both sides are nuts in this case. hanging nooses is a hate crime. although i believe that kids nowadays (heck even when i was in high school in the 80s) dont really know what the noose means. its bad that after the hanging of the nooses and the black student protest under the white tree, that the DA spoke at a school meeting and told everyone (focusing on blacks?) that he can "end their lives with the stoke of his pen."--but whats worse about that is that evidently no teachers in attendance stood up for the students. six on one fight is potentially serious and while i was part of and witness to numerous fights as a kid, i never saw one other than one on one. the gov needs to step in and the mayor should get a new DA
evidently bell has been offered fb scholly by lsu "Marcus Jones, the father of seventeen-year-old Mychal Bell, has a stack of scholarship offers for his son. MARCUS JONES: LSU, Southern Miss, Ol’ Miss, University of New York… " http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/10/1413220
They weren't harassed or tormented by a noose hanging in a tree. They may have been harassed by the white kids, but that noose by itself is nothing but a symbol. It has no meaning other than what we give it. They do not have a right to not be offended. There is a difference between a symbol and clear writing. Plus, writing something that is not true is a crime. This "hate crime" stuff is BS. The only hate crime I see here is that 6 black kids beat up a white kid, but white people aren't lucky enough to be protected by feel good politics that serve no purpose. Had 6 white kids beaten up a black kid, they'd be in jail for longer than these black kids because "hate crimes" carry three times the sentence.
hating is not part of it. hate is a mental state inside somebody's head, not an act o vioence. a crime is a crime or it isnt. hate doesnt factor into it. we shouldnt prosecute thoughts. when somebody hangs a noose on school property, you take it down and tell them they do not own the school and therefore can't go decorating it without permission. it isnt a "hate crime".
What is all this hate crime crap? If they don't know what it means, that is because it doesn't have any defined meaning because it is just a symbol. Someone please explain why this is a hate crime.
There are other examples of laws where thought does enter into the equation, so I don't know how I feel about this argument. Abortions are not considered murder because the mother doesn't want the baby (a different argument, let's stay on track here), but when someone kills a pregnant woman it's double homicide. The result is the same, death of the unborn child, but the law treats it differently. Same thing with self-defense and whenever they add "with intent to kill" on the back of a prosecution.
I do not completely disagree with anything you've said. The noose is a hate crime because of the perception of those offended. While it may just be a symbol, the intent to offend was there and that is the problem. I can see both sides of everything in this case, except the fact that some think the 6 should not be prosecuted for the attack.
i was wrong, evidently it wasnt a hate crime as determined by FBI investigation. http://www.thejenatimes.net/home_page_graphics/home.html btw this link has a good timeline on the subject by people that should know. HATE CRIME-- im not one for PC, knee-jerk, zero-tolerance crap movement of our society lately, but i do acknowledge the effect of certain labels. the label of nooses in trees can trigger (and not unreasonably so) horrible reactions. many of which--fear, feelings of helplessness, hopelessness--i doubt have any other criminal categorization. in many ways i would equate this act with inciting a riot (although it can also have the opposite effect, as i mentioned above). do you feel that inciting a riot should not be a crime?
