Are we really that far from Little Rock?

On September 17, 2007, In honor of Constitution Day 2007, Elizabeth Eckford, was honored at the National Constitution Center. Ms. Eckford joined 100 other history-making Americans featured on the American National Tree exhibit at the Center. Ms. Eckford was one of the "Little Rock" nine escorted by the government who attempted to desegregate an Arkansas High School in 1957. She faced persecution in her efforts just to receive an education and equality for black students. Even now 50 years after that historic day, Elizabeth Eckford gets emotional when talking about the daily attacks by white students who slammed her against lockers; and the students that pushed their desks away so they wouldn't have to sit next to her. In an interview with the Philadelphia’s Inquirer, Eckford mentioned that many come to her to laud the progress that America has made with regards to prejudice and racism in this country. However, Eckford quickly pointed to many of the incidents taking place in America today, Eckford stated, “There is so much unfinished business”.



Many people feel that America has come a long way since the civil rights movement. Many feel that a great deal of the segregation, the injustices and stereotypes about African Americans has died down since pioneers like Elizabeth Eckford made their stand. However in looking at the networks that portray blacks in the media, the justice system that has unequal standards in rendering judgment for blacks as well as the numerous cases of cruelty and brutality towards blacks many wonder, has much of anything changed?


An incident that is drawing a great deal of media attention at this time ( finally) is the Jena 6 case. The incident started in September 2006 when a black student asked to sit under a tree that was usually occupied by white students. The next day three white students hung three hangman’s nooses from the tree. School officials ruled this incident as a harmless prank and students were given in-house suspensions.
A number of racially charged incidents took place after the nooses were hung from the tree. At a party, one black student was attacked by a number of white students. The next day a heated argument involving both white and black students led to an altercation between a white student and 6 black students known as the Jena 6: Robert Bailey, Carwin Jones, Mychal Bell, Theodore Shaw, Jesse Beard and Bryant Ray Purvis.

One of the white students was knocked unconscious in the altercation and because of this these young men are now being charged with murder and conspiracy.

There are many marches and protests taking place because of this case, and rightly so. (The boys should have tried to stick to a non-violent approach (given the circumstances, few of us can say it would be easy to control our anger). However to charge these boys with murder and conspiracy as adults is just insane. Justin Barker the young “victim” in the fight not only walked away with minor injuries but also attended a ring ceremony later on that evening. The district attorney is trying to ruin these boys’ lives over a minor scuffle. Or as he told the boys before the event took place, “I can be your best friend or your worst enemy. I can take away your lives with a stroke of my pen."

Another incident happened in West Virginia. A 20-year-old young black woman, Megan Williams, was held captive for more than a week by six suspects, among them a mother and son and a mother and daughter. They took turns torturing Williams, using racial slurs, stabbing her repeatedly, assaulting, choking and even forcing her to eat rat droppings, all because she was black.

One cannot begin to speak about how shocking and horrific this crime is. The police assigned to investigate were horrified and sickened by what they had seen. What can possibly possess a human being to treat another human being this way?

The images and stereotypes that we have been fighting for decades still seem to be popular images in mainstream culture. The over sexualized and violent black man and black woman stereotype is still being perpetuated down to our day. An entire network that is supposed to be for Black Entertainment has been severely criticized for its constant portrayals of black men as "pimps" and "gangsters" as well as sexually exploiting black women. In frustration, more than 500 people demonstrated Sunday in Washington D.C. outside the home of Black Entertainment Television's (BET) chief executive. The music videos and shows that run on the network 24hours a day 7 days a week reinforce the stereotypes that we have tried to fight for so many years. One program recently aired on the network was entitled "Hot Ghetto Mess," however after much public uproar it was changed to: "We Got to Do Better." An extremely controversial and infuriating cartoon/Public Service Announcement (PSA) was aired on BET. The PSA entitled "Read a Book" has even been debated and criticized on CNN. More than 500 members of the Enough is Enough Campaign are demanding that the network stop showing these negative images of black people. The group says it will return every weekend until BET chief Debra Lee addresses their concerns.

More than 50 years ago African Americans in this country were persecuted and oppressed by those in society who hoped to eliminate any chances of them having a life in this country. Through the political and justice systems, as well as through the media, African Americans were rejected and abused by this country. It has been said that this country has come a long way since the fights of Dr. Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy and Elizabeth Eckford. However in looking at just some of the cases we see blacks face daily in the media, one is left to ask, “Really has anything changed?” In an effort to bring attention to these cases, as well as the overall lack of change in this country with regards to race relations, many protests and marches are scheduled to take place. On September 20th a march will take place in Jena, Louisiana. Additionally the protest in Washington DC against BET will continue until changes to the network and its images are made. Realizing how crucial this time is for African Americans, the question is, ‘What are you going to do?’
Will September 20th be the last day of solidarity? Will African Americans stand up and organize on a daily basis? Is September 20th the last time you'll see 60,000 marching for civil rights? Are we still celebrating the Million Man or Woman March? Are we going to keep depending on politicians to address issues that we should have been handling all along? When is our next movement for change? We know that many people wore black on September 20th but what color are you wearing today?