Why Mastering Homemade Desserts Is Going to Be Slightly More Dificult than I Anticipated

The setting: elle, prone on a bed, giddy yet strangely nostalgic as today was the last day of summer school. Suddenly, my sister throws open the door.

Sis: Girl, are you alive?

Me: Barely.

Sis: Well, I cooked. elle, you should've seen the big bag of rice Daddy brought me. And I guess I must've been thinking like him, cuz I cooked way too much rice.

Me: indistinguishable-but-sympathetic grunt.

Sis: Anyway, I'ma put you some on a plate for you and throw the rest out.

Me: (For the first time, a spark of interest makes me rise partially from my repose). Nuh-uh. I'ma call Mama and get her to tell me how to make rice pudding.

Sis: Okay.

So, I call ma mère, who's away at a convention. We exchange pleasantries, and then I jump in.

Me: Ma, how do I make rice pudding?

Mama: Oh, y'all ate rice?

Me: Mm-hmm.

Mama: With what?

Me: Sis cooked rice and fried some chicken. Now, ma-

Mama: Well, boil your rice.

Me: Ma!

Mama: Okay. Put you some eggs in there.

Me: How many?

Mama: Three. (This will be the last clear direction). And some sugar.

Me: How much sugar?

Mama: You know I can't tell you that, baby.

Me: Like half a cup or a cup or what, Ma?

Mama: Half a cup.

Me: (sounding doubtful) For rice, Mama? Half a cup enough for rice?

Mama: (in that sarcastic/reprimanding blend) Well, put what you think since you know.

Me: Okay. What else?

Mama: Uh, some milk. Add some milk.

Me: How much, Mama?

Mama: elle! Enough. Get it wet.

Me: Okay.

Mama: But not soupy. You know wet, but not soupy.

Me: Yes, ma'am. That's all?

Mama: Yeah--no, no. Vanilla flavoring.

Me: Like a capful?

Mama: Whatever looks right.

Me: (put upon sigh) Anything else? What about butter?

Mama: Your sister put butter in the rice, didn't she?

Me: Probably, but I like lots of butter.

Mama: Well put it in. But not too much, elle. Just-

Me: Enough.

Mama: Mm-hmm. And you could put some cinnamon if you like it. I don't like it.

Debate about temperature at which to cook ensues. Mama issues a last minute"Just bake it long enough!" Parting pleasantries exchanged.

Rice pudding going into the oven:

An aside: Chocolate cake from Sunday dinner. It tasted better than my limited decorating skills would indicate.

Doldrums

A dip in the emotions. One that I hope is temporary.

I don't think I'm all that sad... just not happy right now.

I'm feeling decidedly sorry for myself, I think. A little wallowing because I'm tired, more than a bit lonely, missing my own space, and wondering what happens now. In the last couple of days, I've had tears like, right behind my eyes and a tingly nose.

Then, as usual, I feel badly, because I have a good life in most ways. And my mom can look at me and tell--she says, "What is meant for you will come. Stop rushing!"

Usually, I am content with that. But sometimes, my mind is in a million places and I want to know. What will happen as my child approaches teenagehood--what if I "lose" him? What will happen with my career, the one that I'm just starting when most of my friends and family are settling in? What will happen with my personal life as I am acutely aware of my status as the only "single" among my friends? I battle that one all the time--part of me usually content with the other relationships in my life, part of me admitting that, no matter how weak or contradictory or unfulfilled or whatever it makes me seem, I do miss having a "real" significant other.

What am I willing to accept may never be part of my life--will I be happy spending the rest of my life unattached? just getting by? being bossy and trying to fix everything for everyone else while some tiny portion of me sometimes wants someone to smooth my way (and isn't that last thought petty and self-important)? Will I regret my decision to have no more children? to become a professional historian rather than some other thing for which I may have had an affinity?

Every once in a while those things and more settle on me, on my mind, and I can't shake them. And I know me--by this weekend, I'll probably be fine. But for now...

Ugh.

Sunday Dinner

I'm cooking Sunday dinner today. I decided to tackle my arch nemesis, collard greens. I have a hard time seasoning them the way I want them to be. To me, turnips, mustards, and cabbage (the other kinds of greens we eat regularly) have their own flavor, so that helps out. But collards--if you don't get those just right, it's like eating a mouthful of hot water.

To be honest, I had it a bit easy today. Trinity cut up the greens for me and my mom washed them--those are the two worst things about cooking collard greens. Plus, Trin gave me some of her preferred cured meat for cooking them with--that should help with seasoning them. And I'm using my grandmother's old pots for luck.

Okay so here are four bunches (it's just me and my parents today, but I always cook a little extra for unexpected company) dumped in a boiling pot of what will become the "pot liquor"--water, salt, cooking oil, and the cured meat.

We're having neckbones with them--here they are being washed.

The required vegetables, mostly for the neckbones, though I will put some jalapeno in the greens. My mom said I could put a little onion as well, but I'm sticking with what I know.

Coarsely chopped cuz I did it by hand. I refuse to sit there and prettily dice like my mom will, but that's probably why I don't cook as well as my mom either :-). Plus the seasoning salt and vinegar for the neckbones (you can add garlic and pepper as well).

What the greens have "cooked down" (reduced, I guess?) to so far.

Okay, neckbones ready to boil. I layered them and sprinkled stuff throughout.

I'm cheating on dessert--I was supposed to make a homemade chocolate pie, but I forgot to buy cocoa, then forgot to get some from Trin's house. Ah, well.

Stirred up.

Results later! I'm about to be shamefully late for 11:15 service.

Silence

So I thought, once I switch to teaching U.S. history, which I'm a trillion times more familiar with, I'll free up some time and right write some substantive posts. :-)

Still, even though I'm not writing my notes or deciding which primary sources to work with in class from scratch, I feel sooooo busy. They're a pretty good (if annoyingly quiet during class discussions sometimes) class.

There's another issue--a problem that I had while trying to write my dissertation as well. I don't know how to cut back and not try to become an expert on every single thing. I read a lot for that world history class, got all off into stuff about which I'll never write or need to know minutiae about. Same thing with this first half of the survey--I've been reading up on the smallest details, adding articles and books to my TBR list (Which is depressingly long. Really.), and generally being very micro-minded.

And then one of my committee members had the unmitigated gall to send me an e-mail asking how my summer was going with the implied question being, "Have you done any work/research on your Magnum Opus (is it Opus Magnum?)?" I wanted to write back and say, "Child, please!"

Here is the deal. I have plumbed the depths of local Louisiana libraries and found some good stuff... that sits on my dresser at my parents'. I've gotten the names and numbers of some more interviewees... and saved them in my phone. And I finally found out the name of the guy who wrote his stuff on the industry in my area, but from the point of view/experiences of contract growers... and that's all I've found out (his thesis is in my TBR pile, as well).

Thing is, after re-reading the damned thing, I am convinced it's hopeless. I hope no one ever reads it, much less references it!

Other historians have been asking me, "have you found/looked at any publishers?" Should I be? I haven't even applied for a job (I do have one for the fall, don't worry)! Seriously, do people look into publishing this early, with a minimum of 50 years of revision, rewriting, and research needed on the thing? I thought that would come later. The last thing elle, p(rocrastinating) h(appily) d(ammit) needs is talk of deadlines and such. My mind will finish the shut down process it began during the spring semester.

So that's my life. How's yours?

Damn! Even the Default Robots Are Male.

I went to see Transformers.

I came home and started reading up on it (yes, on a Saturday night).

Script writer Robert Orci on why Arcee, a "female" Autobot did not appear in the film:

I would have liked to see Arcee, but the idea of a female Transformer needs its own explanation, and there just wasn't going to be enough time. It would have been like, "Oh, that's convenient. They're trying to appease women with a pink Transformer."

Okay, is he saying:

1) All transformers are supposed to be the same (and, of course, male) so Arcee didn't fit?
2) Since women's primary purpose is sex object-ness and the (default male) transformers don't seem to have sexual urges, so Arcee didn't fit?
3) Since this was a movie about male figures engaging in the age-old battle to decide the fate of the world, Arcee didn't fit? (You know, let teh menfolk hash out the important stuff, then bring in the women?)

All theories aside, I really don't understand what he meant.

Don't Call Us Out of Name

A reference to this book by Lisa Dodson. Yes, I think you should read it. (I've lost my copy now that I'm thinking about it).

But also a reference to TMZ.com's calling Beyonce a "roboho."

And when they are confronted about it?

As to accusations that our comment was racially motivated, TMZ has humorously called into question many celebs for wearing racy outfits -- regardless of their race. In the past, TMZ referred to Victoria Beckham, aka Posh Spice, as "poshtitute," Hulk Hogan's daughter a "working girl" and called Lindsay Lohan's trashy ensemble a "HO-rror." A tight mini-dress is a tight mini-dress! Even Kid Rock got a humorous "ho" reference in a December 2006 story, and last we checked, he was neither Black nor a woman.

Got that? Since their racism is equally matched by their misogyny, what the hell are people complaining about? Oh, and since they "humorously" called a white man a ho, all the sting and insult is removed from their use of the word. But isn't saying, "We used the term for Kid Rock and didn't mean anything by it" sort of like admitting you know full well that use of the term just may imply something?

And why that word? If they were really aiming to use some innocuous term to critique her outfit, then why not use some innocuous term to critique her outfit?

Oh, and they fall back on some tried and true tropes:

1. Can't you people take a joke?

While others may have used the term with maliciousness -- we clearly did not. It was a humor piece... it is clear that the only thing more subjective than what is fashionable, is what one finds funny.

2. But, but... it wasn't our intent to offend!

Isn't the context in which a word is used almost as important, if not more so, than the actual word?

3. We will not be constrained by political correctness.

With everything serious going on in our world, if you can't make fun of something as superficial as awards show clothing, then what can you make fun of?

And the biggest piece of bullshit?

... please note that we called Beyonce's performance outfit "roboho" not Ms. Knowles herself.

Can y'all see my eyes rolling backward?

Music

Okay, some preliminaries:

1. I rarely listen to the radio, especially here, where you get more static than anything.

2. I don't even own a stereo/CD player--I play music on the computer or CD player in my car.

3. I don't really watch videos.

4. I balk at spending $16 or $17 for a CD when I only know or like one song.

So, the fact that all the music I know tends to be "popular"--heard on mix CDs or gleaned from my staticky radio--should be no surprise.

Here's the question--how do you get turned on to music that's not mainstream/doesn't get much radio play? (For example, I first heard Teedra Moses on one of my soror's myspace page). I'm really burned out on hearing the same thing and the same people over and over.

Plus, I feel soooooo unsophisticated.

The Jena Six

... on Democracy Now! Watch the film.

Happy Birthday

To my kiddo!

He turned nine on July 10th. His mama is late posting because she was embroiled in birthday party preparations.

Actual party pictures later.

The Jena Six--What We Can Do

Thanks, Clare, for more info:

Get Involved!—Write, email, or call one of these local organizations:

The Jena 6 Defense Committee
PO Box 2798,
Jena, LA 71342
jena6defense@gmail.com

Friends of Justice
507 North Donley Avenue
Tulia, TX 79088
www.fojtulia.org

ACLU of Louisiana
PO Box 56157
New Orleans, LA 70156
www.laaclu.org
(417) 350-0536

I'll be adding to this post all day. It's been on my mind for a couple of days, but I kept telling myself, "Get everything together." Only, being the procrastinator I am, if I wait until I've compiled all the ideas and resources, I'll never get it done.

1. Sign the petition:


(Thanks Tom and Sylvia).

2. Donate to the Friends of Justice (there's a link in the post).

3. Kevin started a Facebook group and cause for the Jena Six.

4. Grab this animator. (I'm trying to figure out how to put it on my sidebar. Is that possible? Am I totally technologically unsavvy?)

↑ Grab this Headline Animator

5. From blueintheface at DailyKos:

Please contact:
Senator Mary Landrieu
webpage contact link
(202) 224-5824

Senator David Vittner
webpage contact link
Phone:(202) 224-4623

Rep Bobby Jindal
webpage contact link
Phone: (202)-225-3015

Rep William Jefferson
Phone: (202) 225-6636

Rep Charlie Melancon
webpage contact link
Phone: (202) 225-4031

Rep Jim McCrery
webpage contact link
Phone: (202) 225-2777

Rep Rodney Alexander
webpage contact link
Phone: (202) 225-8490

Rep Richard Baker
webpage contact link
Phone: 202-225-3901

Rep Charles Boustany
webpage contact link
Phone: (202) 225-2031

Please call these representatives and leave a message. Tell them that Americans won't stand for racism and ask them to get involved. Let's bring political pressure to bear on District Attorney Reed Walters to stop using the Louisiana justice system to discriminate against African-Americans. For Mychal Bell and the rest of the Jena 6, we need to speak up. Our voices will make a difference!

blueintheface reiterates what Friends of Justice outline as needed responses:

Restoring justice to Jena will require the following:
· The Louisiana State Police must be assigned to the investigation of the alleged fight at the school.
· District Attorney Reed Walters must recuse himself from the investigation and prosecution of the black defendants in the alleged school fight of December 4, 2006 or the incident at the Gotta Go Convenience store on December 2, 2006.
· The legal cases cited above must be transferred to an alternative venue.
· A special prosecutor must be assigned to prosecute whatever charges (if any) are deemed appropriate on the basis of an independent state police investigation.
· The Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice should launch a full investigation into events in Jena, Louisiana, beginning with the noose incident of August 31, 2006, and culminating in the alleged fight of December 4, 2006 to determine if the civil rights of Jena residents have been violated.
· The inaction of the LaSalle Parish School Board on the noose incident represents a clear violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Therefore, a written complaint should be filed with the U.S. Department of Justice.
· The LaSalle Parish school system must institute a rigorous program of diversity education beginning in elementary school and continuing through high school with a particular focus on the history of race relations in America and the virtues of pluralism, mutual respect and equal opportunity. In addition, a yearly, system-wide in-service diversity training program must be provided for teachers and administrators.

6. Circulate this:



and this: "Injustice In Jena As Nooses Hang From The 'White Tree',"

and here is a link to a CNN Video.

7. I have talked to LA public defender Jason Williamson, who works in New Orleans, but who's keeping an eye on this case. He's in touch with the parents of the boys and has promised to let me know of local efforts to raise funds and encourage support.

8. Check out whileseated.

More later.

The Quaker Agitator: Happy (Agitator) birthday...

The Quaker Agitator: Happy (Agitator) birthday...

to my favorite wonderful, brilliant, and just plain good Agitator!

Party Mania!

So last weekend we had three birthday parties. My goddaughter Alani and my little cousin Skylar both turned one on June 29 and we finally had Belle's party. Dora was the theme of the weekend.

Alani's cake.

Transitioning from crying to smiling. She knows what the camera means.

Alani enjoying her smash cake.

Skylar's cake.

My cousin Crystal, Skylar's mom, wondering why the hell she decided to have a party.

My favorite picture in a while--

Crystal hit the xylophone and Skylar loved it so much she fell backwards laughing.

Belle and the Dora cash register.

A grainy picture of Belle and Skylar (they're first cousins) at Belle's party

Images for the Jena Six Petition

Tom has combined some of the images for the Jena Six petition with links to the petition.

Please check it out.

H/T Sylvia.

Independence Day?

Because of Jena.

And the Newark women.

And Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District #1.

And the criminalization and mistreatment of immigrants.

And continual violence against all of us.

And our overwhelming silence...

...a still-relevant perspective on the Fourth of July:

I say it with a sad sense of disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you this day rejoice are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you has brought stripes and death to me.

This Fourth of July is yours, not mine.

You may rejoice, I must mourn.

-Frederick Douglass

The Hypocrisy of American Slavery

(What to the Slave is the Fourth of July)

July 4, 1852

One hundred fifty-five years ago. Apparently, not long at all.

Carnival Time

Briefly...

History Carnival at Historianess's. (I can't figure out how to get the permalink!! The date is July 2, 2007).

Carnival Against Sexual Violence at abyss2hope.

(One Reason) Why Mychal Bell's Conviction Was No Surprise.

OK, I had to take a couple of days. You know what I felt like happened? Let me give you a couple of historical examples.

After Nat Turner's rebellion in 1831, when eyes turned to Virginia, when the lies about enslaved blacks' contentment and the relative benignity and beneficiality of slavery were so thoroughly challenged, the white South basically shut down any discussions on the peculiar institution.* Challenges and criticisms wouldn't be met with defenses, justifications, or skewed logic (not that they'd always been prior to 1831). Instead, they were met with aggression, anger, and threats toward suspected abolitionists (and even the more moderate anti-slavery folk) and further repression of blacks. Pro-slavery forces in Congress even managed to effect gag rules, shutting down the discussion in Congress for a decade.

The lesson--there are very real, very negative results if some white Southerners perceive attacks on the racial status quo, particularly in the form of liberatory actions on the part of blacks and "interference" from "outsiders."**

I've mentioned before that in the late 1950s/early 1960s, Senator Allen Ellender of Louisiana stood in the Senate and painted a picture of the South, and Louisiana in particular, as a peaceful region, with few "racial" disturbances, and a status quo accepted by blacks and whites alike. If blacks were largely disfranchised,*** then it was the result of insufficient motivation on their parts and nothing systematic or institutional. But, Ellender warned, if the Justice Department kept interfering, if civil rights organizations kept pushing, then no one could hold white southerners responsible for what they might do about the attack on their states' rights and the favoritism shown towards blacks.

And in the aftermath of new civil rights acts and the establishment of the Civil Rights Commission (CRC), white Southerners, again, shut down. They restricted access to social services to the poorest blacks. In Louisiana, they ruthlessly purged blacks from the voter rolls. They expanded the use of literacy tests and "good character" requirements. They refused to cooperate with the CRC, refused to even acknowledge its legitimacy.

The lesson--there are very real, very negative results if some white Southerners perceive attacks on the racial status quo, particularly in the form of liberatory actions on the part of blacks and "interference" from "outsiders."

So when it came to Mychal Bell's trial, I just knew. When blacks in Jena rallied around their children, when international attention came to the situation, I knew. When I read the nasty comments from Louisianans on different blogs about how "Jena isn't that bad" and "There's racism everywhere" and "If six white boys had done this...", I knew. And Lord, when they
chose that all white jury, I knew, as a historian, as a black southerner, that the jury was not going to miss the chance to reinforce "the lesson."

Again.

At the expense of a child's life.
_____________________________________
*The rebellion was not the sole reason, of course, but I believe it played a large role in the way the South handled the issues surrounding slavery over the next three decades.
**Outsiders can be within the community, too, e.g. white southerners who challenged the status quo in the South.
***I mention this because I am hearing the same defenses of the all-white jury in Jena.

The Jena Six Petition Is Ready

Please sign and help circulate the petition

Jena Six petition link.

H/T Tom.

More Reasons the (in)Justice System Has Me Down

Sometimes, I really ask what the hell is going on? And I don't mean that in a sarcastic or cynical way, but in a "I'm really frightened and discouraged by" shit that's going on that's just not right. It's just not.

From Yolanda:

Four African American lesbian women from Newark, New Jersey were sentenced this past June 14th to excessively long prison terms in New York for the crime of defending themselves against homophobic harassment and violence. These young sistas were railroaded by both a dismissively misogynist judge and by the reactionary, sensationalist media. As Imani Henry writes in Workers World:

Deemed a so-called “hate crime” against a straight man, every possible racist, anti-woman, anti-LGBT and anti-youth tactic was used by the entire state apparatus and media. Everything from the fact that they lived outside of New York, in the working-class majority Black city of Newark, N.J., to their gender expressions and body structures were twisted and dehumanized in the public eye and to the jury.
According to court observers, [presiding judge Edward J.] McLaughlin stated throughout the trial that he had no sympathy for these women. The jury, although they were all women, were all white. All witnesses for the district attorney were white men, except for one Black male who had several felony charges.
Court observers report that the defense attorneys had to put enormous effort into simply convincing the jury that they were “average women” who had planned to just hang out together that night. Some jurists asked why they were in the Village if they were from New Jersey. The DA brought up whether they could afford to hang out there—raising the issue of who has the right to be there in the first place.

It’s gonna take the struggle of people around the country to get these young women out of prison.

Please read the Workers' World article she linked. Please.

Kactus has been writing about April Griffin:

From MotherWarriorsVoice:

Twenty seven year old April Griffin has been in the Milwaukee County Jail since May 14th, 2007 because she refuses to give up custody of her nine month old son.
May 14th 2007- Ms. Griffin appeared in Milwaukee County Family Court because Mr. Sebuliba was trying to obtain full parental custody of their infant son. Griffin, representing herself, asked Judge Goulee how he could consider giving custody of a 9 month old breastfeeding baby to a man who:
Is on record for having beaten Griffin during her pregnancy
Is not a US Citizen‹Mr. Sebuliba wants to send the baby to Uganda for his mother to raise
Wanted the baby to be aborted
Openly had nothing to do with Ms. Griffin during her pregnancy?
Judge Goulee denied Griffin the right to question her own witnesses. And he refused to introduce her medical evidence.
Judge Goulee changed the baby’s last name against the mother’s wishes.
Judge Goulee ordered Griffin to bring in the infant. HE WANTS THE CHILD REMOVED FROM ALL FAMILY MEMBERS AND PLACED IN FOSTER CARE WHILE DAD IS EVALUATED! (The child has a grandmother and grandfather, 7 aunts and one uncle in Milwaukee.) Griffin refused to subject her child to such trauma.
Goulee told Griffin that she should have overlooked the battery and stayed with Sebuliba because he is a “good catch.” (He’s a nurse. She’s unemployed.) Goulee found Griffin in civil contempt of court. He ordered her to jail, because she was a “threat”.
May 15th 2007- Griffin appeared before Judge Goulee. He again told her to give up custody of her son. She refused. Goulee threatened, ” I can keep you here forever.”

Read the rest, and then see what you can do to help.

Kactus has posted more here, here, here, and here.

Y'all, what the hell?

Mychal Bell, First of the Jena 6 to Stand Trial, Convicted

***Update (5:51 PM-6/28)***

I really have nothing to say right now. This conviction is not surprising.

But it still hurts.

I got the news from the Alexandria Town Talk:

The jurors were told that in addition to the charges Bell faced, they also may consider the lesser and included charges of aggravated battery, second-degree battery, simple battery, or acquittal.

Yeah, right.

Vox sums up my opinion:

30 years for a high school fistfight in which no one was seriously injured, convicted by an all-white jury. I don’t know what to say about that.

Thanks to my cousin, Trinity, for updating here.

____________________________________

This is Trinity-Elle's cousin. She's away from the computer but wanted me to update you that Mychal Bell has been convicted of aggravated second degree battery and conspiracy to commit the same. He faces up to 30 years in prison.

More Later.

An Aside on the Jena Six

***Please excuse my all-over-the-place-ness as I think this out, but you're used to it, right?***

In the comments of my very first post about the Jena Six, I had a commenter named Nick who was troubled by my views:

Blah, blah, blah!!! I am a resident of Jena and i have been a resident here all my life. It is really unfortunate that the news only publishes stories that make these young men, the "Jena 6", seem like victims. I happen to know 3 of them and i assure you they are anything but.

...

Does it really matter what color they are or this student they beat? Its so funny how all these big city hot shots come here and try to make all this a racial thing when really its not!

My immediate response was defensive:

as far as "does color matter?" hell yes. don't even try that BS with me--another rural louisianan. didn't color matter when a tree was still "reserved" for whites only now in 2007? when the nooses were hung? when those boys got a slap on the hand?

...

as far as trying to make this not be a "racial thing"--good attempt with the "i don't remember how this started." it'd be easy to say "with nooses hung from trees," but somehow, i suspect it goes beyond that, past the mistreatment of (largely African American) Jefferson Parish Prison detainees who were moved to Jena after Hurricane Katrina, past the brutalization of the young men in the old juvenile prison, past the overwhelming support of jena's white populace for a former ku klux klan leader for governor.Keep your head buried in the sand, Nick. Jena has a race problem. And it's not young black men.

Nick's response included:

elle, obviously your missing my point entirely! I LIVE HERE IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY In JENA! Do you? I know all about what racisim is, trust me!

...

The majority of people in this town are not racist though. I work in a place where i talk to cops daily and most of them also beleive that attempted second degree murder is really extreme.

I wanted to continue the discussion, but I felt that I owed Nick an apology (which is why I asked Nick to e-mail me). Not because I changed my position, but because 1) I had professed to want views from people in and around Jena and felt that I dismissed Nick's when I jumped defensive and 2) my initial response to Nick was full of assumptions.

Still, I am troubled by Nick's assertion that some of these boys were "bad" and the resultant implication that being charged with attempted murder is somehow deserved because of alleged past actions (not Nick's position, but I've seen it). It reminds me of all the purported discussions during the civil rights era that emphasized putting only positive-reputation-having, well-dressed, "respectable" people on the frontlines in sit-ins and on segregated bus seats and during acts of civil disobedience. Of course, the technique was undoubtedly necessary.

But still, it begs the question (a question that I'm dealing with in another part of my online life as well), for whom do we seek justice and fair treatment? Whose criminalization and/or negative characterization do we resist? S/he of the spotless past and unimpugnable reputation? Those with the "right" color or money, who can have what they do dismissed as pranks or a misstep (rather than an inherent flaw) or "unintended to offend?"

Vox, as usual, beautifully summarizes why, no matter what unrelated allegations about the Jena Six arise, no matter how many people cry "reverse racism!" (because I, for example, obviously think it's okay for black people to beat up white people and that black people should "get away with" said beatings), the circumstances of this case, from the way provocative actions before the fight were dismissed to the unreasonable charges, point to racism and the difficulty these young men will have in getting a fair trial:

a. Only three of the six teens arrested participated in the fight.
b. Several white teenagers jumped and beat up a black teen the weekend before the fight and were charged only with battery.
c. A white teenager threatened a black teen with a shotgun and was not charged with a crime.
d. White teens threatened the lives of the black teens by hanging the nooses from that tree and were never punished.
e. The boy who was “beaten” in the afternoon was up and at his ring ceremony that same evening.

It’s not racism because they’re being prosecuted for beating another teen. It’s racism because the punishment doesn’t fit the crime, and because similar crimes by white teens in the four months preceding the “beating” were not punished at all.

In other words, that racism affects this case is not something that bloggers, or some newspapers, or the faceless "leaders of national organizations" made up to malign residents of Jena or to divert attention from "the 'real' victim."

I bobble as I try to walk the line between respecting Nick's position as a Jena resident and giving voice to my own lived experience(s) as a black, rural Louisianan. Still, my questions to Nick and people of this mindset remain:

Is the law being administered differently based on race? How does the historical mistreatment of African Americans in Jena's "justice system," affect this case? Is a fair trial for young men that citizens like you are working so hard to paint a criminalized picture of possible in Jena?

I deeply believe that race and place matter in this case, and I worry for the lives of these young men. No matter what allegations are hurled at them, they deserve to be treated fairly and justly.