In search of the facts surrounding what has now become a media circus involving what no one disputes is an ugly situation in Jena Louisiana, I found there are many differing and obviously biased reports coming from both camps.

Googling through the usual variety of articles, I came upon a Snopes' report of the issue. (link...) I usually like Snopes because so much of what we get through the media turns out to crap, but I was sort of surprised that they decided to include the Jena 6 issue as an urban myth based on what appeared to be (from reading the Snopes' commentary) only two challenged facts. Does that put the Jena 6 incident into the urban myth catagory?

It seemed the "facts" that Snopes disputed were the seriousness of the white kid's injuries and the presumed good reputation of the Mychal Bell, the black kid who was charged and convicted of the assault on Barker.

The Snopes report pointed out that Barker spent 3 hours in the emergency room. The way this was set in the piece it appeared to dispute "the fact" that Barker had only minor injuries. Three hours is of course not a very long time to anyone who has ever gone to an emergency room for treatment. My last visit to an emergency room was much longer and that was for a very minor injury. They also did not choose to add that the Barker proceeded to go out and party that night. The one quote they chose to use in their commentary said that the black kids proceeded after the fight to stomp and kick Barker's "lifeless" body. They never said who made that statement though, so it's hard to count it as a verified fact. If it's not verifed by naming the person who said it, isn't it just another urban myth?

I did appreciate learning that Mychal Bell the black kid who is at the center of the controversy had been charged with several crimes before the noose incident, including assault charges. That gave me some food for thought.

After reading Snopes' comments, I searched for something to represent the other side and settled on the Malcom X Grassroots Movement site. (link...) Obviously showing its own bias, that site gave their own review of the events leading up to and after the noose incident. When I got down to their "Survey of Relevant Events", I was surprised to find information I hadn't been aware of at all. More food for thought. Many more details about the events leading up to the brawl at the school. Though they might not be accurate at all, they do suggest it's possible that many racist events prior to the noose hanging had tempers and fears flaring.

Truth is tricky. It takes a lot of effort sometimes to get the real story from the patchwork of commentaries and reports in the media. I support the Jena 6 because I know how frustrated and scared these minority kids must have been in a town that could produce children capable of hanging nooses from a tree. I think everyone would agree---that's about as ignorant as it gets. The biased treatment of the school officals also seems obvious. If they had acted more appropriately this whole thing would most likely have been far less serious. The school officals ought to be fired for calling the hanging of nooses in the tree "a prank". What kind of idocy is that?

No, the African American kids in Jena were not angels, but the sight of the those nooses hanging from a tree and the refusal of school administrators and town offcials to offer the kids protection from the ongoing harassment they were suffering had to have made them fear for their lives.

If the nooses had been swastikas hung in a Jewish neighborhood, horror and outrage would have been the only response. No one would have considered it a prank and the Jewish Defamation League would have been speaking out loudly.

I'm not wild about some of the black "celebrity" figures who have attached themselves to this cause, but I think without them this small town that had taken a backward step into blatant and community supported racism would never have come to light.

All the facts still aren't in, but in a world where facism seems to be growing, it does make those who want justice to prevail in our land a little nervous to find biased reporting at every turn. When even the urban myth people are creating myths, it does seem to be getting pretty creepy out there.