Read any or all of the following: this, this, this, this and this. Watch this. And then DO something!
To Mychal Bell, Robert Bailey Jr., Theo Shaw, Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis, and the still unidentified member of the group, we say: Hold On! We won't rest until you're home where you belong.
And to their families, we say: You do not stand alone.
To Mychal Bell, Robert Bailey Jr., Theo Shaw, Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis, and the still unidentified member of the group, we say: Hold On! We won't rest until you're home where you belong.
And to their families, we say: You do not stand alone.
4 comments:
Changeseeker, thanks so much for helping to spread the word.
It's the least I can do, Tom. I wish all those connected to this tragedy in any way great strength and deep wisdom. May God forgive us for allowing this kind of nightmare to continue against people who have already lived through so much.
I agree with your sentiment. The Jena Six do not stand alone. We are adding our voices to the mix on the Electronic Village when it comes to this injustice.
peace, Villager
I'm a little surprised to find someone commenting here so long after I posted this about a topic not being discussed too much now. I can't help but wonder how you got here, One Voice That Matters. :^)
In any case, I haven't time to write as much as you did. However, I would suggest several things for you to consider.
First of all, my definition of racism and yours are not the same. If you read some of my posts on being an ally (you'll find them listed above my blog roll links), you'll see what I mean.
Secondly, there ARE no states in the U.S. that have not shared in our history of racist and ethnic oppression. Pick up "The People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn and you'll likely find plenty there. Or you can tell me the state and I may be able to suggest some other sources. The Southern Poverty Law Center keeps up to date with hate group formation in the present, if that interests you at all.
You write about how beautifully everybody used to and still does get along in your state, but I wonder what the people of color (African-American, Latin@, and Native American) would have to say about that. I doubt that you know. The fact is that individuals can have loving relationships across "color lines" in this country, but the color lines are the result of White control or they wouldn't exist at all. And anyway, individual loving relationships don't change the institutional nature of oppression against people of color here.
I've never suggested that all White people are the same. But I have written that, because the default position in the U.S. is White Supremacy, all people in the U.S. who look like me are imbued with a racist mentality whether we recognize and acknowledge it or not. Most of us don't admit it. Most of us don't even realize it. But, just like Prego, it's in there. Tim Wise' book "White Like Me: Reflections on Race by a Privileged Son" is very good on this.
Finally, you write that you're trying to change lives in the classroom. Yet you don't seem to be very in touch with the on-going psychological, emotional, and economic violence that continues to do great damage to people of color from coast to coast in this country (and even beyond its borders). Unfortunately, what this means is that your students (all White, from what you say) are very likely going to wind up with the same old mindset White folks in the U.S. have always had. How could it be otherwise when you yourself have no better understanding than you do?
You sound like a well-meaning person. And teachers know how to learn stuff. Your responsibility, should you accept it, is to get the information you're missing, so you can help us go somewhere new in this country. Before it's too late. Thanks for writing.
Post a Comment