Why the 'progressive' blogosphere silence about the Jena 6?
UPDATE: A cross-post of this has ignited some fierce debate over at Daily Kos; see also Pam Spaulding's valuable take on why the progressive blogosphere is MIA on the Jena 6.
As we reported earlier today, thousands of people -- with African-American youth being the largest contingent, say our sources on the scene -- have descended on Jena, Louisiana for a historic march in support of the Jena 6.
The Jena 6 has become the main topic of discussion on countless black websites, radio stations and street conversations, inspiring countless activists young and old to take action.
But on this historic day for the most high-profile civil rights issue of the moment, where is the progressive blogosphere? I did a quick tour of the major "progressive" sites to see how they were covering it -- and was astounded to find a complete white-out of this historic cause:
* DailyKos features a handful of posts about injustice in Iraq today -- but not a single entry on its main page, or even its user-generated "diaries," about this important case.
* TalkingPointsMemo, a favorite of the DC wonk set, is similarly incensed about foreign policy, but apparently not about racial justice in the South -- nothing there either.
* Long-time progressive blogger Atrios doesn't have a lot of posts up,but found time to touch on Paul Krugman, Iraq and the state of the Euro -- but not this major issue.
* Surely TalkLeft -- which has positioned itself as the leading progressive blog about criminal justice issues -- would have something? Think again -- not a single mention, not even in the quick news briefs!
* What about another progressive favorite, FireDogLake? A rant about Republicans being "little bitches," but nothing on the Jena 6.
When the Jena 6 does make an appearance on progressive blogs today, it's little more than a passing nod. Huffington Post has a blog post buried below the fold; ThinkProgress gives it a two-sentence news brief.
However, many of these blogs are eagerly pointing to news stories which suggest the Republican candidates don't care about black issues.
But who is showing they're out of touch with the issues that matter most to the African American community?
As we reported earlier today, thousands of people -- with African-American youth being the largest contingent, say our sources on the scene -- have descended on Jena, Louisiana for a historic march in support of the Jena 6.
The Jena 6 has become the main topic of discussion on countless black websites, radio stations and street conversations, inspiring countless activists young and old to take action.
But on this historic day for the most high-profile civil rights issue of the moment, where is the progressive blogosphere? I did a quick tour of the major "progressive" sites to see how they were covering it -- and was astounded to find a complete white-out of this historic cause:
* DailyKos features a handful of posts about injustice in Iraq today -- but not a single entry on its main page, or even its user-generated "diaries," about this important case.
* TalkingPointsMemo, a favorite of the DC wonk set, is similarly incensed about foreign policy, but apparently not about racial justice in the South -- nothing there either.
* Long-time progressive blogger Atrios doesn't have a lot of posts up,but found time to touch on Paul Krugman, Iraq and the state of the Euro -- but not this major issue.
* Surely TalkLeft -- which has positioned itself as the leading progressive blog about criminal justice issues -- would have something? Think again -- not a single mention, not even in the quick news briefs!
* What about another progressive favorite, FireDogLake? A rant about Republicans being "little bitches," but nothing on the Jena 6.
When the Jena 6 does make an appearance on progressive blogs today, it's little more than a passing nod. Huffington Post has a blog post buried below the fold; ThinkProgress gives it a two-sentence news brief.
However, many of these blogs are eagerly pointing to news stories which suggest the Republican candidates don't care about black issues.
But who is showing they're out of touch with the issues that matter most to the African American community?
Labels: jena six, race and racism
13 Comments:
I first heard of the Jena 6 from Democracy Now months ago, and found it was nearly impossible to follow up on the story in any other media sources. I was disgusted. Now that there is even slight attention, the reporting is ham fisted and biased and does not even bother to bring out the facts of the case. The boys are portrayed as thugs who attacked and hospitalized an innocent white boy. Worse that even that are comments posted in the Orlando Sentinel. I feel pretty certain those comments are not isolated.
I don't understand how any American in their right mind cannot see this as a miscarriage of justice and that there is still such a long way to go on race relations. Seeing the footage of the protest and the lack of white faces is disturbing as well. This whole thing should have all Americans up in arms, shouting out loud about the injustice and racism at work. I suppose racism is like cancer, for a brief moment we had remission, and now we seem to be in some terminal end stage form of it.
The blogs you named are mostly partisan Democrat blogs. Other progressive blogs have given good coverage, and I've gotten most of my information about the case from Dallas South, Friends of Justice, and lately Sorkin's Juvienation. (I know there are others, too, but those are the ones I've been reading.) Perhaps your point really should be that the Democratic blogosphere was silent. Plenty of progressive bloggers were doing there jobs on this one, IMO.
Bloggers of Color - as well as anti-racist bloggers - have been posting about the Jena 6 from day 1. And, as it's been stated in the past, those types of bloggers have been left out of the progressive blogosphere.
Pam Spaulding should worry about what's going on in her own hometwown of Durham, which is a complete mess, rather than worrying about other parts of the country. The city is being sued for 30 million by the falsely-accused Duke lacrosse guys, while Victoria Peterson (the homophobe Spaulding wrote about before) has been nominated by black activists for the City Council. Why can't Spaulding write about that? It's because homophobe Peterson is now associated with being one of the fools of the Duke lacrosse case, along with Spaulding's chum Amanda Marcotte. Spaulding is dishonest. She won't write about the truth if it doesn't fit her agenda. She should also worry about her own backyard.
Think Progress has mentioned it. But I agree with the thrust of this statement, although I rarely visit progressive/democratic blogs (other than this one and Think Progress).
I think one of the points in this story that has been lost is the disregard of the school district for the principal's decision to expel the noose-hangers (is that a word?). This is really a larger commentary on the failure of public officials to support educators in their effort to address social problems.
From a broad perspective, this isn't any different than the complicity of public officials in abandoning birth control education (for example). Many educators, regardless of race, may know how to help their students make progress when facing difficult issues, but if there isn't full support from them in the community then they can only watch as their schools are ripped apart.
It is essential that we recognize our children are still living in a world where racial identity is a powerful component of how they encounter sources of authority. Is it any wonder that many of our youth are disengaging from community action and seeing the world as a darwinistic struggle for survival and supremacy?
When the actions of government and civic institutions match up to our rhetorical ideals, then our youth will see that they have a meaningful opportunity to collectively address the problems they confront on a daily basis. Otherwise, their BS detectors will be ringing on full alarm.
Grits for Breakfast -- I couldn't agree more, many blogs have done excellent coverage. I was taking aim at some of the biggest national progressive blogs with the most traffic (and therefore ability to shape media/political debate). They largely were, and still largely are, MIA on Jena 6. Big fan of GFB, by the way.
John --
You're exactly right. The scandals surrounding the school board's handling of the case are among the most egregious. For example, it's not reported much that, when the school board took up the issue of whether they should expel the Jena 6 youth, the school attorney making the case was none other than ... Parish DA Walter Reed. A blatant conflict of interest and one that clearly helped lead things in the wrong direction.
Angel H -- I couldn't agree more. Jena 6 revealed the huge disconnect between the big "progressive" blogs -- and I'm intentionally focusing here on those with big traffic and big influence -- and the concerns of people of color and those concerned about racial justice.
I wasn’t aware of this until recently. I did a google news search and read a few articles. Later I ended up watching a segment on Democracy Now. After watching the segment I was absolutely disgusted with what other media sources failed to mention.
In your opinion, what should happen to the 6 defendants? I keep hearing the phrase "racial justice" tossed around, and I think it is unfortunate that the noose incident was largely ignored. But I'm curious what you think should happen to the 6 defendants facing punishment for beating a fellow student?
But I'm curious what you think should happen to the 6 defendants facing punishment for beating a fellow student?
The one in jail should be released, they should all 6 be pardoned and have their records expunged, their bail money should be returned to them with interest, and all officials involved should very publicly make written apologies to the Jena 6 and their families.
Why?
Because in Jena white kids can beat up black kids without being arrested, charged with assault, or charged with attempted murder. Because in Jena, white kids can pull a gun on black kids without being arrested, charged with assault, or charged with attempted murder. Because in Jena, when black kids defend themselves they get arrested and charged with theft, robbery, disturbing the peace, assault, and attempted murder.
NPR story
All the blogs that I look to for progressive news let me down with Jena 6 coverage as well.
TPM Muckraker, Huffington Post, The Carptbagger Report, even TruthDig.
Talk about disappointing.
Gritsforbreakfast, wait a friggin minute. The Dallas South Blog is a Black blog!
And can friends of justice be classified as a white progressive blog? It's the website (which includes bloggiing) for a social action organization that specifically works in this area, and has specifically worked on this case from day one. So of course it's going to talk about a friggin case its working on.
Further I wrote a post called “Most Whites, Including "Progressive" Bloggers, Don’t Think Jena Six Charges Are Wrong” (http://community.livejournal.com/black_intellect/31316.html) in which I talked about white bloggers being MIA, and one of their given reason being that they don't think the charges are wrong. Lydia Bean, co-founder of Friend of Justice (and wife of the Executive Director) AGREED with my post. She put her response here: http://www.blackperspective.net/index.php/blackwater-mercenary-army-for-hire/ because the comments didn’t work for her at the place where it was posted.
Then she pointed me to a post of her own where, in part, she expresses concern about progressives being distant on jena 6 in particular, and this type of thing in general.
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