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Fighting for nothing

Six students were expelled from their high school in Decatur, Ill. after they got into a brawl at a football game on Sept 17. Yesterday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson was arrested in an act of support for these students. He "crossed the line" onto the school grounds with the intent of getting arrested. These are the facts. What remains a mystery is why the good reverend thinks that he is helping the situation.

These students have been suspended for a period of two years as a result of the school's "zero tolerance" policy on violence. Any reasonable person would agree that this punishment does not fit the crime in question. There were no knives in this fight; no chains; no guns. It was a fist fight - a wrestling match. Students who face drug offenses, are caught phoning in bomb threats or fight a teacher receive less-severe punishment. This punishment is incredibly severe, and there is no reason that a compromise cannot be reached. Jackson, however, is blowing the event up into a three-ring circus and only making matters worse. He is making those with decision making powers nervous, and when people get nervous they get defensive. They have gone so far as to close down the school in question. Brilliant. So now, it's not only the expelled students that aren't getting their education, but the rest of the student body are without school too.

Good work, Jesse.

It has already been decided that the students in question be allowed to attend an alternative school to continue their education. With the exception of two of the students, I think that an alternative school is what is necessary, anyway. The two I mean are both athletes on the honor roll and have already been offered scholarships to respectable colleges. They are both seniors only a few credits away from graduation. Three of the remaining students, however, have repeated their freshman year three times. Their freshman year of high school? Three times? I think that regardless of the fight, some kind of action needs to be taken with these three.

My biggest concern is why Jackson has involved himself at all. The only real and plausible reason that I can come up with is the fact that every one of the students in question is black. Jackson has an extensive history of fighting for black rights. However, he adamantly denies that race is a factor at all. Jesse Jackson is involved, and he wants us to believe that race is not an issue? Okay, I don't mind setting aside his past and believing that he would have intervened if the students were a bunch of white kids. I really don't.

But, wait a minute. What's this? When referring to "crossing the line" and possibly getting arrested in the name of the cause, Jackson said, "If Dr. King could do it in Birmingham ... and Mandela could do it in South Africa, we can do it in Decatur." It must be a coincidence that the only examples he could think of were black rights activists. Additionally, those particular gentlemen's struggles were just a little bit more significant.

The truth of the matter is that race isn't an issue. It shouldn't be, anyway. But, Jackson's presence is making it one. If he shows up, all the baggage that his career has accumulated shows up with him. Decatur has a history of tense race relations, and his presence just highlights that. In opposition to his demonstrations, the Ku Klux Klan have held demonstrations of their own. If that's not a race issue, I don't know what is.

Race should not be a factor at all. These are human beings and American citizens, and I don't care if those kids are blue, they have a right to an education just like everyone else. Jackson's arrival has clouded that fact. I think that the man just needs a hobby or something. That running for president thing he was doing for so long never really panned out, so I guess he's just looking for something to do. Cross-stitching would be more productive.