In Jena, Louisiana two black kids sat under a tree. Unbeknownst to them, this was a “white tree.” The next day nooses were hung from the tree to let the boys know of their mistake. The boys told the superintendent what happened and he dismissed the ordeal as a “prank.”
This sparked a protest in the community and more Black citizens sat under the tree in protest. The DA along with the police came to break up the protest, telling them, “I can be your best friend or your worst enemy… I can take away your lives with a stroke of my pen.” If I were to tell most people this story they would assume this happened 40, 30 maybe even 20 years ago. This incident took place in the fall of 2006.
I wish I could tell you that this was the end of the story but it’s far from over. After the protest the city was riddled with racial tension. Among the incidents a black student was beaten up by white students at a party. According to the Chicago Tribune (from which most of this information is taken from and also the paper that seemed to care about this story from the start) the next day Black students were attacked at a convenience store by a white man with a gun. The Black students wrestled the gun away from the man and ran off. Now get this:
the white man wasn’t charged with any crime but the Black kids were arrested for the theft of the gun!
The following Monday some of the students (I’ll call them “noose sympathizers”) taunted the Black kid that was beaten up at the party.
Racial slurs were thrown (I’ll let you guess which ones) and the white student ended up in the hospital. It must be said that he was well enough to leave the hospital the same day.
So now we have six Black Jena High students, Robert Bailey (17), Theo Shaw (17), Carwin Jones (18), Bryant Purvis (17), Mychal Bell (16) and
an unidentified minor, expelled from school, arrested and charged with second-degree attempted murder. Bail was set between $70,000 and
$138,000 and the boys were put in prison for months. The charges were later reduced to the lesser felony of aggravated second-degree battery but still no other kids besides these 6 were charged with anything. One of the boys, Mychal Bell cold face up to 22 years! I think it’s worth saying again that Mychal is 16. He’s been in jail since December of last year on a $90,000 bond.
On the 20th of September there was a protest in which citizens from all across the country including Al Sharpton (naturally), Rev. Jesse
Jackson, Martin Luther King III, and dozens of other black leaders and celebrities came to have their voices heard.
President Bush also gave a statement although he wasn’t there. (naturally) “The events in Louisiana have saddened me, and I understand the
emotions. The Justice Department and the FBI are monitoring the situation down there. And all of us in America want there to be, you
know, fairness when it comes to justice.” At press time Kanye West had no comment.
For more information on the Jena 6 or to find out what you can do to help visit http://www.colorofchange.org/