About this "Jena 6" nonsense

So, I've gotten wind of this Jena 6 crap that's been plaguing all forms of media of late. I think the whole situation is pretty goddamn stupid and I don't understand why so many people are up in arms about it.

The way I understand the situation (and please correct me if I'm wrong), is that at some jerkwater high school in Louisiana, some black kid sat under a tree where white kids normally sit (wow! what a rebel! I sure am glad I don't live in the goddamn stupid boring south where stuff like this is newsworthy). So then the stupid hick white kids get mad about that and, as a clearly well-thought-out "prank," they string a bunch of nooses on the tree. So then later on, six black kids beat the living crap out of one white kid (I'm guessing he was one of the kids who carried out the noose prank?). The black kids are charged with attempted murder, which has since been reduced to assault and battery.

So what the fuck is the big deal? Why are black people so goddamn outraged over this? I understand them being outraged over the noose "prank," but why the hell are they outraged over people being punished for a brutal crime? I guess the attempted murder charge was overblown, but it's been reduced, so why doesn't everyone stop whining?

The way I see it is, if six guys beat the shit out of ONE other guy, then those six guys should be sent to jail. End of goddamn story. Who gives a crap what races are involved?

Also, sure the noose deally can be classified as a hate crime, but then, isn't six black guys beating a white guy for racially motivated reasons also a hate crime -- and a worse one at that? What, are only white people capable of being racist or something? In my opinion, retaliating to a hate crime in such a manner makes you no better than the bigots on the other side of the issue.

So why the hell is everyone defending these morons? If six white guys beat the crap out of a black guy, I don't think white people everywhere would be going apeshit trying to defend the white assaulter's. In fact, the only way I could understand black people being outraged is if it were that six white guys beat up a black guy and the white guys WEREN'T being punished for it.
Where is the issue here?
Am I just completely missing something, or is it more likely that everyone is a goddamn moron and once again black people are making themselves look like idiots by defending someone *cough* OJ *cough* who doesn't need to be defended?

Don't get me wrong, I mean, I saw the picture of the douchebag who got beaten up. Anybody who looks like that probably deserves a good beating. But come on, hasn't this whole thing gotten a bit out of hand? I mean, giant protest rallies being organized at colleges across the US? Don't we have more important crap to be worried about? Like, oh, I dunno, the possibility of us invading Iran while having two concurrent uncontrollable wars going on already?