After reading the front page article, “Seeking Justice For Jena,” in Tuesday’s Emerald, I was bothered by a few points. First of all, the reactionary and emotional article by Talia Schmidt lacked any real quality as the article reeked of bias. She wrote under the erroneous assumption that all readers viewed the case as an “injustice” and that there were, indeed, absolute “racial inequalities taking place in Jena, La.” If I wanted emotional liberal bias, I would watch CNN.
Secondly, I was not surprised to see that Ms. Schmidt brought out resident victim-wannabes Diego Hernandez and Ty Schwoeffermann. Never have I seen two people so readily available to be martyred and portrayed as victims. I feel sorry for them and others who “take up the cause” of the Jena Six. I am sorry that the 1960s are over and that they cannot find anything else to project their voice onto people who don’t really want to hear it (especially people who are simply waiting in line for football tickets). Do we really need the trite battle-cry of the stereotypical outraged youth shouting, “What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now.”? That’s not to say that there are not injustices in the world, but the Jena Six case is just not one of them.
Let us recap.
After the students who hung the nooses were punished, six students ambushed the racist and gang beat his unconscious body. Now, we are supposed to believe that there is some massive, racist conspiracy to persecute these students? A vigilante gang beating, while understandable, is a bastardized version of street justice that, I am quite certain, is not allowed by law. Yes, the harassment was racially motivated and stupid. But should we protest and march and bitch and moan because black vigilantes are on trial? Does this make sense to anyone?
“Oregon has been known to be a primarily racist state,” Rachel Cushman so brashly declared. I’m sure she wishes Oregon was a racist state, that way she could play the victim and her cause du jour could gain momentum here, but the fact remains that Oregon has always been a fairly progressive state. In fact, in recent decades it has been a blue state every election. It’s in the North for Christ’s sake, people died to abolish slavery! The University of Oregon is committed to Affirmative Action. Hell, even Ty Schwoeffermann stated at the very same “rally,” “People in Oregon are very active… We are aware, we are social, we are progressive, and we know what things are important.”
So, in conclusion, I know it may be tempting to “fight the power” and find a cause worth fighting. Hell, I might even join it! However, the Jena Six committed a crime and no matter the provocation, they must answer to the same laws as everyone else. In the mean time, keep your ear out for a cause worth fighting for and we can make a mountain out of a mountain, instead of a molehill.
Greg Campbell is a staff writer for the Oregon Commentator