I was deeply disheartened to read that Liz Brown openly supports the Jena Six protests this Thursday. For our student government to openly support the brutal, racially-motivated beating of a high school student is inexcusable. Don't get me wrong. The three white students who hung three nooses under the "white tree" at Jena High School engaged in despicable and cowardly behavior, and ought to have been punished to the fullest extent of the law. There is no excuse for racial hatred, especially when it is displayed in a threatening manner. Americans should be working to promote racial equality and fair treatment for all, both in the legal system and in society at large.But since when do african-americans get a pass on promoting good race relations? When six black students jump a white student and beat him so badly he ends up in the emergency room, isn't that crime also racially motivated and cowardly? If it went unpunished, wouldn't white students feel threatened?Whether racial violence is perpetrated by white people or by black people, it ought to be punished as harshly as possible. Hate is still hate, no matter what the color of your skin. The Jena Six deserve to go to prison for what they did, but I'm all for a protest to prosecute the noose-incident perpetrators.
Dan TolerseniorDillon HallSept. 20
