Wednesday, September 19, 2007

The "Jena 6" Issue

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jena_Six
An old friend from HS sent me an email about the "Jena 6" incident. Read
the link above for more information. This is an on-going issue of
blatant racism and racial tension in Jena, Louisanna is quite disturbing
to me. It makes me glad to live in NYC! I could never live in the deep
South simply because all racist behavior I've ever encountered have
always been while visiting a friend in the South or having a friend from
the South and sometimes from the midWest. Strangely, my New
England/Yankee friends do not exhibit the same openly racist attitudes.
Don't get me wrong, one of my hearing best friends growing up is what I
call an ignorant racist and blame her grandparents largely for
influencing her in that manner. Imagine she part Native American and
part German! How the heck she can toss around 'Spic' like it was nothing
back when we were 21 is beyond me. I'd be driving my car with her riding
with me and we lived in town. She would yell out racist terms to other
people walking along by the road. I would get mad at her and tell her to
shut up! I mean come on! I'm Jewish and she is not a pure WASP! But
she's also a "Christian Warrior" and rountinely follows the "tri-lateral
commission" think of the movie 'Conspiracy Theory'. As you can see she
has so many issues, where does one begin?

Ironically guess what book I started reading the other night? Malcolm
X's Autobiography based on Jack's recommendation. I had seen the movie a
while back. I remember him making a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
And how he changed his belief system to Muslim after the radical period
as a "Black Militant" who referred to white people as the "blonde hair,
blue eye devils." Plus I've read several excerpts from the book over the
years whether it was in class or for pleasure. Obviously its the right
read for this kind of mood.

I think I set a new record for myself today, as the most places I've
touched in one work day, which would be *drum roll.....* Manhattan, NJ,
Brooklyn & Queens. All thanks to the mighty wheels of public
transportation! Long live the TRAINs!

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