Jackson Free Press

Well, if anything, the Jena 6 situation is going to expose the racism and bigotry in our midst—all of our midst. And that is a damn good thing. We've got to clean out these wounds and deal with the ugliness. And you can't do that if you're in denial about it being there. Associated Press:

The president of Columbia University's Teachers College sent an e-mail to students and faculty members deploring the discovery of a hangman's noose on the office door of a black professor. Police are investigating the incident as a hate crime, and Columbia planned a town hall meeting Wednesday afternoon for faculty and students to address the incident.

The university did not immediately say which professor was targeted, but she was identified in the local media as Madonna Constantine, a professor of psychology and education and author of a book entitled "Addressing Racism: Facilitating Cultural Competence in Mental Health and Educational Settings." Students said Constantine, who is black, teaches a class on racial justice.

Previous Comments

ID

115049

Comment

Here we go with the copycat crimes. Sigh.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-10-10T12:30:11-06:00

ID

115050

Comment

I saw a piece last nite where a black lady from Jena, LA was saying that rebel flags are popping up everywhere sense the incident. Folks trying to make a statement without actually saying a word. I thought the rebel flag represented good things.

Author

Goldenae

Date

2007-10-10T13:58:55-06:00

ID

115051

Comment

The noose-hangings are laughable to me because they're always done cowardly and surrepticiously. If the hangers would just hang the nooses at the right place and time (such as the various black colleges around dinner time) with the right people observing (not the police or authorities) the hangers could bring so much more attention to the matter they're trying to get accross. They way they do it now isn't effective for me.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-10-10T14:53:42-06:00

ID

115052

Comment

Someone who will remain anonymous just sent me this e-mail. I'm curious what others of you think of his comments. As a white woman, I'm certainly not qualified to address whether or not something is intimidating to a black person. Ever hear of Tawana Brawley? That's the first thing I thought about when I saw this story this morning. What white idiot would hang a noose in the vicinity of any black person nowadays? No matter the absolute evil and/or ignorance in a white person... These days, how is that even intimidating to a black person? One phone call and the whole world knows about it (see the instant case for example). I don't claim to know how it feels to be targeted by the Klan, but the truth is, 99% of African-Americans don't know that feeling either.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-10-10T14:57:34-06:00

ID

115053

Comment

I thought the rebel flag represented good things. Touché, Goldenae, damn touché.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-10-10T15:02:09-06:00

ID

115054

Comment

I'm serious. I'm tired of trying to read these noose-hangers' minds. If the noose-hangers would just hang the nose on any tree on any black college campus around noon or 5pm, somewhere near the cafeteria, a large segment of the student body would get to see it, and the student body, a whole heep of them, I imagine, would then happily give the noose-hanger a few seonds to explain what the noose is all about. This way, no one present would have to guess anymore, a far-reaching point would surely me made, and there would finally be some good communication and lasting understanding on the part of that noose-hanger.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-10-10T15:14:20-06:00

ID

115055

Comment

After the Civil War, 20,000 families migrated to Brazil from the South. They set up their own town, Florianopolis. This town is still in existence. They fly the rebel/confederate flag as their city flag. I have never had a problem with it.

Author

JMK

Date

2007-10-10T15:39:42-06:00

ID

115056

Comment

Yeah I remember Twana Brawley, Al, and the 2 lawyers who got famous, then infamous and then disbarred partially because of this. I even visited Vernon Mason' office as a result of having a friend who worked there. Twana's case was a false one - a hoax. As to the noose, rebel flag, the klan or any drawback to the days of old, it's likely few of us have experienced any direct hatred associated with either of these. That doesn't mean we don't know what those things represented once upon a time though. We've be fools not to teach our children their meanings. I aver a person has to know their past to keep it from being repeated, especially when your past has been repeated as many times as blacks folk's past has. We expected so much change after slavery and saw little or none for almost 100 years. There is a clear reason we still see the rebel flag, the klan, nooses and many racist institutions that refuse to change, as an extention of the past or proof that the past isn't really the past, and likely won't ever. Of course, we know a certain group can't handle the past because the past tells the truth.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-10-10T15:45:11-06:00

ID

115057

Comment

The swastika has an honorable history as well. In some places.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-10-10T15:47:41-06:00

ID

115058

Comment

It seems like it's always more shocking to hear about such incidents happening on college campuses because we expect colleges to be oases of tolerance and understanding. But school officials and scholars say that it's natural that racial tensions sometimes flare on campuses because colleges reflect what's happening in the world around them; they're not isolated from economic and social rifts. And for many students, college is the first time they've met so many different types of people. I know when I went to MSU I met several whites who really had never met a black in person, and their only impression of black people (God help them) was from TV. One boy even told me that he relied on Sanford and Son and Hill Street Blues to know what black people were like since he grew up in Montana and had never seen or spoken with blacks beyond the few times his family traveled south.

Author

Jeff Lucas

Date

2007-10-10T15:48:33-06:00

ID

115059

Comment

After the Civil War, 20,000 families migrated to Brazil from the South. They set up their own town, Florianopolis. This town is still in existence. They fly the rebel/confederate flag as their city flag. I have never had a problem with it. JMK No mention of this on wikipedia. Though they say the area is mostly made up of Brazilians of European decent. Interesting story though. Didn't see the flag either.

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-10-10T15:54:30-06:00

ID

115060

Comment

Nooses are sometimes hung by black idiots too looking for attention or who is crazy as hell. I'm for punishing their crazy behinds too, such as a beatdown. Even when done by a black person, it can't compare to the times done by others, or erase the images the noose signify as a result of countless black folks being hunged and frightened by barbaric individuals. There is a quickness on the part of some communities to see nothing but hoaxes when one or two black idiots do this too. The point is well-taken though that we can't always assume a white person did it.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-10-10T15:55:33-06:00

ID

115061

Comment

Pike Have to run for now. I have a website to send you.

Author

JMK

Date

2007-10-10T16:02:24-06:00

ID

115062

Comment

We can't always assume a white person did it. On the other hand, considering how few instances of Tawana-like hoaxes we've had compared to the number of both lynchings and symbols of race hatred we've seen used to intimidate blacks, including in recent years—considering all that, why would someone assume first that it was a Tawana hoax!?! Obviously, there are plenty of white idiots out there willing to do such a thing. Why give them an easy pass by assuming it was a black person? There's no there there. And, folks, this would be a good time to remember that the Confederate flag has long been used as a symbol of white supremacy and dominance, not to mention terrorism. I mean, look who fights the hardest for it. What's amazing is that other people, who claim not to be racist, go along with the government still using it for a symbol, turning a blind eye to its meaning. The lessons of Jena 6 present an opportunity to deal with unresolved race issues if we will put aside our own white perceptions and try to look at the world through different eyes (not talking to you Ray, or L.W. or Goldenae, of course (smile), but to my white brethren here).

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-10-10T20:52:41-06:00

ID

115063

Comment

Ladd, That annonymous person does not understand the point of terrorism. One of the things that had to be troubling to blacks about the Klan is that often you did not know who they were. Like with these nooses. It could be the person that fills my perscription at the pharmacy or the guy or gal that drives my kid to school on the bus. What bothers me most about things like this is that it never fails that regardless of how ugly a situation is, there are people that will say there is nothing wrong. Blacks should get over it. As long as folks are learning to tie nooses, which is not the easiest thing, blacks nor whites should not get over it.

Author

Goldenae

Date

2007-10-12T13:12:01-06:00

ID

115064

Comment

One other thing. Where are the examples of the Confederate Flag being used in a good way? Seems like its something that a lot of people reach and get when they want to express a position on racial tension. Where is the positive representation of the rebel flag that we should all welcome it representing our state?

Author

Goldenae

Date

2007-10-12T13:22:40-06:00

ID

115065

Comment

I know Goldenae. I have asked repeatedly for somene to explain the good things or meanings of the rebel flag to me. I have even said I might want to help out with the cause since good things are anticipated in the answer. Ain't nobody told me jack to this point. Somebody must know something. How are we blacks and other unknowing persons gonna ever catch up if good knowledge like this isn't shared freely with everyone.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-10-12T13:28:23-06:00

ID

115066

Comment

No African-American or any other race of person can tell you anything about the confederate flag that would be positive for this state or its people. This was the flag of hatred, violence, evil, injustice, humiliation, rape, rage, lynchings, hunger, illness, and severe grief and loss for Blacks. When the war was lost, the flag should have been retired and placed in a museum. This flag should not be flaunted and flown above every State building that I enter: This flag should not be carried by young African-American youngsters whose fathers and fore-fathers suffered so long and gave up so much. I know that the argument is:'They/We voted for it and WE won. " The fact of the matter is, this flag was already retired and was not ratified. To bring it up for a vote was just another game that was easy to win against a people who haven't been able to feel that "Sick and Tired" feeling expressed by Fannie Lou. I don't shop in stores that display that flag and if I'm speaking in a building that displays the confederated flag, I speak away from it - even if it mean not using the mic. Sorry flag lover, but, waving that flag is as disrespectful to me as one wearing a Klan hood. The two are synonymous.!

Author

justjess

Date

2007-10-12T14:06:29-06:00

ID

115067

Comment

And did they vote for it. I saw some real dead men walking. Voting too. In Ridgeland at my precinct, I thouht I had walked back into a time zone. I started looking for Kunta Kinte and some of my relatives I never got to meet. That flag votes shows in no uncertain terms who we still are. This is why I don't like pretend relationshops with people I know are still stuck in the past. I'll chat briefly with them but nothing more.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-10-12T14:14:20-06:00

ID

115068

Comment

Apparently the Columbia administration had a security videotape that may or may not identify the guilty party who hung the noose. The administration would not turn the videotape over to law enforcement until forced by a subpoena. Maybe the tape will reveal who did this. I'm guessing that we will never know the identity of the guilty party.

Author

xxgreg

Date

2007-10-12T15:49:00-06:00

ID

115069

Comment

I do not agree with flying the Confederate flag. But I must mention that it flew over a slave-holding nation only 4 years. The American flag, Old Glory Itself, flew over a slave holding nation from 1776-1865 and over segregation for another 100 years.

Author

Willezurmacht

Date

2007-10-12T16:04:57-06:00

ID

115070

Comment

I see your point, Willie. The American flag hasn't ever bothered me very much. I don't knock people who see it as a fraud or false notion of something. I even agree with that notion to a large degree. But I like the look of the American flag. However, I'm like Justjess, when it comes to the rebel flag, I despise it. I don't know that I can look at it and not be offended. I don't want that horrible looking thing anywhere near me. Whenever I look at it, I see the worst murdering racists to ever disgrace the earth. I would probably fight someone who rubbed it against my body. Many of us also see the rebel flag as a symbol of wished for eternal segregation, meaning unfairness and inequality in everything with racist barbarians carrying out jim crow ways (including violence) and ensuring unending suffering on the part of black folks. This was something by the 1960's we weren't going to take anymore. We would have eventually had a large-scale race war all over the country if things hadn't changed in my view. This is what the rebel flag is to many of us. Its use in the civil war exacerbates the situation.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-10-12T16:25:41-06:00