ENGL 2123
5 October 2007
Racism has been an issue since the beginning of the colonial era and has evolved throughout history as one of the many flaws that the “great” United States of America possesses. As long as I can remember, racism has always been between black and white, but in recent history, it has evolved in many different race groups, cultures, and ethnicities not only in America but around the world. The recent events that occurred in the small town of Jena, Louisiana is only some of the many chaotic events that have stirred up in our country. America used to be the land of opportunity, where each and every individual regardless of race, gender, or ethnicity could all live in a hardworking and stable environment. The same values that people were proud of America for having are now the things that we are looked down upon because of the lack there of.
The recent incident at Jena High School has sparked controversy within the African-American community, among them being young teenagers. This past month, thousands and thousands of African- Americans protested in Jena for what they believe was injustice on six young teenagers, known as the Jena 6. One of the six, Mychal Bell was charged as an adult in the beating of a fellow student and was to be sentence to 22 years in prison. After all was said and done, he was soon release from prison and to his family for the first time in months. Since that faithful day, people are still getting involved with this and other incidents like these that spark up like wildfire in today’s society. The parents of the Jena 6 were rumored to have received threats from individuals concerning this issue. Washington D.C. along with the FBI and the Justice Department are investigating this and other such incidents in the country.
A video footage taken by students that attend the University of Louisiana at Monroe portrayed the event that started this chaos in the first place. Kristy Smith, a student from the university taped this video of other students with black faces acting out the beating of the former Jena High School student Justin Barker. This video presented controversy not only on the campus itself, but all over the country. It is not known when the video was shot, but when it was recovered, it had been sent to Alexandria and Monroe, Louisiana and was talked about in their local newspapers. The footage was supposed to be private but somehow found its way on YouTube and The Smoking Gun as stated on CNN.com. When confronted about whether or not she was racist, Smith denied the allegations. She also made this statement: “This is so not me. It wasn’t that we were making fun of the Jena 6 incident. We were just fed up with it ... I have just as many black [friends] as I do white friends" (CNN.com, 1of1). If they weren’t making fun of the incident, what was it?
In Robert Atwan’s Convergences, the word message is described as “a term that refers to what a text is saying and can be a discrete unit of communication, condense moral or organizing concept, or a strong signal or gesture that delivers a clear idea (Atwan 3). I don’t know what message was being sent by making this video, but to me it wasn’t very funny. Kristy and the other people re-enacting this incident thought it was pretty funny as well. They didn’t take into consideration how the family members of Barker or of the Jena 6 would take this. They have completely taken a serious issue and made into a joke even though Kristy said it wasn’t supposed to be. Whether it was or not, this has sparked controversy at ULM and to the Vice President of Student Affairs Wayne Brumfield stating to the students the importance of this matter. "There are no words to express the dismay at what happened in that video ... We're here tonight because the action of one or two set our university in motion," said Brumfield as he spoke at the University forum this past Tuesday night.
Method is a term that refers to how a text is put together: generated, expressed, structured, and put to purpose (Atwan 6). This was a video that a bunch of students decided to do one day because they were bored and had nothing else to do with their time but make fun of an incident that has sparked not only the nation but the world. Yes, go ahead and make fun of this. I am sure that no one would really care. These students were not thinking about the consequences of doing this and how it would affect those around them and the others who could have seen it. They didn’t care. The purpose of the video was to prove the point of Miss Smith, “It wasn’t that we were making fun of the Jena 6 incident. We were just fed up with it ...” It is one thing to be fed up with it and it is another to make fun of it.
Lastly, the medium is a term used to describe all the basic means of conveying ideas or information from all forms of mass communication including television, radio, and newspapers. It also refers to the question: “Why it was delivered to you in that particular way (Atwan 11). I think that the students chose this way to deliver this was to get attention. They wanted the people to see the re-enactment of this and think that it was so hilarious. Some did, and some didn’t. Because of the attempt for attention, the Judiciary Board of the University of Louisiana at Monroe is now looking at possible punishment for this act according to CNN.com. To think, she even went as far as to post this on Facebook© and her blog.
When I first learned about this, I was truly disappointed to think that someone would actually take the time to make a video about this. It was neither funny nor entertaining, but sad. How could college students, young adults who are suppose to be intelligent individuals and think with common sense have the audacity to do such a thing? This is something that won’t go away overnight at their school. No matter what the punishment is for their actions, some people will not look at them the same. As for the events in Jena, Louisiana, it is still up in the air. There is still a lot to be done there. Soon the Jena 6 will be going to juvenile court to discuss their case. Their punishment is not known at this present time, but something must be done next time to prevent such events from happening again. Now the world is looking at this small town as a small representative of our country and determining whether or not America is really what they think we are: the land of opportunity. When will we ever learn? As long as racism continues in our country, we will never truly live up to the expectation that we once have. Even though this is not the only flaw that our country possesses, it’s something that we must tend to or else things won’t get any better for us. We must learn sometime.
BIBILOGRAPHY
Atwan, Robert. Convergences: Message, Method, Medium. 2nd ed. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005.
'Student apologizes for making 'Jena 6' re-enactment'. 4 Oct. 2007. CNN. 5 Oct. 2007
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