VEGASinsight Archives

As mentioned a few weeks ago, a town hall discussion is being held at UNLV Tuesday evening, hosted by UNLV Students for Hip Hop, entitled “Is Race Still a Factor? Michael Vick and the Jena Six.” Running from 7 – 9 p.m. in room 207 of the Student Union, the forum is being held in the wake of the Michael Vick dogfighting scandal and the questionable prosecution of the Jena Six, specifically related to the question of racial bias in the media coverage of these stories.

According to a press release sent this morning, these are the general discussion topics expected for tomorrow’s town hall meeting:

Is the Michael Vick dog fighting case a big deal because the defendant is African American?

Are the charges put on the six black students from Jena, Louisiana excessive?

Are media outlets such as Fox News really “fair and balanced” in their coverage of minorities and issues of race?

And finally: DOES RACISM STILL EXIST?

Even though the event is being held on UNLV’s campus and organized by a student group, this discussion is open to all members of the community. It might be a good idea to drop by and get in on this regardless of your stance. We’re sure going to try.

Troy Nkrumah of the Las Vegas chapter of the National Hip-Hop Political Convention replied to a post (click here to read it) I’d written about the national college walk-out organized by the organization to increase awareness of and inform students about the Jena 6 case. You can read his response at the above link as well, but basically, he agreed that the UNLV campus in general is apathetic as all get-out (“in my opinion the turn out was worth being ashamed of for UNLV students,” wrote Nkrumah), while reinforcing the reasons why it takes the hip-hop community to spearhead action in situations such as the Jena 6.

Well, the Las Vegas Local Organizing Committee of the NHHPC and UNLV Students for Hip Hop are presenting a town hall discussion at UNLV on Tuesday, Oct. 30 from 7 – 9 p.m. in room 207 of the student union. Titled “Is Race Still a Factor?,” the discussion will be based around questions of racial bias in the media, with specific examples such as the Jena 6 case, the Michael Vick scandal and more.

It’s open to the public and should be enlightening — assuming more than “the same few non apathetic UNLV students” show up, as Nkrumah joked in his blog comment.