Jeremiah Munsen, 18, of Colfax, La., plead guilty today to a federal hate crime for displayed two large nooses from the back of his pickup truck with the intent to frighten and intimidate the demonstrators participating in the “Jena Six” civil rights rally.

4pl first reported this story back on September 21, 2007 when Munsen and a KKK friend intentionally drove past a group of demonstrators sevral times with the intent to intimidate. Munsen further admitted that he and his buddy had discussions of how they believed the Ku Klux Klan would have responded to the rally in Jena.”

The defendant used a noose to threaten peaceful civil rights marchers who were in Louisiana to rally against racial intolerance,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Becker. “The Department of Justice will continue to vigorously pursue these types of racially motivated threats when they violate federal law.”

I’ve been accused of being too apologetic. But I must say I have to once again apologize to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for disappointing him as a country. For a man who became a martyr in the cause for equality we have really done so little to thank him. Although on the surface it may seem that we’ve come so far as it relates to race relations, in reality we’ve just become more adept at sweeping our problems under the rug.

Perhaps we were in a better position to address our differences when they were right there in front our face. Jim Crow may not have been a highlight of black history but sometimes I feel we need a “Whites Only” water fountain to wake us up that things haven’t necessarily changed all that much. Real Talk.