White supremacist backlash builds over Jena case

[my2sense]

Source: Chicago Tribune

HOUSTON - No sooner did tens of thousands of African-American demonstrators depart the racially tense town of Jena, La., last week after protesting perceived injustices than white supremacists flooded in behind them.

First a neo-Nazi Web site posted the names, addresses and phone numbers of some of the six black teenagers and their families at the center of the Jena 6 case and urged followers to find them and "drag them out of the house," prompting an investigation by the FBI.

Then the leader of a white supremacist group in Mississippi published interviews that he conducted with the mayor of Jena and the white teenager who was attacked and beaten, allegedly by the six black youths. In those interviews, the mayor, Murphy McMillin, praised efforts by pro-white groups to organize counterdemonstrations; the teenager, Justin Barker, urged white readers to "realize what is going on, speak up and speak their mind."



Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-jena25_websep25,1,4962646.story

[AlCzervik]

1. Did i read that right, the Mayor gave this scum an interview and praised

"Pro-white groups". Someone tell me i'm misreading that.

[951-Riverside]

2. DU'ers with digg accounts please digg this story

http://digg.com/politics/Jena_Mayor_Murphy_McMillin_appreciates_support_of_white_supremacists

[emlev]

9. Done. However, on Digg it'll probably get the mayor a lot of praise!

Might keep an eye on it.

[Mythsaje]

3. That's SO not a good idea.

Sounds like the Jena mayor has his OWN version of "bring it on."

[AlCzervik]

5. and why is he still the mayor? He's the mayor of White people only imo.

i wonder how much vetting was done on him.

[derby378]

4. What's next? THE TURNER DIARIES on the school's required reading list?!?

:mad:

[MadMaddie]

6. And the truth comes out the Mayor and the Prosecutor are racists

the people in the town know it and now the nation knows it now....

[flashl]

7. This story appears to be a contrast of the idyllic Jena in nytimes n/t

[Judi Lynn]

23. Oh, that was foul. Absolutely some of the worst writing done in decades.

They should have been too healthy, too well balanced to even dream of publishing that crap.

Obviously, the people running the media believe they really are addressing fools, and have no real responsibility to deliver the truth any longer.

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. None of this would have happened if the authorities had handled the

noose incident with the proper response. There is real prejudice out there against black people and the white supremacists are making their case for them regarding the hatred behind those nooses.

[emlev]

10. Let's think. What can DU/DUers do to support the African American community in Jena right now?

Folks there need protection. Most of us are very far away. Will you think with me? How can we help?

[emlev]

11. I'm having some ideas. Anyone want to brainstorm with me?

I have some thoughts about how DU might be able to get some people to create and maintain a peacekeeping presence in Jena.

[951-Riverside]

12. Photo of Murphy McMillin

(blue and white jacket)

[rhett o rick]

13. I wondered when this would start to materialize. In order for BushCorp to

retain power, they must once again polarize the Country. Flag burning, gay bashing are so 2004ish. The polarization that will dominate the 2008 elections will be black vs. white. BushCorp has been saving this for when they desperately needed it. But I think the time is here. Watch for BushCorp to stir up trouble between the black community and the white community. What a great diversion to steal the 2008 elections.

[provis99]

14. Its the Deep South. Why would anybody be surprised by white racists there?

Ask the few white liberals in the South if white Southerners are generally racist. They know their neighbors.

[951-Riverside]

15. I'm very suprised

The year is 2007 not 1960! Its scary when government officials openly support racist groups.

[FiveGoodMen]

19. Bad news: people don't change just because the year does.

Don't mean to be snarky at all! It's just the truth.

Many of us grew up during the civil rights heyday, unlearned whatever stupid shit our elders had taught us, and ... figured everyone else was also growing up, too.

No such luck.

[Skittles]

16. from my experiences you are correct

:(

[classysassy]

17. Citizens

where are the citizens of the new america,the one without racial unrest?can we send some troops to Jena,so the black citizens can have some of that democracy we've ben told about, or is that just more BS?.

[FiveGoodMen]

18. If there's a group in the world that we SHOULD go to war against, it's White Supremacists.

Fuck 'em -- one and all.

[0007]

20. Goddamn it! This is 2007 not 1907 ......

McMillin has insisted that his town is being unfairly portrayed as racist—an assertion the mayor repeated in an interview with Richard Barrett, the leader of the Nationalist Movement, a white supremacist group based in Learned, Miss., who asked McMillin to "set aside some place for those opposing the colored folks."

"I am not endorsing any demonstrations, but I do appreciate what you are trying to do," Barrett quoted McMillin as saying. "Your moral support means a lot."

McMillin declined to return calls seeking comment Monday.

Barker's father, David, said his family did not know the nature of Barrett's group when they agreed to be interviewed, adding, "I am not a white supremacist, and neither is my son."

But Barrett said he explained his group and its beliefs to the Barker family, who then invited him to stay overnight at their home on the eve of last week's protest march.

Rev. Jesse Jackson told the Tribune that he had grown so concerned about white extremists' threats against the Jena 6 families and perceived injustices in the town that he called the White House over the weekend to ask for immediate federal intervention. Jackson said the acting head of the U.S. Justice Department's civil right division phoned him Monday to say that the agency had begun investigating the Jena situation.

[ProudDad]

21. ...

"There is a major white supremacist backlash building," said Mark Potok, a hate-group expert at the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights group in Montgomery, Ala. "I also think it's more widespread than may be obvious to most people. It's not only neo-nazis and Klansmen—you expect this kind of reaction from them."

Not just neo-nazis and the Klan but some of the pro-cop authoritarian followers here on DU, too...

[Judi Lynn]

24. Can't believe they imagine they'll win any converts here. n/t

[classysassy]

22. United we stand

we want to impose our brand of democracy in Iraq,when we are woefully lacking it here in America.