CLASS: Read the article below and write a commentary about the recent events in Jena, Louisiana. We'll talk about it in class on Tuesday, Spetember 25.
September 21, 2007
Louisiana Protest Echoes the Civil Rights Era
By RICHARD G. JONES
JENA, La., Sept. 20 — In a slow-moving march that filled streets, spilled onto sidewalks and stretched for miles, more than 10,000 demonstrators rallied Thursday in this small town to protest the treatment of six black teenagers arrested in the beating of a white schoolmate last year.
Chanting slogans from the civil rights era and waving signs, protesters from around the nation converged in central Louisiana, where the charges have made this otherwise anonymous town of 3,000 people a high-profile arena in the debate on racial bias in the judicial system.
“That’s not prosecution, that’s persecution,” the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the founder of the RainbowPUSH Coalition and an organizer of the demonstration, told a crowd in front of the LaSalle Parish Courthouse. “We will not stop marching until justice runs down like waters.”
The Jena High School students, known as the Jena Six, are part of a court case that began in December, when they were accused of beating a white classmate unconscious and kicking him and a prosecutor charged them with attempted murder.
The beating was preceded by racially charged incidents at the high school, including nooses hanging from an oak tree that some students felt was just for white students. The tree has been cut down.
One student, Mychal Bell, 17, was convicted in June of aggravated battery and conspiracy. Those charges were voided by appeals courts, most recently last Friday. Mr. Bell has not been released from jail.
Even as demonstrators marched in Jena, which is 85 percent white, an appellate court ordered an emergency hearing to determine why Mr. Bell had not been released.
Mr. Bell is the sole student who has had a trial. Amid pressure from critics, prosecutors have gradually scaled back many charges against the other five.
Although the starting incident occurred about a year ago, the case has been slow to join the national conversation. After Mr. Bell’s conviction, though, the details spread quickly on the Internet, text messaging and black talk radio.
The case has drawn the attention of President Bush, who said to reporters in Washington on Thursday, “Events in Louisiana have saddened me.”
“I understand the emotions,” Mr. Bush said. “The Justice Department and the F.B.I. are monitoring the situation down there, and all of us in America want there to be fairness when it comes to justice.”
Students, particularly those at historically black colleges, have also had a pivotal role in spreading the details. They poured into town after all-night bus rides. Many said they were happy to pick up the torch of the civil rights struggle.
“This is the first time something like this has happened for our generation,” said Eric Depradine, 24, a senior at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. “You always heard about it from history books and relatives. This is a chance to experience it for ourselves.”
A sophomore schoolmate, Charley Caldwell Jr., 22, said he was moved to attend the rally by the details of the case.
“When I first heard about it,” Mr. Caldwell said, “I thought it was obscene. So I felt I had to come. When we got here, there’s nothing but white people, and they aren’t used to seeing this many people of color.”
The case also resonates for people not in college.
April Jones, 17, who traveled from Atlanta, with her parents, Diana and Derrick, said she saw the problem as one of basic fairness. Ms. Jones could not understand why the students who hung the nooses were not punished severely.
The students were briefly suspended. District Attorney J. Reed Walters said Wednesday that the action did not appear to violate any state laws.
“I just feel like every time the white people did something,” Ms. Jones said, “they dropped it, and every time the black people did something, they blew it out of proportion.”
Mr. Walters sharply criticized the nooses on Wednesday, saying: “I cannot overemphasize what a villainous act that was. The people that did it should be ashamed of what they unleashed on this town.”
A marcher, Latese Brown, 40, of Alexandria, said, “If you can figure out how to make a school yard fight into an attempted murder charge, I’m sure you can figure out how to make stringing nooses into a hate crime.”
Sunday, September 23, 2007
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16 comments:
How sad is this? Racial issues have always been here and will always be here. That is the depressing part. I am not black, but my husband and children are. I am biracial myself and have experienced criticism from whites as well as blacks. I do not agree with the way the boys were treated at Jena Highschool. There is no use in hanging nooses from trees and causing mental drama to those boys families. Yes, they should take the punishment for beating the young white man, behavior like that is unexcuseable. I have been to many differ schools and been around many differ races of people w/ differ cultures and ways of life. I have always said that if you do not agree w/ another culture or their history then keep your mouth shut. Do not put someone else down for the color of their skin nor what they wear or how they talk. I call that simple minded. Always respect others, you want respect too don't you. One can only hope that the Jena six can come out of this in good cheer and not vengence in their heart. One thing I read in the article that I had a problem with was when Eric Depradine the 24 yr.old senior at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette said, “You always heard about it from history books and relatives. This is a chance to experience it for ourselves." Why on earth would you want that to happen to anyone just so you can be involved or get a chance to witness an event of that sorts?
In response to Crystal's comment, I agree with what Eric Depradine said. When I hear my dad recall how his school had separate water fountains it seems almost surreal to me. We have learned about MLK and Civil Rights for years on end that they have practically become stories to us. I think that the Jena6 can start to open up the eyes of people around the nation who didn't get to experience segregation as it was back in the 60's. Even though repeating history is not what we want in this world, sometimes it is inevitable.
In my opinion this whole thing is both unfair and blown out of proportion. I think that the boys or whoever hung the nooses definitely should have been punished, that is just uncalled for. But it is also uncalled for to take the law into your own hands, like the other students did. They should get in trouble for beating up the kid, especially if it was as bad as they did. I think that people no matter what their race take the law into their own hands way too often and that defeats the purpose of having a judicial system in place. Should we let the six who beat up the kid walk away with no punishment when that is what they were acting out against in the first place.
Although I do believe the people responsible for hanging the noose on the oak tree should have received a much tougher punishment than they did, this does not overlook the fact that six kids ganged up on one and beat him unconscious. This was more than just a fight at school between a couple of kids and should be treated so accordingly.
I completely agree with the statement that Ms. Jones made “I just feel like every time the white people did something,” Ms. Jones said, “they dropped it, and every time the black people did something, they blew it out of proportion.” This case definetely shows this, because the white kids who hung the noose basically got away with it. A suspension is nothign compared to what the Jena 6 kids are going through.
This whole mishap of the young black men beating a white male unconscious and then getting the maxium penalty for it just makes me think about the race relations in the United States of America. To a certain extent some people say that this was a innocent fight but i believe in my mind that this was racially motivated. Therefore i think this whole case is a load of crap. If the students had of been white in my opinion this never would have happened.
I feel that this is wake up call for all Americans. The nooses were wrong and the fighting was another wrong. This would have been a great opportunity for the Principal, Assistance Principal, Police Chief, or the District Attorney himself to call an assembly with all the students and discussed the seriousness of the entire incident. Sensitivity training would have been most appropriate, and allowing a guest speakers like Rev. Jesse Jackson to appear and speak to the students would have been a great for the entire community. Now more than ever I feel adults need to teach their children what's right and wrong. Filing charges against one group and not the others is like setting fire to a powder keg. There were lessons for the students to learn from the incidents in Jena, but the people in the position to influence changes erred badly. The Louisiana Court of Appeals have given the DA a chance to solve the problem correctly this time. Let's see if they listen and learn from our past. I recommend the student body plant a Freedom Tree so everybody can sit where ever they choose and without fear.
I was not surprised to see and hear that racism still exist in America. No matter how we are becoming interracial people in America, racism cannot be ousting because we are human, in that some of us wanted to be superior race. If we examined ourselves, some of us are bias in any case that crosses the path between two races. You can rest and say racism is the thing in the past, but as the same time, you cannot torture yourself by trying to predict when you will face a racist person or community in whole.
My opinion to this is that even the black students had convicted an violent act against the white student, that the black students should'nt be charge as attempted murder. Racialism will occurs when different people from different countries interact with each others and violence act will occurs. I agree that wat the black students had done was not acceptable but they were not all wrong, and that they do not deserve the punishment that was giving.
After all these years, we would have thought that racism was a thing in the past. But it is very clear that it is still alive and present. I feel as if that if the nooses were never hung under the tree this whole thing could have been prevented, i found that very disrepectful. The boys should be punish for what they did but they weren't the only party involved in the incident. Everyone should be punished for what they did. I just hope that in the year of 2007 the punishment will finally fit the crime.
When a lot of people hear about this incident, they are shock and frighten. However, I am not shock, I was expecting this all the time and more. People have to understand that racism is going to be forever. When a white person kill a black person, they calling it self-defense. However, when a black person kill a white person, they calling it murder. See that what is going on here. When the white people hung the nooses, basically they didn't do anything to them. However, when the black people fought revenge, they have to call it attempted murder and charing one of them as an adult from 20-25 years in prison. See this is racism discrimination because when the whites hung the nooses, they ony gave them a suspension which is nothing compared to years in prison. So I feel that we will all be judged based on our race and not by the content of our character. One reason I feel that way is because this world is not ready for a change.
I feel that the nooses were very disrespectful and that the students responsible should have received a more severe punishment then just being suspended. I can not say for sure whether the six young men should be charged with attempted murder. I am not completely sure what is considered attempted murder while fighting. I would have to do some research on this topic to be able to make an informed decision. However, I will say that what they did, regardless of race, was very wrong. It does not matter whether someone is black, white, or asian, SIX individuals ganging up on ONE person is not right. I have seen "school yard" fights the usually end with a few bloody noses not one kid nearly beaten to death.
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I feel like no matter how much we talk about it, it's never going to change. Life is unfair, and though we don't want our race to factor into a decision made about us, it does. As far as my views go, I will be the best person I can be and leave the rest to God.
It is sad that racial issues are still on a rise. And its not just what happened in Jena, Louisiana because things are happening all over the world. The problem I believe is that problems are not broadcast they are hidden. People need to acknowledge whats going on in our society today. Otherwise, problems like this one will continue to happen. People should have learned from everything that our elders whether they be black, white, hispanic, blue, green red, and to experience. Those were things of the past, and its understandable because people were not educated, they were ignorant about how things should have been. They can't be blamed for that, but today is a different time period and people do know better. I hope that what happened in Jena has a positive outcome. Although It is a shame that something like this had to happen to bring people together.
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