2008 Woodie Awards
If I ran the RNC...
Natasha Sell
Issue date: 10/2/07 Section: Opinions
It is no big secret that the Republican Party has a lot of straightening up to do. We lost the November 2006 elections not only because of the Iraq War, but because our national leaders seem to have abandoned some of our basic principles. This problem has become glaringly obvious over the past week due to two events: The Jena 6 case and the visit of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Columbia University.
A major tenet of the Republican Party is equality for all legal citizens. So why is the case of the Jena 6 even occurring? This is clearly a case of unequal justice, so why are no republican leaders speaking out and demanding justice with the rest of America? Considering that the south is strongly republican for the most part, it is the party's responsibility to step up.
One of our biggest problems is appealing to minorities who feel the Republican Party has nothing to offer them. Perhaps this is because of cases like this, where we stand by and wring our hands but do not take action. Not only is it a responsibility to take action, we need to prove what we preach: We are not racist. By staying silent we are only adding fuel to the fire and making ourselves appear to be so by not speaking out for the six young black men in Jena, La. We are allowing another Scottsboro Boys trial to take place before our eyes and yet we say nothing.
Much like the Scottsboro Boys, the Jena 6 are being charged with a major crime as adults. This means they will obviously not be judged by a jury of their peers, but adults who, judging from the town of Jena, feel they are in the wrong. Republicans need to step up and make the legal system work correctly in favor of these young men. What makes this case even sadder is that no one is even screaming injustice over the fact that recently in West Virginia a black woman was killed by a group of white men, who basically walked away with a slap on the wrist. Funny how justice works when the colors are turned around. If I ran the Republican National Committee, we would prove we are not racist and stand by equality. Clearly the murderers in West Virginia need to be brought to justice, not the Jena 6.
A major tenet of the Republican Party is equality for all legal citizens. So why is the case of the Jena 6 even occurring? This is clearly a case of unequal justice, so why are no republican leaders speaking out and demanding justice with the rest of America? Considering that the south is strongly republican for the most part, it is the party's responsibility to step up.
One of our biggest problems is appealing to minorities who feel the Republican Party has nothing to offer them. Perhaps this is because of cases like this, where we stand by and wring our hands but do not take action. Not only is it a responsibility to take action, we need to prove what we preach: We are not racist. By staying silent we are only adding fuel to the fire and making ourselves appear to be so by not speaking out for the six young black men in Jena, La. We are allowing another Scottsboro Boys trial to take place before our eyes and yet we say nothing.
Much like the Scottsboro Boys, the Jena 6 are being charged with a major crime as adults. This means they will obviously not be judged by a jury of their peers, but adults who, judging from the town of Jena, feel they are in the wrong. Republicans need to step up and make the legal system work correctly in favor of these young men. What makes this case even sadder is that no one is even screaming injustice over the fact that recently in West Virginia a black woman was killed by a group of white men, who basically walked away with a slap on the wrist. Funny how justice works when the colors are turned around. If I ran the Republican National Committee, we would prove we are not racist and stand by equality. Clearly the murderers in West Virginia need to be brought to justice, not the Jena 6.
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Mr Wimberly
Mr Wimberly
posted 10/04/07 @ 12:04 AM EST
Wow. Please continue to write because you are giving life to the idea that political choices do not automatically make anyone "evil." We all have different perspectives. (Continued…)
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