2008 Woodie Awards
Point/Counterpoint: A gross overreaction
Brad DeFlumeri. He is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at bdeflume@student.umass.edu.
Issue date: 10/4/07 Section: Editorial / Opinion
If it is a rich white college kid who gets screwed by the system, then we, despite his accuser's claims lacking the slightest bit of veracity, collectively take a sick pleasure in watching his life come crumbling down around him. We somehow rationalize the wrong that has been committed by saying "Well, his parents can afford a good attorney anyway," or worse, "He has been privileged his whole life, let him learn what it is like to in the real world."
However, when there appears to be a poor, Southern, black victim of injustice, the liberal exploiters of racial tension are quick to act with vulture-like efficiency and precision, in the interest of their own pocketbooks and to the detriment of the minority population that they so condescendingly profess to serve.
What has transpired in Jena, La., over the past year is expressive of ignorance, racism, and a failure of enlightened leadership all coalescing in a brutally destructive way to reveal something deeply disturbing about that part of the country, and maybe our country as a whole. However, the fact remains that Donald Washington, a black U.S. attorney from Louisiana, has said unequivocally that there was no connection between the original noose hangings and the 6-on-1 beating that resulted in the prosecution of the six black students-turned-martyrs.
"A lot of things happened between the noose hanging and the fight occurring, and we have arrived at the conclusion that the fight itself had no connection," said Washington.
Further, Mychal Bell - one of the central characters of this overly sensationalized made-for-Hollywood story - is, far from being the beacon of civic and community sainthood that so many have made him out to be, actually a repeat-offending juvenile delinquent already convicted of assault and malicious destruction of property.
This is the side of the story that the Jesse Jacksons, Al Sharptons and Katie Courics won't tell us about, simply because it is a reality that rains on their little parade of perfect racial theatre. We know that Jackson and Sharpton routinely get involved in these types of ordeals in their own self-interest. And, appreciatively, most credible black leaders and intellectuals long-ago renounced the right of these two clowns to lead African-Americans. Indeed, Sharpton and Jackson do little more than consistently portray blacks as helpless victims.
However, when there appears to be a poor, Southern, black victim of injustice, the liberal exploiters of racial tension are quick to act with vulture-like efficiency and precision, in the interest of their own pocketbooks and to the detriment of the minority population that they so condescendingly profess to serve.
What has transpired in Jena, La., over the past year is expressive of ignorance, racism, and a failure of enlightened leadership all coalescing in a brutally destructive way to reveal something deeply disturbing about that part of the country, and maybe our country as a whole. However, the fact remains that Donald Washington, a black U.S. attorney from Louisiana, has said unequivocally that there was no connection between the original noose hangings and the 6-on-1 beating that resulted in the prosecution of the six black students-turned-martyrs.
"A lot of things happened between the noose hanging and the fight occurring, and we have arrived at the conclusion that the fight itself had no connection," said Washington.
Further, Mychal Bell - one of the central characters of this overly sensationalized made-for-Hollywood story - is, far from being the beacon of civic and community sainthood that so many have made him out to be, actually a repeat-offending juvenile delinquent already convicted of assault and malicious destruction of property.
This is the side of the story that the Jesse Jacksons, Al Sharptons and Katie Courics won't tell us about, simply because it is a reality that rains on their little parade of perfect racial theatre. We know that Jackson and Sharpton routinely get involved in these types of ordeals in their own self-interest. And, appreciatively, most credible black leaders and intellectuals long-ago renounced the right of these two clowns to lead African-Americans. Indeed, Sharpton and Jackson do little more than consistently portray blacks as helpless victims.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 2
bsintempe@aol.com
posted 10/06/07 @ 12:39 PM EST
You really do make a good point. The upper class in this country are treated badly. Perhaps a new Civil Rights movement for the rich is in order. (sarcasm present in case you can't tell)
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