraine, England, and so on. Plus, there are people who are a generation or so removed from another country (who still have a few varying ties to the old place), and some who's people have been here for some time.

Also, there is a mix of money and social class (which is not the same thing!)- there are people just holding it together, and some who have a lot in the bank- there are people here who are the first to finish highschool and some professionals....There are a few hipsters and artists, civil servents (like me!), yuppies and lawyers and bankers and mechanics and construction workers.....

I'm not saying that it's a perfect mix- it isn't. And there are definitely mixed feelings about the mix....

When we moved into our house in 1999, I was gardening in my mini "yard" in the front of my house. An older woman stopped to say hello and told me that she was my neighbor. No one had said "boo" to us yet, so I was thrilled to talk to a real, live neighbor. She told me about how she and her husband purchaced their house when she was a bride, how nice the neighborhood was but how the place had changed. Oh no, I thought, here we go....

"There are a lot of Orientals living here now. I don't like them."

I thought to myself- "Lady, you're telling me!" Cause there were 4 of them in my house! (3 Japanese students were our tenants uptairs and my husband is Filipino)

There was no way that I felt like telling off an old lady (who has since passed away), so I told her how much I loved living here and how nice everyone was. I added, "A lot of people from all over the world live here and I think it's great!" And after I had my first child, she often stopped us during walks in the neighborhood and was always very sweet to us- including my husband!

Is there racism in Astoria? Of course! and classism and sexism.....
But I feel safe, and I think that most people I know feel safe.

But, I hear little kids say things to each other on the playground about color and race in ways that aren't endearing inside jokes (the way my husband and I talk about how are kids look "filipino," or "not so filipino"), but sound like deliberate, hurtful jabs. Could those jabs escalate and fester into a situation like that in Jena?

I don't know how the fight at the high school in Jena started, but I do think that there things are "black and white," and because that kind of racism is such a sick, insidious kind -the kind that created the situation that trapped the Katrina victims- that is passed down from parent to child.

this is a great post, too:

Do I know what it is like to be a person of color in America? Nope, I don't. But I know that I don't want to help continue racism and want to help fight it. I'm doing it for my kids- the ones in my house and the ones in my school (because they are all in my heart).