Focus on hate crime is far too narrow

As an aged, white, poor, male I refuse to recognize that I do not have equal protection under the law. How can my life be worth less than a black person or a cop or any other person. Dead is dead and there are extensive laws covering the punishment for killing people under any circumstance. If the laws are enforced fairly there should be no reason for valueing one corpse over another.

isnt all crime a form of hate...???

"It can't happpen here"

Hate crime law allows gov't to prosecute a person only for their thoughts.

Hate crime law helps destroy our freedom by ultimately eroding our liberty to speak and express ourselves.

First it's the 'n' word; then the 'b' word and then the 'c' word. After that it will be other words some don't like. After that our sentences will be considered hateful and then unlawful and then we will be silent for sure.

I'd rather be offended then be forced by gov't to be silent, because after we become silent the gov't will begin prosecuting us for our silent unspoken thoughts too.

I love my country but I hate its gov't for creating and enforcing hate laws.

"I often have wondered, do we black folks get so much more agitated about white-on-black insults than the black-on-black assaults that constantly terrorize certain neighborhoods?"
Because it is sooooo easy to do and sooooo easy to get the papers to tout this. Black on black crime is so common that people have lost their outrage at it. Yes, take back the streets, but to do it you need a lot of people who truly care and apathy is rampant. Bill Cosby was 'dissed' because he dared to tell parents to instill good values in their children. He had the right idea: talk to your children, tell them about good morals, be the good example and become involved in your neighborhood.

I think you need to do a little research into the law, Tory. Hate crime laws do not allow people to be prosecuted for their thoughts, but for their actions. Hanging a noose, painting a swastika--both are actions, born of thought yes, but actions nonetheless. Speech and the expression of thoughts are actions. Freedom entails responsibility. People who refuse to accept the responsibility demanded by freedom threaten the sustainability not only of the community of which they are a part, but also of freedom itself. It's time we in this country start focusing as much on responsibilities as we do on rights. With rights come responsibilities. Responsible white Americans, as well as responsible black Americans, need to "take back our streets," literally and metaphorically speaking.

The news media is partly at fault for elevating members of the “Jena Six” to the level of the heroic “Little Rock Nine.” The two groups have race in common, but a sharper contrast in character between two groups of people is difficult to imagine. To be fair, the mainstream news media generally avoids explicitly stating that the noose-hanging incident at Jena High School led directly to the Jena Six beating incident, which occurred three months later. However, it implies that the noose-hanging incident was the catalyst for the Jena Six assault by writing that “the beating took place after three white students hung nooses in a schoolyard tree.” The truth is that the motivation for the Jena Six attack has been well established. Members of the Jena Six were angry at Justin Barker, the victim in the Jena Six beating incident, because they heard he had been talking to other students about a fight at a private party thee days earlier that involved one of their members and a 22-year-old white male. The fight at the private party had nothing to do with the noose-hanging incident. Although both black and whites attended the party, trouble started when a group of uninvited teenagers tried to crash the invitation-only party. When one of the hosts asked them to leave, they refused to go. This led to a confrontation in which the white adult hit Robert Bailey, one of the party crashers and a member of the Jena Six. The white adult was arrested and charged with battery. He pleaded guilty and was released on parole because it was his first offense. The fight at the private party, not the noose hanging, was the catalyst for the Jena Six attack. Following the Jena Six beating incident, the Justice Department reopened its investigation into the noose-hanging incident and determined there was no link between the nooses and the beating. U.S. Attorney Donald Washington told CNN that, "A lot of things happened between the noose hanging and the fight occurring, and we have arrived at the conclusion that the fight itself had no connection." He added that none of the black students involved in the beating made “any mention of nooses, of trees, of the 'N' word or any other word of racial hate." Rather than writing that the Jena Six beating took place [three months] after three white students hung nooses from a tree, the news media should report that the beating incident took place [three-days] following a fight at a private party between a member of the Jena Six and a white adult. To be fair, the news media does report that the three white students say they hung the nooses as a prank; however, this leave the false impression that the students hung the nooses knowing that the nooses would be perceive as a racist threat, but nevertheless, thought this would be funny. Hanging stuff beneath the tree was a tradition, especially during football season. The three white students says they hung the nooses to poke fun at friends who were members of the school rodeo team, an idea they say they got from the movie, Lonesome Dove. Nooses, called lassos or lariats, are standard rodeo equipment. The three white students say they were unaware that nooses could be considered racial threats. This explanation has been ridiculed, but federal investigators and local authorities who have actually investigated the incident are on record saying they believe the three white students are telling the truth. The mainstream media should at least report the three white students’ explanation.

The greatest problem is the lack of moral values of people in poor communities.
I dont know if this due to the lack or influence of the traditional African spirituality that was ever present as child growing up in the 60's.
I think that type of leadership needed can only come from within the poor communities themselves. And who better to point the way than African American leaders from the same community? Be they from the church, from City Hall, street worker -- who is better qualified to address the issues of the African American community but the leaders from that same community?

However, such leadership is absent. It is void. And we are left without.

And no legislation in the world can effect the type of change that is truly necessary for for schools to be rebuilt, for commercial corridors to be rejuvenated. BandAid pproaches from the past can no longer be mplemented.

While everybody and their mother wants to be in elected office and hold up a place at the table, few seemingly have the guts to lead.
Few seemingly have the ability to connect with the issues of the people, galvanize the necessary support, stand up like a man -- like a woman -- and speak truth to power.

Instead, our so called leaders or Reverends are more like children asking their parents' for permission to speak or asking how much will they get paid for the interview.

Wonderfully balanced and objective piece.
Good work, Clarence.
-JTM

This entire format is a fraud. Any significant facts the sensor disagrees with with never appear, such as the incredible numbers of inter-racial crime reported evry year by the US Justice Dept. Because the Tribune many years ago in a management decision decided to stop reporting inetrracial crimes statistics as they once did annually by Chicago-land community, because those very statistics give lie to the premise that blacks are under attack by whites, when the opposite is true. For those doubters go to the Justice Dept. Web and check for yourselves, are if you can find it, the tribune article on hate crimes several months back, where the figures for 2005 were stated: 650,000 violent interracial crimes; 65,000 by whites against blacks, 585,000 by blacks against whites. Who is it committing hate crimes in the US?

How ironic that Sharpton would use the Jena 6 in talking about lack of "Hate Crime" justice.

Didn't the 6 of them beat up a white kid based on his race?

Mr. Page, as much as I read and respect many of your ideas and columns, I must ask that you quit pepetuating the Jena myth. Visit the Jena newspaper site. Granted, you may say that their version is tainted by their race, but they are journalists. The same argument might be erroneously applied towards your writings.

Thanks for this story.

since when are symbals not covered by the first amendment.Does a cross imply that Jews killed Jesus and Christians need to be prosecuted because it implies something.Should everyone that has a Mississippi flag be arrested for having the stars and bars.The more Al Sharpton stirs things up all it does is draw attention to the wrong thing.Whites are not responsible for everything wrong in communities.People should be listening to people like Bill Cosby,not an agitator like Al who just wants to rekindle the hatred for the past.

I HATE our giant bullying gov't. Does that make me guilty of a hate crime (hint: I wrote it while I was thinking of love.)

Why the need for more laws ? Because Americans want to control others via the government.

Wake up America; read your Constitution (and ignore all the people who Hate it.)

Outstanding article Mr. Page. A lot of us young African Americans are tired of the Black Establishment not being up to snuff. Bringing continued attention and pressure to noose hangings and following up on the Jean 6 type situations are admirable and neccessary but Black on Black crime needs an all out push of equal or greater magnitude.

In addition to this we need to get over the "don't criticise your leaders" paranoia. That's simply a natural part of accountability and we deserve more of it not less. Otherwise it will mean the end of us as a relevant part of society.

If the old school won't do a better job of addressing these types of issues then maybe we will have to do it without them.

Incidentally, I linked to your story from a post on the Electronic Village blog http://electronicvillage.blogspot.com/2007/11... . Take a read of Wayne Hicks a.k.a. "Villager" in your spare time.

Martin Lindsey,
www.martyblogs.com

Excellent and incisive column as usual. Don't look to Sharpton or Jackson for solutions, only TV appearances and meaningless marches developed to attract the media. And as soon as the cameras disappear, so do Jesse and Al. The solution lies in a new group of black leaders committed to solving the problem of violence in their community. How about some ideas from Mr. Page. They, the police and the other civil leaders need the advice. Here's one: Form armed, experienced police auxiliaries in the neighborhoods staffed by retired cops and military to patrol the high crime areas with the ability to call in the
regular police as needed. Properly deployed, they can end the open drug sales and halt the random violence.

Sajnaj wrote:

Excellent and incisive column as usual. Don't look to Sharpton or Jackson for solutions, only TV appearances and meaningless marches developed to attract the media. And as soon as the cameras disappear, so do Jesse and Al. The solution lies in a new group of black leaders committed to solving the problem of violence in their community. How about some ideas from Mr. Page. They, the police and the other civil leaders need the advice. Here's one: Form armed, experienced police auxiliaries in the neighborhoods staffed by retired cops and military to patrol the high crime areas with the ability to call in the
regular police as needed. Properly deployed, they can end the open drug sales and halt the random violence.

HEARD THE SAME GARAGE SPEWED AGAINIST A GUY NAMED NELSON MANDELA BACK IN THE LATE '50's . All I can say is bullshit .
LUMUMBA LIVES

Get Real wrote:

"I often have wondered, do we black folks get so much more agitated about white-on-black insults than the black-on-black assaults that constantly terrorize certain neighborhoods?"
Because it is sooooo easy to do and sooooo easy to get the papers to tout this. Black on black crime is so common that people have lost their outrage at it. Yes, take back the streets, but to do it you need a lot of people who truly care and apathy is rampant. Bill Cosby was 'dissed' because he dared to tell parents to instill good values in their children. He had the right idea: talk to your children, tell them about good morals, be the good example and become involved in your neighborhood.

If you are for real, I have asked myself and my neighbors the same thing. The answer, according to her, and her Nigerian husband is black leaders are afraid to make that next step into the world of equality. Holding back some blacks, of the not Bill Cosby mentality, keeps their churches and organizations alive and rich. He thinks the ACLU could do their job...with less cost of $$ and more constructive thought and learning.

In the movie 1984 you could be convicted for what you thought; also in the movie Minority Report you could be jailed for life for what you may do in the future.Does any of this sound like science fiction any longer or more like a reality we are letting come true?You should be punished for what you do [ actions] not for what you think.....mind control is not what America and freedom is about.