The assault of a black person at the hands of a white person is nothing new. The inequities in the American judicial system for blacks is almost as commonplace as it was during the days of Jim Crowe. However, two recent events have left me outraged, scratching my head, asking how can this still be happening in 2007?
The first one is the incident in Jena, Louisiana. You can read about it here and here. If you wish to get involved visit Michael Baisden's Mingle City and click the top header, Enough is Enough. The Steve Harvey Show has launch a letter writing campaign. Please visit his site for details. Also, over at Your Black World, they have started a Petition to disbar the Jena District Attorney, Reed Walters.
Now on to the second incident.
Here are the newest faces of hatred in America. These six sickos "allegedly" held a young black woman, Megan Williams, hostage for one week in a remote area of Big Creek, W. Virginia. Apparently they tortured, beat, and raped Ms. Williams. A part of that torture included forcing her to eat animal feces.Where is the outrage America? If this had happened to "Man's Best Friend", there would be Peta protesters at the courthouse, chew toys made in the image of the accused auctioned off on Ebay, dizzying amounts of news coverage, and numerous suppositions by "experts".
Oh, but wait!! That did happen!! Remember Michael Vick?
Again, I ask, where is the OUTRAGE! The passionate outcry from the bowls of the American people denouncing the cruel, barbaric, INHUMANE treatment of, say, uh, a HUMAN BEING? One could draw the logical conclusion that if you are a black person in America, your life has less value than that of a dog. You could draw that conclusion and sadly enough, many do.
But I am here to tell you WE ARE WORTH MORE! OUR LIVES HAVE VALUE!! We have to speak out, spread the word, and keep this in the forefront of news. How do we do that? The same way we are throwing our support behind the Jena 6! Let's keep an eye on Big Creek, W. Virginia! Email the story. Talk about it amongst your friends and co-workers. Talk about it on the blog sites. Don't let it go.
This isn't something we should just "get over" and forget about in a couple of days.
