Is it 2007?

Is it 2007? Are we sure about that? Stories like what is going in Louisiana with the Jena Six and also this story out of West Virginia truly make me wonder. It seems that racism is still alive in this country, almost forty years after the death of Martin Luther King.

Don't you wonder why? I wonder how. I wonder how this ignorance still pervades our society. We should be raising our kids to not let race divide. We should be raising them to see everyone as equals--to see us all as one society.

Children do not inherently see differences. This kind of racism--this kind of prejudice--is a learned behavior and parents need to realize that. They need to take responsibility and teach their kids racism is not acceptable. My kids certainly know that.

I'm disgusted that the case in WV is not being prosecuted as a hate crime. How much more hate-filled could something be? She was repeated called the n-word. She was told she was going to be hanged! They actually put a pillowcase over her head and told her they were going to hang her. HOW IS THIS NOT HATE?

The hatred that compells monsters like these to do these things is something I don't understand. I don't have that hatred in me. I can't imagine that hatred. I can't imagine the evilness. It disgusts me. I'm heartbroken for Megan and I'm heart-broken for those children in Jena. Adults have not done their jobs there. Ignorance is rampant.

Is that what it boils down to? Ignorance? If it is, we have a lot of educating to do because I'm starting to think we're all the way back in 1950.