Comments on: “If you checked all the cars at the high school, you would find a lot more guns.” http://cenlamar.com/2007/05/12/if-you-checked-all-the-cars-at-the-high-school-you-would-find-a-lot-more-guns/ Sat, 26 May 2012 17:40:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Idetrorce http://cenlamar.com/2007/05/12/if-you-checked-all-the-cars-at-the-high-school-you-would-find-a-lot-more-guns/#comment-10028 Sat, 15 Dec 2007 16:55:03 +0000 http://cenlamar.wordpress.com/2007/05/12/if-you-checked-all-the-cars-at-the-high-school-you-would-find-a-lot-more-guns/#comment-10028 very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce

]]> By: Erik T http://cenlamar.com/2007/05/12/if-you-checked-all-the-cars-at-the-high-school-you-would-find-a-lot-more-guns/#comment-6968 Wed, 27 Jun 2007 16:27:25 +0000 http://cenlamar.wordpress.com/2007/05/12/if-you-checked-all-the-cars-at-the-high-school-you-would-find-a-lot-more-guns/#comment-6968 I don’t know a lot about the law, and I can’t even imagine why those kids would do something they knew would stir up the entire black community, but how exactly does hanging a few nooses from a tree qualify as a federal hate crime? It was obviously meant to get a rise out of the black community, and it succeeded. It seems to me that something like that could be maybe considered vandalism, or even disturbing the peace, but anything more than that would trample freedom of speech, would it not? Is it considered a hate crime now to say something that pisses off people of another race, sex, religion, etc.?

]]> By: JohnGr http://cenlamar.com/2007/05/12/if-you-checked-all-the-cars-at-the-high-school-you-would-find-a-lot-more-guns/#comment-852 Sat, 12 May 2007 07:39:23 +0000 http://cenlamar.wordpress.com/2007/05/12/if-you-checked-all-the-cars-at-the-high-school-you-would-find-a-lot-more-guns/#comment-852 This series of incidents dovetails with a national debate we’re having about an important piece of legislation that imposes stricter penalties against individuals who engage in explicit hate crimes; that is, crimes that specifically and purposely target individuals based on their gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. This is an expansion of the current law, an expansion President Bush has vowed to veto. Some believe this type of legislation is redundant: a crime is a crime, they argue. But others, such as James Dobson, believe this expansion is an attempt to stifle one’s religious beliefs. I have yet to uncover a single reputable Christian faith that encourages violence against anyone. The message of Christ was antithetical to violence, for Christ commanded that we love even our “enemies.” As a Christian, our President should understand his responsibility to set a powerful example for the entire country, and it is equally important our leadership recognize that existing power structures often disadvantage minorities.

How else could a group of six African-American high school students be charged with second-degree murder when all evidence indicates this is a case of simple battery?

Hate crime legislation hopes to correct the injustice of being targeted or singled-out based on one’s status as a minority.

When those three white students hung a noose on that tree, they committed a federal crime, yet instead of being charged with any crime, they were merely suspended.

Jena proves that these types of injustices still occur, and if they ever expect to heal, they must first confront the deeply-ingrained racial bias that seeks to “make examples” out of African-American students while only giving white students a slap on the wrist for a federal hate crime.

]]> By: pointecoupeedemocrat http://cenlamar.com/2007/05/12/if-you-checked-all-the-cars-at-the-high-school-you-would-find-a-lot-more-guns/#comment-851 Sat, 12 May 2007 06:50:34 +0000 http://cenlamar.wordpress.com/2007/05/12/if-you-checked-all-the-cars-at-the-high-school-you-would-find-a-lot-more-guns/#comment-851 Very good. This crisis should precipitate a discussion about hate speech and its validation in our legislative chambers. And Bush’s decision to veto hate crimes legislation certainly does not help in this respect.

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