Recently, in keeping up with current news regarding the Jena 6, I read about steps being taken to disarm the racial tensions surrounding the situation. Something I found intriguing about the steps being taken is that they are very shallow, half-hearted attempts to appease the public eye. Take, for example, Jena High School’s action in deciding to cut down the ‘white tree’ that seems to be the catalyst for this whole controversy. Sure the tree stood as a symbol for racist roots, however, is it really the tree that is perpetuating these thoughts? Or is it that people are incredibly blind to the actuality of the existence of racism in today’s seemingly ‘colorblind’ society?

You may wonder why I say that our society is blind, but let me ask you to ponder this: Why is it that you have not heard of the Jena 6 until recently, when the article broke in August on CNN? Or possibly, why are you just finding out about this through recent Facebook.com groups, or even reading my letter now, when this occurred 11 to 13 months ago (depending on how you determine when this issue began)? I urge you to ponder why people focus on the tree, when the real problem that exists is complacent people’s inherently racist thought processes.