Racism? or Character Issues?

In his book "At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America," author Philip Dray wrote that "lynching became the means of killing any African-American whose status, actions or attitudes challenged white supremacy." Back in 2007, the Jena 6 were plunged into the headlines because of their response to white students who thought hanging nooses on the tree they frequented was a joke. Thankfully, the matter in Lumberton didn’t go this far, but I am certain that the students wanted some fairness to be shown in how the matter was handled. So, when you have the complexion for the connection and a mother that’s an administrator at the school; you can pretty much do and say anything (including filming a teacher’s derrière and posting it on facebook)
Right before spring break, a teacher separated her students into groups and they were supposed to tell the class about their favorite hobby that started with the letter N. Well, when it came to one particular group, Teflon Don looked at the other students in his group and said nigger lynching. The matter was reported and somehow, it was deemed a he said/she said matter despite the statements that were taken from the students and teacher of the class. Now, you know you got to have some pull when a student’s word is taken over a teachers’. I guess it’s more important that this student is placed on the Who’s Who rather than deal with the fact that he’s a budding racist. In the midst of all this, the student later admitted that he and his group member (who happens to be African-American) thought the reference to lynching would be funny and garner a laugh from his classmates. I really don’t know how to categorize this posting. I wonder if the roles were turned, would an African-American student been given such leniency or if the white student wasn’t the son of a school administrator, would he have gotten away with making that kind of statement. I talked to some students about the incident, and most of them had the same response; this student is always getting away with things and they believe that there are three sets of rules in place at their school: one for the blacks, one for the whites and one for the children of teachers/administrators. One student said the following: “All I wish for in the city of Lumberton, especially at the school, is for everyone to be treated equally. Well of course there will still be hardcore racists and prejudice people, but it's 2011. If this situation would have taken place at any other school, the student would have been suspended or expelled, administrator's son or not. This kind of behavior should not be tolerated from any student.” Unfortunately, the various forms of racism don't die out but adapt to the times--preservation-through-transformation.