Jena Six: When the Facts Don't Fit the Narrative

I first heard about the Jena Six a couple of months ago on a blog discussing Mychal Bell's indictment on attempted murder charges for the incident where six black students beat a white student into unconsciousness. I didn't comment on the incident at the time, waiting for the legal system to work its magic over the situation and give us some perspective.

But last week, black activists got free ad time on the liberal Diane Rehm Show in advance of a planned march in Jena, La. last weekend. Most call-in commenters were supportive of the activists' position that the charges were excessive and, gosh, stomping on a kid when he's on the ground is just a playground brawl. I only heard one caller question Rehm's giving free airtime to the activists without anyone to counter them. Remember this the next time Echidne complains that TV talk shows have three conservatives and one watered-down liberal to defend the left.

Patterico notes the distortions in the press about the case, and the reluctance of the media to report on Bell's violent history, which could explain the original harsh charges. And I agree with this Patterico post that had six white students stomped on a black student, the Al Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons of the world would be demanding a full investigation--and rightly so.

This story, like so many about tensions in a small town, can be spun in any direction by any spin master. If you go far enough back in history, you can find someone you dislike as starting the whole thing. The most practical thing to do would be to look at this singular incident and decide if it was appropriate to stomp on a student (apparently for no reason) until said student was unconscious. My guess would be that reasonable people would say "no," but sometimes it's hard to find reasonable these days.