Created by hatbow8 on May 6, 2010
Last updated: 05/17/10 at 10:14 AM
Racism towards African Americans has no followers yet. Be the first one to follow.
On the morning of September 1st 2006 students arrived at their school in Jena, Louisiana and found nooses hanging from a tree on their courtyard. After faculty and students realized that the culprits of this crime were white tensions heightened severely. Jena High school had been known to have a higher population of white students over black and it was also known that they frequently "hung out" in different areas of the school. However, the day before the prank was performed black students ventured to the "white tree as they called it, and conveniently there were nooses hanging from this tree the next morning.
Whether this prank was aimed as a threat to the African American students or just a prank is not known. As for the three white students responsible they suffered months of consequences, and within these months the racial tensions in Jena increased dramatically.
Life at Jena high school however, would be forever changed and the following weeks after the noose incident brought many black vs. white brawls and threatening incidents. The most memorable was the beating of white student, Justin Barker, who was attacked by 6 black males. What provoked the fight is uncertain but Barker suffered with injuries to his entire body but in particular his head and eye. Of the attackers, 1 was charged as a juvenile, and the other 5 with an attempt of murder. The verdict of this case brought many people to emphasize the idea that the African Americans were not treated fairly considering many white students involved in fights following the prank were only charged with Battery. African American in the town of Jena hosted many rallies in honor of the "Jena 6."
http://niviusvir.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/justin-barker.jpg
The night before, African American, Sean Bell's wedding and the night of his bachelor party he made the mistake of entering Club Kalua, which was under investigation by undercover cops. Unfortunately, Bell never made it to his wedding due to a misunderstanding of the police officers they open fired on Bell and his friends, wounding them and killing him. There were 50 shots fired total all from the officers, and Bell was hit four times in areas including the liver, and lungs and pronounced dead later that morning. Ironically, three of the officers that open fired on Bell and his friends were African American. Sean's death caused uproar of questions and accusations against police departments discriminating against African Americans. The officers pleaded that during undercover investigations they must be prepared to act quickly but of the officers two were charged with manslaughter and one charged with reckless endangerment. The verdict sent an atmosphere of reassurance through Queens, New York.
The Million Man March was organized by Islamic leader Louis Farrakhan. Farrakhan was a dedicated Minister, however, he was also known for taking extreme strides towards black supremacy and getting rid of the white majority.
This event was estimated to achieve many things, and although it didn't quite live up to its name it became one of the largest gatherings of African Americans in United States history. All in all there was a total of around 830,000 African Americans in the nations capital on this sunny October day.The purpose of this event was to emphasize the fact that African American men were capable of being just as successful as white men and in just as large quantities. This march is also known to be one of the most peaceful considering there were no fights or arrests which helped to create a new image for African American people across America.
http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/hits?docNum=BT2210070006&tab=16&locID=sain62671&origSearch=false&hdb=US&t=RK&s=1&r=d&items=0&secondary=true&o=&sortOrder=RE&n=10&l=dI&sgPhrase=false&c=1&tabMap=115&bucket=img&SU=million+man+march+1995
The riots in Los Angeles were the result of the verdict of Rodney King's trial, where the charges against the police officers who beat him were let go. The riots lasted for a total of three days and it was like nothing the United States had ever seen because blacks, white, Hispanics, and people of all colors were enraged about the injustice done to this black man. However, all of this anger was aimed towards whites and many suffered from the enraged population and many lost their lives. After the riots finally came to an end and two of the officers were found guilty, their was an estimated billion dollars worth of damage. Although these riots showed that the people of color could unite against injustice it sent a message of lack of self control and a bad reputation among the African Americans in Los Angeles.
Rodney King was involved in a car chase on March 3rd 1991. After finally pulling over King and the two other passengers were asked to exit the vehicle and get on the ground. The other two passengers complied while king remained in the car, which is what directly led to the beating. Once finally out of the car king was tazored after trying to resist arrest, and the officers repeatedly kicked and hit him. Finally he was dragged to the side of the road to lay until emergency help arrived. The trial itself to argue against this behavior was April 29th of that year. The officers were charged with unnecessary beating of a suspect but all charges against the officers were acquitted, or let go, meaning they did not suffer any severe punishments.
The night began with three African American males having car trouble, and ended with brutality and death. After several harassing remarks made at the African American males they found temporary refuge in a pizza place while attempting to find a ride home. Later that night the boys were confronted and threatened by three or more white males. Michael Griffith was pronounced dead after being chased into oncoming traffic and hit by a car, while Cedric Sandiford, one of his friends, was beaten horrifically, and the third, Timothy Grimes, managed to escape. Three of the white males were arrested not long after the murder and after the trial were charged with manslaughter and assault. Because the men were not charged with murder racial tensions increased and the parents of those assaulted and in Griffith's case murdered were left unsatisfied.
Even after the Brown vs. Board of education case ended African Americans were still greatly suffering from discrimination in regards of schooling. In the case of Swan vs. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education they attempted to balance the school districts race ratio in Charlotte, North Carolina. It started with an accusation that the district was using busing as a means to keep the student body segregated. Due to supplied evidence that the busing was segregated intentionally the court ordered that students would from then on be bused to school to avoid segregation in Charlotte. Although this didn't help on a national basis it did help the tensions in North Carolina to calm.
Update Sources