Jena 6: Today, they march
Today, thousands have gathered in Jena, Louisiana to support the "Jena 6" -- African-American youths facing decades of jail time for a schoolyard fight. Facing South has been following this case closely for months, and today the cause -- which has captured the imagination of a whole generation of black youth -- comes to a head.Today's march, called by civil rights organizations and heavily promoted on black websites, radio and other outlets, was scheduled to coincide with the sentencing of Mychal Bell, a teen whose conviction of aggravated assault was overturned last week because an appeals court found he shouldn't have been tried as an adult.
But organizers are doing the march anway, seeing as Bell is still in jail -- he can't afford the $90,000 bail, despite a $10,000 gift from a famous music star -- and harsh sentences may await other Jena 6 defendants.
The Associated Press offers a glimpse of what is happening and its historic importance:
Traffic jammed the two-lane road leading into the tiny town of Jena early Thursday as thousands of demonstrators gathered in support of six black teens initially charged with attempted murder in the beating of a white classmate.Stay tuned, we'll be providing more updates and coverage soon. For more background on the march, see Mark Sorkin's excellent piece in The Nation. You can also read updates here.
Rev. Al Sharpton said it could be the beginning of the 21st century's civil rights movement, one that would challenge disparities in the justice system. [...]
Students came from schools across the region, including historically black colleges like Morehouse College, Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, Howard University, Hampton University and Southern University.
Tina Cheatham missed the civil rights marches at Selma, Montgomery and Little Rock, but she had no intention of missing another brush with history. The 24-year-old Georgia Southern University graduate drove all night to reach tiny Jena in central Louisiana.
"It was a good chance to be part of something historic since I wasn't around for the civil rights movement. This is kind of the 21st century version of it," she said.
Labels: jena six, race and racism
13 Comments:
JENA 6 IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST ISSUES AGAINST RACISM THAT HAS OCCURED IN A WHILE. I THINK THAT AMERICA IGNORES ISSUES LIKE THIS BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT IT WILL CAUSE SO MUCH DRAMA IN THE PUBLIC EYE. IGNORING THIS SITUATION DOES NOT MAKE OUR COUNTRY BETTER IT JUST CAUSE MORE DICRIMINATION BETWEEN DIFFERENT NATIONALITIES,MOSTLY BLACK AND WHITE.
This issue depends on the level of injury to the child that the other six beat on. If his injuries were life threatening, then they deserve their sentence. However, if the injuries were not life threatening, then the sentences should be changed to a juvenile detention. To ad to this however, this is a racially motivated crime and falls under the statute of hate crime.
As a Native American I am appalled by what I see. Where has this country's reason and common sense gone? The 3 white boys hung nooses from a tree, which was wrong and unacceptable, and for which they were suspended. The 6 black boys assaulted and beat a single white boy until he was unconscious and are facing criminal charges.
One act is by far more vile than the other and is being treated as such, but only by the school and the judicial system. Though what the white boys did was wrong and racist, they didn't harm anyone. What the black boys did was also wrong and racist, but they chose to gang up, 6 on 1, and beat a white boy until he was unconscious.
It is very indicative of how warped our society has become that there is an uproar not over the fact that what the 6 black boys did was racist, violent, and could have killed the boy, but because they are facing criminal charges due to it and because the white boys, who did not harm anyone were only suspended and did not have criminal charges brought against them.
Nevermind the fact that the 6 black boys participated in a violent hate crime, or the fact that they ganged up on the boy 6 to 1 and beat him until he was bloody and unconscious, or that one of them was on probation and has a criminal record, or that the attack place months after the noose hanging event. Don't concern yourself with the fact that the D.A. attempted to find something to charge the white boys with but could not find any law which they had broken.
It becomes more and more evident with every passing year how biased our media has become, how overly PC our country is, and how racist the majority of the black community is. Our nation should be in an uproar over the fact that these boys ganged up on another lone boy and beat him until he was bloody and unconcious because his skin was the wrong color. Our nation should be in an uproar because 5 of those 6 boys are out walking the streets right now. It should be in an uproar over the slant and biased with which this is being covered by many news outlets, how the story and facts are being twisted, and most importantly by how the black community behaves.
It is so sad to see that this type of injustice still exists in our country. This case only proves that we as Blacks are still not seen as Equal to whites under the eye's of the law.
In response to what the " Native American" said- I am outraged with the views you are showing. As a Native of America, you of all people should be hurt and angered by this case. Obviously, you are not familiar with the facts of this case. Those 6 boys did not go looking for a fight, they were part of a stampede as a result of the kid ,that got beat up, bringing a loaded gun to school[Think Columbine!]. In the ensuing melee, he got stomped and beat but did not know who did the beating because of...the stampede.With the nooses, I have a problem with you seeing this as being harmless. Where I`m from, that is seen as an act of intimidation(terrorist threat)and should not be taken lightly. Those boys that hung the nooses were sending a clear message, keep on and this is what will happen to you.
As a Native of this Land, you should understand the plight of Black folks the most, being your people were killed because of the color of their skin. Native Americans were called `Savages`, and classified as less than human by white people and had their Land stripped from them. Your ancestors were put on Reservations and told to live there.
Maybe you have become programmed into believing what the man says is always right or if someone is convicted of a crime they are always guilty.
There are a lot of events that happened during this time that the media is not showing and that you have no clue about. You need to research the facts in this case before judging what is wrong or right.
FREE THE JENA 6
Personally i think this is some ludacris coming from Jena, La. Its amazing how we all think as if we are treated as equlas and things such as this come up and prove that society today is lacking a huge sense of unity that is portrayed on a day to day basis everywhere we look. Is this sense of unity a mere illusion or is it real and just some towns are stuck in previous decades? its crazy when you look at the ratios in this town stuck in the past decades it was 80% white 18% black 1% indian and 1% other. Then there high school motto is Quality education is top priority in the LaSalle Parish School District. The keys to quality education are well-educated and trained teachers, committed parents and students, excellent facilities, realistic and relevant goals, and a supportive public. LaSalle Parish School District seeks to provide these things and more. (more than you can bargin for as we can apparently see) Let those boys go they didn’t do anything but lash back the way they were lashed at by their fellow peers.
JENA 6 IS A SAD CASE, THIS IS TRULLY INJUSTICE AND THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR OVER A YEAR. SOMETHING SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE FROM JUMP BUT THERE WAS A GAG ORDER ON THE CASE.
I HOPE THEY SEEK JUSTICE FOR THESE BOYS AND REMEMBER GOD DOES EVERYTHING FOR A REASON AND THIS STORM SHALL PAST, GOD BLESS!
the way the judicial system handled the sistuation way out of porportion that is uterly un called for. you might as well put blacks here and whites here because the way they put this makes it seem like they dont want to give us no freedom .this is what harriet tubam faught for martin luther and etc. are the whites trying to repeat history over again.they just need to treat us fair we were made bye the same person why do you discreminate.
To those who dont understand why everyone is hurt and upset by the injustice that the Jena 6 faces are simply in denial of the fact that racism is alive in America; sometimes its covert and sometimes it’s overt. It’s time for a reality check. To those who are offended by others marching for equal rights, the truth hurts. Stop complaining, face the facts, and join the fight!!!!!!!!!
Please realize that the thousands who marched in Jena didn’t do so because Sharpton or Jackson brainwashed them to do. The only truth is that there is an unequal justice system exists in this country and it’s about time that a light shines on this unspoken truth. The world watched during the Hurricane Katrina tragedy and saw how Blacks and Whites are treated differently in this country. A double standard exists and a change needs to take place!!!!
Given the biased racist nature of the DA, Michael Bell prior convictions cannot be held against him. Who knows the legitimacy of the prior convictions?
Justin Barker did not deserve to be jumped but please realize that he wasn’t innocent. He taunted the Black students for only God knows how long.
All of this talk about 6 to 1 is ridiculous. Do you really think that in such a racially charged town that other whites would just sit there and let a white get beat???? Views of this case are so distorted it’s a shame.
Those who don’t see the connection between the events (nooses, blacks getting beaten and threatened with riffles and Barker being jumped) please see http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/07/0.
I am a 29 year old white female Criminal Justice major in La. I KNOW without a doubt that this case has not followed Louisiana law from the start. Yes, it is racially motivated and now the residents of Jena are scared because a spotlight has been placed on their town to show the world how racist they truly are. I was there for the march and I saw the signs everywhere. E-mail me and I will send u a pic showing how racism was present on that day. I marched for justice, not race.
Racism is at play here - on both sides and for anyone to believe there is not black on white racism is simply a racist belief in itself - i am a middle aged white woman who has followed a racist white man to get his tag number to turn in to the police since he called the black kids in my car the "N" word, thumped his cigarette butt at them and took off - i did this at my own personal risk but was so damn angry that this pig chose to single these fine young men out simply because they were black - got the tag number, found a police officer - a black police officer and reported it to him - he refused to do anything because he said it was not a crime and was not a hate crime - my son had a friend of his beaten up in school simply because he chose to date the white exgirlfriend of a black student - nothing was done to the four or five black students who beat him to a pulp - nothing - there are many instances of black on white crime simply because the victim is white - that does not make the white on black racist crime excusable - however, it gets virtually no attention - if this were my child who was beaten and he was innocent - it doesn't matter whether the people doing the beating was white or black or hispanic or oriental or indian or whatever - the police would have a hard time holding me back from inflicting my own beatdown on those who harm my child - and i would definitely file a lawsuit against jesse jackson and al sharpton because they themselves are inciting a riot
This issue really brings tears to my eyes. As a person of mixed race, both black and white, seeing that there are places in our country that are still very much segregated and racist deeply saddens me. Although I can see how some would agree what the Jena 6 did was wrong, because violence is never the answer, I am aware of all the unjust behavior exhibited by those who are supposed to be role models for fairness and equality, that lead up to this sad climax. And that's what it is, the climax because this is far from ending. There is a double standard being boldly displayed through out the tone of this incident. If the six Black teens are tried for their part in the matter, why not the Whites? The black teens risk losing basically their lives, while the three whites that supposedly started the incident were just given a slap on the wrist. Why was that? Anywhere in this country hanging a noose is considered a hate crime. So how come in Jena, Louisiana it's a "little harmless prank" ?
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