The New York Times pulls out the big guns, and Black folks are in the cross hairs. Orlando Patterson gathers issues Black folks have ben trying to get action on for a long time, fearts of white folks and O.J. Simpson to undermine the demand for equal protection under the law in Jena, LA and by extension the whole Confederate States of America (“Sir, this is the South. We have different laws down here”).

Jena, O. J. and the Jailing of Black America
By ORLANDO PATTERSON

What exactly attracted thousands of demonstrators to the small Louisiana town? While for some it was a simple case of righting a grievous local injustice, and for others an opportunity to relive the civil rights era, for most the real motive was a long overdue cry of outrage at the use of the prison system as a means of controlling young black men....

How, after decades of undeniable racial progress, did we end up with this virtual gulag of racial incarceration?

You really want to help, Mr. Patterson? Start with the absolute truth. This "gulag of racial incarceration" did not take place after decades of undeniable racial progress. It took place as a part of decades of undeniable racial progress...which means we've been in denial all this time. Every time you talk about "decades of undeniable progress" you deny the reality of a HUGE fraction of Black constituencies. Every time you talk about "decades of undeniable progress" you speak of the experience of a fairly well defined subgroup of both Black and white folks.

This is a fact. The situation in Jena exposed this with undeniable clarity. I think this knowledge is...maybe correctly...seen as a threat to the peace. Hence the effort to obscure it beneath other legitimate concerns.