aTypical Joe: a gay New Yorker living in the rural South

Friday, September 28, 2007

The results of anger and racial tension gone awry

I agree with Dawn, as quoted the other night on News & Notes:

I remember in my high school that there were occasionally fights in which one person was jumped by many people..and I lived in a pretty calm town. The issues were settled with suspension or expulsion from school. That is appropriate punishment for 16 year old kids. In an extreme case of battery, it may be appropriate to charge the kids with battery...in JUVENILE court.

Where were the school officials when all of this racial tension was evolving? How did they attempt to solve the problem before it turned into violence?

I don’t believe that these children should have been charged as adults. The crime they allegedly committed is the result of anger and racial tension gone awry and unchecked by authority figures. The reason we have a juvenile court system is because many Americans believe that kids have time to reform and deserve a second chance. Shouldn’t seven boys involved in a horrible school fight be given a chance to reform also?

I understand that certain forms of racist speech are protected under the 1st amendment (which is why we are even allowed to have this discussion forum). BUT, keep in mind that any school that receives federal funds is REQUIRED to protect students from racial harassment and discrimination. Nooses hanging from a tree....racial harassment. A “white only” tree....racial discrimination.

It’s pretty clear that when school officials went to the DA for help, what they got instead was inflammatory rhetoric that made matters worse:

District Attorney Reed Walters warned the students he could be their friend or their worst enemy. He lifted his fountain pen and said, “With one stroke of my pen, I can make your life disappear.”

Unfortunately, Walters is still at it.