In Jena, Louisiana, tension is growing over the Jena 6 case. At Jena High School an African American boy asked if was allowed to sit under a tree that primarily white students hung out at and was told that he could sit wherever he wanted.
The next day, the boy came to sit at the tree again, but found that it had nooses hanging from it's branches. The boy and his friends told the principal what had happened and he dismissed it saying it was a prank.
A Caucasian male was walking around school bragging about how he and a group of friends had done it, so the boy and his friends faught him. All 6 of the students were chraged with attemped second-degree murder and the D.A. charged them as adults.............
Later that day, there was a large party in which an African American student was jumped by a group of Caucasian males, one of which was the boy who had been jumped at the school and was just released form the hospital. One boy broke a glass bottle over the victims haed and was only charged with a misdemeanor and given probation.
Within the following days, a group of African Americans were at a store when a group of Caucasians approached them and threatened to shoot them with a shotgun. They managed to wrestle the gun away from the boy and took it and were charged with theft of a firearm and second-degree robbery.
Soon after, the boy from the party that was jumped, was being teased by a Caucasian student and was called racial slurs which led to an altercation resulting in the African American student being charged as an adult with second-degree murder.
Cases such as this, make people in the African American community think back to the likenesses of how cases are still being handled in the same fashion as during the Civil Rights Movement. Not to mention the present day racially based cases such as the Don Imus incident, and the Megan Williams case in which the 20- year-old African American woman was held hostage, beaten, stabbed, burned, and called racial slurs.
Many protest all over the country are taking place and many petitions are being signed to free the Jena 6. If you would like to take part in history and voice your opinion, or just show suppor, sign the Jena 6 petition at:http://colorofchange.org/jena
This is crazy. They need to free dem bois b-cuz dats jus plain racist. Now if somebody threatened me, I woulda took the gun too, so I wouldn't get shot.
The Don Imus incident was blown way out of proportion. However, this incident, or series of incidents, will serve as a reminder that there is plenty of work to be done in the south, and elsewhere.
This article would be more effective if the "series of events" described were more coherent and correct as reported by the rest of the media. Your points are lost in your incohesive writing and spelling.
Dylan, regarding the Don Imus incident, did you hear how Rutgers students shouted obscenities, etc, at Navy during the recent Rutgers/Navy football game? Interesting, since this is the school involved in the Don Imus incident. The Rutgers' President and athletic director formally apologized to Navy.
Kathy, I did not hear of this incident, but thank you for adding it.
I only heard about the Rutgers/Navy incident because I follow Navy football. Supposedly, the students were so bad that some fans left the game. I read the letters sent to Navy and the open letter to the Rutgers' students on the Rutgers' web site.
Funny how the media isn't all over that.
Kathy, I like how you pointed out the article's incoherence and spelling errors. Such errors are not appropriate for students who are supposed to be writing for a real newspaper.
Errors in style and spelling detract from a piece's persuasiveness and reflect badly on the newspaper - not to mention the author.
I agree with you, Dylan: I'm not surprsed the media isn't covering that incident.
Thank you Jake and Kathy.
Well, I thank you all for your postings and your strong opinions. People can come off rude at times on the internet and I feel that things that are said on the web, really wouldn't be said to that persons face if they were in each others presence. But, like I said, thank you.
For real jake and dylan you guys need to stop kissin kathy's a** and kathy it wasn't the rutgers girls sayin those profane words to the navy so how the fans at the game represent the rutgers girls basketball team i have no idea and you all are not perfect either it's people like you who put other people down because of little mistakes who turn out to be the Don Imus' of your generation go get a life
Same situation applies. Correct grammar adds credibility. It's a simple fact of life. You will be taken more seriously if you look like you know how to complete a sentence.
A very interesting column on the issue of the Jena 6 here: http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=101&aid=130577. I must admit I had not heard of this case until about a month ago.
I agree fully that spelling and overall "proper" grammar are important, but as an English teacher I feel like it isn't quite as important as the content. Granted Jon's piece may sound a little different from CNN's version but then again CNN's version is different from FOX news or WGAL. Furthermore, whose is to say any one person's source for news is "correct" unless that person experienced it first hand? Media is not synonymous with an all knowing being. Jon's piece didn't lie it was his phrasing of the situation based on information from various mediums. I would also like to point out this is a BLOG not a newspaper and teen pieces are not read prior to posting (to my understanding). My advice Jon is keep trying, keep writing, have a peer proof before you post, and remember criticism comes in all forms but your the one who decides how to take it.
If I were an English teacher I would consider both grammar and content to be equally important. If you can not convey your thoughts well, and you can not spell words correctly, then you will not be able to convey a point well. People will not understand what you are saying. They will also think to themselves "If this writer can't spell this word right, how can I trust the facts in his/her piece?"
Grammar is just as important as the content because you can not make a point if you are unable present it in a coherent manner. That said, I will refrain from pointing out the grammar errors in your comment, Miss Ehlers.
Hey Dylan,
Obviously it makes you feel better about yourself to point out other people's mistakes. I'm sure that tact will win you many friends and a lot of respect as you get older.
And I guess because you don't know how to spell "because," we should all disregard everything you've said on here.
As someone who is interested in and has read numerous books about racial issues, and knows something about the Jena 6 case, I was dumbfounded in reading this article. It was very difficult to figure out what Jonathan was saying. Miss Ehlers and anyone else, who encourages but does not point that out, is not doing him any favors. My understanding is that the teen newspaper staff is sort of like an internship. I would like to see you guys do well and Jonathan's article needs some work. I'm sure he can edit it. I'd really be interested in reading what teens have to say about this issue. This article was just confusing. It's especially important when you're writing about hot/controversial issues that your writing be clear.
Jordan, regarding the Rutgers/Navy issue...I was commenting on Dylan's post. I do find it interesting that the same school that complained about being discriminated against also hatefully slanders others. No one is without blame. But, no one knows about the Navy issue.
I found some of your other comments directed at me offensive. You don't know me and have no idea what I think or do. Your attitude is actually what perpetuates hate in our society.
Very interesting that this conversation has continued. As a former teen staff member (I left last month because I'm attending Johns Hopkins University), I remember the teen staff leaders (journalists for YDR) telling all the students to "use real words", "use correct spelling and grammar" in the posts they put on the Teen Takeover website. And I'm pretty sure that two of the professors for the courses I'm taking at Hopkins specifically said that bad grammar and spelling detract from a paper's persuasiveness. If Jon's piece only had one error, then that wouldn't affect his point much. But the errors are so numerous that they make his piece hard to understand.
As for "Holier than Dylan", your comment is stupid. In a rational argument, it does not work to attack the opponent. And Dylan's one or two spelling errors don't come close to Jon's errors, so Dylan's errors actually don't make his comments difficult to understand. Dylan's last comment is absolutely correct. Not only that, "Holier than Dylan", but don't you contradict your own message by pointing out Dylan's errors? I think Dylan is winning more friends than you are.
Since this discussion is going in another direction than that addressed in the article...I would like to add...I think the students were wrong to hang nooses in the tree, the students were wrong to beat up another student, and the prosecutor was wrong to charge the juvenile student, as an adult, with attempted murder.
The questions are...what can we learn from this and how should we handle this type of discussion?
No, Jake, I don't contradict my own message. I was being sarcastic. Dylan was throwing stones from a glass house. He was arrogantly nit-picking typos by Jon and Miss Ehlers while his own post was less than perfect.
My point is that there are more constructive ways to point out your colleagues' mistakes than to blast them publicly.
No one is arguing that grammar, spelling, punctuation and solid sentence structure aren't important. Of course they are. They are imperative. But there are better ways to help young writers improve than to cut them down with public comments.
If young writers want to be taken seriously, especially about important issues, and when they put their writings in a public forum, they should expect and value any criticism. I don't know the writer of this article and there's no way for anyone to help him except to say that he should correct his mistakes and give a more coherent chain of events that his readers would be able to follow.
Defensive comments regarding constructive criticism only show the immaturity of those who make them.