Behind the eight ball - running to catch up

I'm on these late, but I feel the need to at least link to those who are not so behind as me.

If you haven't heard about it yet, there was a huge travesty of justice in Jena, Louisiana. Beginning with a group of black students asking the principle if they could sit under the "white" tree, and culminating in a black student being charged with attempted murder for a fight, when previous white students who had instigated fights walked off with probation. One of those students, Mychal Bell, is still being held in jail after nine months - despite his trial being declared a mistrial - because he was denied bail.

Wikipedia has a run down of the events.

There is a virtual march on Jena in progress along with more information.

Black Amazon writes movingly about some of the ramifications of this incident, among many others non-whites deal with every day. If you haven't already been acquainted with this fantastic writer, I highly recommend you check out her blog. Her poetic style and raw emotion catch me short every time.

In the wake of the attention Jena is (finally) getting, an earlier travesty of justice was brought up by persons I prefer to leave unnamed who objected to the attention the Jena 6, comprised of black males, was getting when another situation, comprised of seven black females, was not getting any.

Brown Femi Power responds with an incredibly detailed and humbling list of posts about the New Jersey 7, who acted in self defense and were charged - and in many cases convicted - with assault for it.

Racism is alive and well. Sexism is alive and well. Both of them are destroying lives with every breath taken. It's not a southerner thing. It's not a black thing, or an Asian thing, or a Native American thing. It's an all of us thing. The only way we can truly live up to the (as of yet unrealized) standards of the USA is if everyone demands equal justice under the law for all people, regardless of culture, skin color, gender, romantic orientation, gender identity, physical capability, or immigration status.