What's to do in Jasper, TX?

[BobTex]

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

I can't find any information about an unpaid drug death or the killers (there were 3 of them) being in prison with James Byrd.

Who told you about this unpaid drug debt and prison mate thing? Is that story commonly accepted in Jasper? Is it accepted among whites?

I don't know if it is accepted among whites or in Jasper ... why don't you get some 1st hand knowledge?

The drug deal was common knowledge around local East Texas. Of course you didn't hear about the other murder either did you. Hmmmmmmmm .... wonder why?????????? Could it have been because of the political nature of the case?????????? Hmmmmmm

All involved in the crime deserved a capital sentence, as do most premeditated murders.


Why don't you explain why you painted the whole white community as racist because on one incident that happened 16 years ago. Are you a bigot? Have you ever been to Jasper? Spent any time there? Do you even KNOW anyone from there?

Please let me know how familiar you really are with the community because you have made a mighty indictment in your original post. I'll be waiting patiently for you to explain how you KNOW Jasper is a racist community. Get your brush out and start painting!

[winkosmosis]

Originally Posted by BobTex

I don't know if it is accepted among whites or in Jasper ... why don't you get some 1st hand knowledge?

The drug deal was common knowledge around local East Texas. Of course you didn't hear about the other murder either did you. Hmmmmmmmm .... wonder why?????????? Could it have been because of the political nature of the case?????????? Hmmmmmm

All involved in the crime deserved a capital sentence, as do most premeditated murders.


Why don't you explain why you painted the whole white community as racist because on one incident that happened 16 years ago. Are you a bigot? Have you ever been to Jasper? Spent any time there? Do you even KNOW anyone from there?

Please let me know how familiar you really are with the community because you have made a mighty indictment in your original post. I'll be waiting patiently for you to explain how you KNOW Jasper is a racist community. Get your brush out and start painting!

I'm not the one who posted that Jasper is known for racial unrest, that was Shock. I only posted a link to the article.

I was 15 at the time, I just remember it being on the news in Houston.

The drug deal thing sounds like a folk story to take some guilt away from the murderers

[Shock]

Lets not be naive here. What I said earlier is not based off one incident. There is a wealth of info on this issue about Jasper. Just google Jasper tx racism or something like that. It's a concerning issue and the thread starter should know about it.

[BobTex]

Let's not be sensational and tell untruths/half-truths here either.

I Googled "Jasper tx racism" just as you proposed. I found articles sensationalized by national media outlets another article from a black religious site on the 1st page of Google offerings. They all dealt with mainly one other incident, that would be the hiring and firing of a black police chief for the city of Jasper. (There were a couple of Race Industry sites but I quickly discounted those).

Of the 2 articles one dealt with the disappearance, search for, finding of, and the suspicious death(appears to me to be a homicide ... just in reading) of a black man in Sabine County, 45 minutes NE of Jasper. There are no suspects or clues to who was involved so we can't make a racial case out of this without FACTS, can we? Most of the other dealt with the police chief hiring/firing.

It seems a predominantly black city council appointed the black state trooper (DPS) to interim police chief and then hired him. They passed over more qualified candidates (23) and hired the state trooper (despite him having a criminal record and failing to have a Bachelors degree in criminal justice nor having ANY experience in a managerial capacity) . So I guess y'all may have some small claim on the COMMUNITY being racist driven!

[BobTex]

Originally Posted by Shock

Lets not be naive here. What I said earlier is not based off one incident. There is a wealth of info on this issue about Jasper. Just google Jasper tx racism or something like that. It's a concerning issue and the thread starter should know about it.

So are you painting the whites of the city of Jasper as race mongers? I just don't see it.

I am in Jasper periodically and I see no forced segregation or even subtle acts of it. In fact I was in their Sears outlet a week or so ago buying a washing machine from an SE Asian, a Kirbyville redneck, while blacks shopped along side me (we entered at the same time) and were waited on ahead of me ... OH MY SHOCK !!!!!!!!! I cry foul and discrimination on da po ol white boy !!!!

I read about the cemetery on the Google pages but what difference does burying a corpse make? Really? It is an empty shell that will decompose over time. Symbolism is only that if it is accepted as such by the beholder. Just to be clear ... there are areas in Texas where a Caucasian would be in much more danger because of the color of their skin than blacks are endangered in Jasper. And unless you are consistent to warn white folks from those cities then this (your claims) are just sensationalized BS.

I think what we really have here is someone trying to become the Al Sharpton of the Texas CD pages!


I have got nothing else ... i'm outta here on this thread. I am sure I haven't convinced any race baiters but maybe a sensible minded person can read and decipher truth.

[wpme]

I grew up in Texas, the racial issues in Jasper have been happening since well before the James Byrd incident. I remember traveling thru that area in the early 70's, and although we needed fuel my parents refused to stop there because of the towns reputation.

[AdjunctWAHMom]

Well...I am sorry my rather innocuous question incited such a thread. Turns out we are not interested in a place where not even the locals have much nice to say about it. Hubs can commute; we're keeping the kids in Lufkin schools. Thanks for your time and please be careful how you speak about folks you do not know. Next time....

[ShannonE]

Firsthand knowledge...yes, there are some folks living in Jasper who are racist. Is it overall worse than other towns in East Texas? Not really. The average person in Jasper is friendly and kind. Church is a BIG part of the culture there. Though I will agree with the previous "cash strapped East Texas" comment. It is always a bit of a culture shock for me to go from my Houston suburb back to Jasper.

OP, I'm not as up on the ins and outs of some of your questions as I don't live there now, but I could put you in contact with some local folks who would be happy to help, if you decide you'd like to consider a move to Jasper.

Honestly, I've seen about 1000X more arguing on the internet about the James Byrd case than I ever did from folks who actually live in Jasper. People there are more interested in moving on, healing and finding ways to improve the community.

[grannygran65]

You said it all!

[UTHORNS96]

I wondered how long it would be before James Byrd was mentioned.