Obama: Justice System is Racially Biased

I caught the majority of his speech and found it to be one of the most honest speeches of the political season so far. He not only spoke of the embalances of our justice department,but also of the importance of our community to address the issues of tolerated violence within our neighborhoods. It was good to see a leader who not only addresses the problem with the system but also the problem of parental apathy and neglect that continuosly sends african-american and hispanic men and woman to prison. I hope to see and hear more from Mr. Obama.

I finally realized that the media bias is very ture!

It takes money to win a case in court. Many are priced out of justice. This is not right.

Apparently Jesse is running Barrack’s show and here’s the proof. Remember a few days ago the news story where Jesse Jackson, thinking the interviewer would not quote him, said that Obama was “acting white” about the Jena case, after Obama had said “The Jena case is not about black or white. It’s about fairness.” (Don’t remember that story? Probably because only one news outlet ran it, and I bet you can guess which outlet and and why they were the only one!) Well Obama now says it IS an example of racial injustice. Don’t underestimate Jesse Jackson’s power. There have been several news stories over the past few years where large companies have forked over huge bucks instead of minimal bucks whenever Jackson became involved in a case.

Obama is correct when he says Justice System is racially biased. I agree the Jena 6 should be punished, but the degree of punshiment is the question.
It was over zealous, and why didn’t our Justice Department step in? I think all of this is a result of all the judges and prosecuters that are being replaced by conservatives and the Bush Administration.
Say what you like but, compare what the LaCross Players were able to do to the over zealous prosecuter in that case. I also happen to agree with the verdict on him. He was just stupid, HMMMM!

OK, am I the only one who thinks the picture for this article on the main page makes Obama look like Mickey Mouse?

Susan B. Smiley:
Your remarks are right on target. Thanks for such smart and insightful comments.

I think the system is racially biased also, but I think it depends in large part where you live. I’m from the South and, although it wonderful in many ways, it is far more racist than other areas.
Also, to restate the obvious – money matters. Black people are more likely to be poor and can’t afford proper legal representation.

Maybe he hasn’t noticed the gangs who are running around shooting people armed with machine guns. The only social injustice is that we have not gone into these areas and eradicated gangs. Then the crime figures would drop for minorities.

It is easy to speak on these things: we need someone who can change these things

First, he can demand that every person be provided with a quality public defender, but how can he even think he can guarantee that? Second,yes there are a lot of things wrong with the justice system but he said “trust and confidence in every American, regardless of age, or race, or background.” How can he guarantee that? Isn’t that the way it is supposed to be already? This is not a new and novel idea, but how can anyone stand up and say he’s going to “fix” it? The justice system is made up of numerous jurisdictions on the local, county, state and federal levels. You can put it on paper, but the people are the ones to put the words in paper into action. These individual, local jurisdictions are where the bias begins….cities populated and run predominately by one race or another and biased against all other races, or sheriff’s, police administrators, whatever, with their pockets lined by the local hoods…. Come on….he sings a great song and I’d love to see all this come to be, but all he has stated is promises. He stated nothing about how he thinks he can actually pull it off. He’s just puffing up his own skirt.

so obama is promising everyone a lawyer in “every pot”?
wonder how the nations legal workers feel about this?
Hillary wants free healthcare, and now obama wants free lawyers.

It seems people are more concerned about yelling racism in these posts than they are in justice. Sadly, that is one of the biggest problems in the black community. They excuse and support criminal conduct instead of condemning it. Blacks are like the boy who cried wolf, but instead of crying wolf, they falsely cry racism every chance they get. If in fact you are interested in justice, then you are only hurting your own cause by falsely claiming racism where none exists. Maybe you should start looking at the conduct of a person and not the color of his or her skin. I hate to burst your bubble, but the cases of O.J. Simpson, Michael Vick, and the violent thugs in Jena, all have nothing to do with race. Instead, they have to do with the vicious, criminal conduct of a bunch of scumbags who just happen to be black. As to the Duke lacrosse case, the only crime that was committed was that a criminal black woman disgustingly lied about several innocent white men, and yet she received no punishment for it because of her race. I’ve met way more black bigots in my life than white bigots, especially when it come to the discriminatory treatment of homosexuals. Barak Obama should hang his head in shame for excusing criminal conduct, for pandering to a segment of the population, and for using the politics of division to save his failing campaign. He should leave the politics of division to the experts at it: the pathetic, fear mongering, hate mongering, divisive Republicans.

All Obama did was state the facts and some of you are turning it in to something political. The fact is the justice system is biased. Do an of you dispute that fact? One example is OJ Simpson. Most sensible people know that OJ Simpson was probably guilty of killing this people, but no one leaves OJ alone. What about Phil Spector? What about Robert Blake? They are white guys that killed white women, so everyone forgets about it. If Robert Blake and Phil Spector were black, they would probably be in jail and all over the news right now. You see black people have been going to jail for crimes they didn’t commit and getting excessive punishment for years now and one guy gets over(OJ) and white people just can’t forget that. So we continue to follow OJ everyday and we look for other black people to pay for OJs crimes. Certain people probably think the guys in Jena should pay.

If you have never lived in the deep south, then it is hard to understand how deep racism really runs in some areas. You can only push people so far and these six guys were pushed to their limit. They should be punished for the school fight, but the extent of punishment their received was racially biased, in my opinion, and I am white. I have lived in the deep south and I have friends from very diverse backgrounds and nationalities. Obviously there was a lot of racial tension in the Jena community if these kids could not sit wherever they wanted to at lunch time. What is this? 1861? COME ON PEOPLE. We are in the 21st century. There are bad black people, bad white people, bad hispanics. I don’t think new laws are the answer because the laws we have are fine. In this case, it was 12 peers who convicted this kid. You have to change the attitude of people. I don’t know how to do that though when it is so ingrained in kids by their parents, grandparents, etc. I support the Jena 6. What they did was wrong and they should be punished, but not to the extent of spending a year in jail. The kid wasn’t even injured. The kids who hung the nooses, however, should be charged with a hate crime and put in jail for a few days. That’s what is wrong in Jena. These kids were pushed to their limit most likely from a lifetime of incidents like this – being hated for something they have no control over- the color of their skin. The system failed them and they were kids- they took their anger out on this white kid who I am sure is not innocent in this situation.

As far as the Jena incident, the problem extends further than the unfortunate but common conflict that occurred in Jena. On matters of race the history of the American justice system indicts itself. It does not take Barack Obama, or Jesse, or Al, to illustrate the racial legacy of American history and the resultant impact on each and every citizen of color in our country. The unfortunate history of police oppression and victimization of black people in America has been documented ad nauseum. It is this oppression and victimization that has motivated far too many blacks distrust of police, and reticence to cooperate with police authorities. This is currently the unfortunate trend among black youth. You can’t talk about the American justice system without talking about racism! Not talking about it is the problem. Instituions ignoring institutionalized bias is but one of the reasons black and white Americans are in the sad state we are in today. Sadly for America, it will continue as long as whites are in denial, and as long as blacks refuse to take
responsibility in policing and protecting our own communities. Yes, all parties should be fairly punished, but hard fought laws are already in place to deal with the kind of harrassment and racial antagonism that was exhibited by the actions of white students in this mess. Whoever started this conflict should have been properly prosecuted and punished to the full extent of the law. Perhaps, just perhaps, adequate prosecution of racially motivated actions of those who would call themselves “victim” in this case may have been enough to set an example and the beatings would never have taken place. Justice? JUST US!

You just lost my vote as well Obama.

Racism in America is like washing your body in the shower, you’re clean when you get out then you put back on the same dirty cloths.

I believe in Jena they have issues. Problem is I also can’t help but feel Obama is now a puppet of Jackson all of the sudden. I want a president. I do not want to be electing Jackson or Sharpton.

Playing the race card…to get the black vote…— You know where he is going with this speech, so just what litmus test is Obama gong to use to rid of all the so-called ideologues and political cronies in the Government…. … And who are the political cronies that OBAMA is going to appoint should he get elected… Who is Obama is going to put in his Cabinet….Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Oprah……. If he actually wins….. hummmmmmmm

This sounds awful but he just lost quite a few votes. There are still people on the fence about voting for a black president. I like this man and would like him to be our president but any race comments will cost him in the long run. If he does get the democratic vote these comments will be used against him; thats the way the media works. I wish him the best of luck and he had my vote but I know he lost plenty of votes when he went down the Al Sharpton road.

glaswolf, no one on either side condones the Jena six fighting with one lone white boy. What they argue against is the injustice in which the way the prosecutor wanted to try the young men. No one is speaking much if any about when white kids were randomly selecting black students to beat on. Only when black students fought back did it all become a problem and the prosecutor allegedly stated to the young men, “With the stroke of a pen I can destroy you!” Or something to that effect.

Of course he would say this being black. I have yet to meet a black person that doesn’t walk around with “a chip on their shoulders” and they expect the white people to pay for what happened to the blacks/slaves hundreds of years ago. No other ethnic group expects this. The Irish were discriminated against, the Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc. I have been called many names growing up – potatoe picker, mick, etc., and yet I have never held it against anyone. The blacks need to wake up and take responsibility for what they do, make themselves better like the Irish, Chinese, Japanese – all the other ethnic grouops have.

Wow. I can’t vote for Obama due to the immigration issue, but I have to admit. Every time this man speaks, he is impressive. He fires people up with hope that things will finally change for the better. This is his true strenght. In the Debates, Hiliary can just twist his words up and form a big lie that the pundents will sell to the masses. That has been her MO from the beginning. He gives stump speeches better the Bill Clinton. And that’s saying a lot. And to make it better, Obama actually tells the truth. Unlike Bill Clinton. Outside of completely destroying the middle class with Amnesty, I think he will do some real good for us. He is only one I can trust on the DEM side. I can tell he is a honest man. If you want him as President you better elect him quick before the special interest either get rid of him or make him an offer he can’t refuse. He is by far the most Presidential candidate on the DEM side. Bravo Obama. Bravo.

Obama is a politician and is telling a group pof blacks some ‘feel good’ rhetoric. As far as Katrina goes, it’s like black columnist Larry Elder said, if the blacks in New Orleans had done something other than sit around waiting for the government to save them there would have been a lot less deaths. The black mayor wss(is) inept and hundreds of school buses that could have been used to rescue people sat in water. What qualifies Obama to run for any office? The race card has been worn out for a long time. Sharpton and Jackson
jumped on the Duke case and Brawley and
others and were wrong but never came out and publicly apologized for their racist remarks(they never do). They need to get a job instead of running their mouths all the time.

Thoughts from a white male.I agree with the Senator.The facts are race is still a major issue in our “Country” and over the past 35 years conservatives have done everything possible to undo laws of equality. They have appointed Justices at evey level of the legal systems to aid the unraveling of the laws. They have imposed stiff penalities for petty crimes that have resulted in a majority of young black men going to jail for an extended period of time. The results are many of them return as harden criminals to the community. Until we have laws that are applied equally in our country we will only continue to expand the problem. If the Jena six charges had been filed aganist a young white male he would haved been treated as a juvinille and rightfully so. The young black man should have been treated likwise. That is the problem with the system. Some people are sent home others go to jail.

Truth Hurts………You may not think you are not racist but your word reflect your true feelings. Black people like other groups in this country are individuals and do not have leaders like white’s do not have leaders (or do they). The truth is racism is still alive and well. Senator Obama is speaking as an American and he is stating an obvious problem as a leader in America. Perhaps if others spoke out as truthfully as the Senators maybe our country could exihbit what the constitution says as it relates to Liberty and Justice for all.

1. Don’t bring up OJ anymore-he’s 1 guy that got off-1
2. Katrina is not a black problem, and there is no need to blame the city, the state, or the fed. Like the Fema director said last week, there hasn’t been a time in American history where we had to evacuate a whole city like this. So there were mistakes made and people are learning from this and hopefully we will get it right next time.
3. Ron Powell-You weren’t going to vote for Obama anyway. You claimed that all of the Democrats are flip-flopping. How about all of the candidates, with probably the excpetion of Ron Paul. Every single candidate out there is a flip-flopper.
Some of you need to question yourselves Democrat and Republican. If you are a Democrat and you will vote for a Democrat even though the Republican is the better candidate just because of his/her label or vice versa…a Republican voting Republican when the Democrat is the better candidate there is a problem. How many of you Democrats would never vote Republican and how many of you Republican would never vote Democrat or are you one of the idiot voters that just vote party lines instead of looking at the isses that matter to you and what candidate represent those issues to the fullest. I used to be an idiot voter, voting Republican, just because of the party name, no matter the candidate, but I have become to realize that take the labels off of the guys and they are all the same. Do they care about social security and health care like the common man does? No!! They can afford their health care and retirement in cash, so they have other things to worry about, like getting kickback from lobbyists and nepotism(the spirit of politics).
4. Political parties shout be outlawed.