The Jena 6

Parent Cafe
161

<p>“Oh my. I assumed I was debating with a parent, not one of the children. That explains a lot. Sorry to all.”</p>

<p>I KNEW IT!:smiley: I just knew that Razorsharp would show just how “razor sharp” she really is by failing to engage in this discussion with even a modicum of intellectual integrity—even when directly challenged! Good job, Razorsharp!</p>

<p>By the way… try wetting your whistle—Dixie takes a toll on anybody attempting to keep it up this long;)</p>

162

<p>“And letting the conversation evolve away from this issue plays right into the hands of people who would hang on to their racism and allow it to continue to permeate our judicial system.”</p>

<p>Exactly. The diversionary tactic is a good one, though. More sly than ignoring relevant questions asked point blank.</p>

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<p>There is a huge difference in a stand-up fist fight and stomping someones head when they are unconscience on the ground. Continuing violence after someone is unable to defend theirselves is likely what lead to the attempted murder charge. It is probably still an elevated charge from a distance, but it has some justification with or without the racial overtones.</p>

164

<p>I think the problem with this case is that some people want to ignore a number of ambiguities in what happened, and they want to assume cause and effect that may not be there. If anybody cares, here’s my take on the sequence of events.

  1. The “whites-only” tree. What I have read is that the tree is where the white students congregated, and the bleachers were where the black students congregated. You will find similar facts on the ground at many schools. This is not the same as a “whites-only” tree.<br>
  2. The nooses on the tree. Here, however, you do see that some white students did engage in hateful activity when a black student invaded “their” territory. Anybody from the South knows that nooses are intended to be racially threatening.
  3. The punishment of the white students. Here, I think there was clearly racism on behalf of the school board, when the principal’s punishment (expulsion) was reduced to three days in-school suspension. No honest person in the South could call what those students did a harmless prank. However, there may in fact be no Louisiana law under which they could have been prosecuted–the local DA can’t bring charges under federal law.
  4. The assault by white men on a black juvenile. From what I have read, this event can’t be so easily categorized–it could also be characterized as a fight between would-be party crashers and parygoers. It’s not OK to enter a party to which one has not been invited, even if the party is all-white (and I think I read that the party was “mostly white,” not all white.) Again, was this fight a confrontation between two groups of people, or a group assault on one person by a group? Was anybody hurt, and how badly? Without knowing more about the facts, it is impossible to say whether the battery charge against a white man and probation was adequate (note: no charges were brought against the black students involved–you might imagine that they would have been charged with assault or trespassing if the system was entirely corrupt.)
  5. The school was burned down. This certainly increased tensions, because whites accuse blacks of doing it, and blacks accuse whites of doing it.
  6. The shotgun incident. Again, the facts are somewhat ambiguous. Here, it does seem unfair to charge the people who took away the shotgun with theft. What happened to the charges in that incident? Are they still pending, or were they dropped?
  7. The “Jena 6” beating. Here, the basic situation is pretty unambiguous. Even if the white student was “running his mouth,” or even making racial epithets, a serious crime was committed. He was pretty severely beaten, being kicked in the head while he was on the ground. This can’t really be justified by any of the course of events that went before, especially if the beaten student was not one of the noose-hangers, beaters, or shotgun brandishers. I do think the charge of attempted murder was excessive, but I don’t know what the evidence shows as far as what the assailants said during this crime. Did they threaten to kill him? I don’t know. Also, where exactly did this happen? Were there other people around or not? What ended the beating? Did somebody break it up, or did the attackers just leave? That has some bearing on how badly they intended to hurt him. I don’t think it’s irrelevant that one of the students had a criminal record, including for battery.
  8. Oh, I forgot the DA’s pen threat. Yes, I think he was threatening the black students, since he referred to a “prank.”</p>

<p>My conclusion? It’s appropriate to think that there is anti-black bias in the Jena government (especially the school board). However, it is difficult to find any heroes among the black students in the story–except maybe for the one who sat under the “whites-only tree”–I wonder if he was involved in any of the later incidents. The Jena 6, in particular, are not heroes. You aren’t a hero for ganging up and beating a guy, even if he was “running his mouth.” (I assume few would think it was OK for a group of six white students to beat up a black kid for “running his mouth.” Remember Emmett Till? He was killed for “running his mouth.”) So far, the legal system seems to be working with respect to Bell–the unreasonable charge was reduced to a more reasonable one. (Bonus note: All the other members of the “Jena 6” posted bond and were released. Bell’s bond was set at $90,000. How come it was possible for large groups of people to organize a major protest in Jena, but not to come up with enough money for his bond? You don’t actually need $90,000, typically. The fact that nobody paid his bond, despite suggesting that he is a hero, makes me suspect motives.)
So while I do think this case shows remaining racism in a small rural Louisiana town, I don’t think the Jena 6 are very good poster children for civil rights.</p>

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<p>Who here is saying these defendants are heros? Speaking for myself, I know I have said they are not. I agree with many other points you make, however. But these kids are not heroes. The issues surrounding the situtation, events, and this case, do appear to smack of racism, civil rights injustices, and so forth. Nobody is a hero though. </p>

<p>I also want to point out that while Bell’s unreasonable charge was reduced, it wasn’t until AFTER public outcry. That kind of charge should not have been brought and it also was unequal to events like it going on between these groups.</p>

166

<p>Hunt, you make several excellent points; however, there are a few points with which I would take exception. I agree with Soozievt that I not ready to praise Bell as a hero. As far as the DA is concerned, he is an officer of the court and in my opinion that made it obligatory for him to pick up the phone and call the federal prosecutor when he became aware that a federal hate crime had taken place in Jena. None of the rest of the facts of the case appear to justify the charges of attempted murder and the sentence of 22 years. I have to admit that those posting here trying justify those charges and this sentence are, in my opinion, prima facie practicing a form of racism.</p>

<p>Further, being unable to make 10% of $90,000 is evidence of poverty not of guilt.</p>

167

<p>My husband is a public defender that has worked tirelessly for over 30 years in three major cites to help provide young, poor, and mostly black men with civil rights protections. The real issue is that we as a society spend billions on the incarceration of young black men. Mychal Bell is just the tip of the iceberg. </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.sentencingproject.org/IssueAreaHome.aspx?IssueID=3[/url]”>http://www.sentencingproject.org/IssueAreaHome.aspx?IssueID=3&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Agree completely with sooz. No one has said these boys were heroes. In fact, seems like there is a hero shortage in Jena Louisiana.</p>

<p>A few things. </p>

<p>When someone feels compelled to ask permission from authorities to sit specific location, you can bet we are talking turf. Whether or not it was called the whites-only tree, the tree was a place for whites-only and a place where blacks were not welcome.</p>

<p>The black kid who was beaten WAS invited by white friends to the primarily white party. The white adults at the party denied him entry and as he was leaving there was a scuffle where he was beaten by a group of whites and where one of the adults hit him in the head with a beer bottle.</p>

<p>And while I agree with some of hunt’s assessments, the main question is why do we still need poster children for civil rights? That’s the crux of the problem.</p>

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<p>Well put unsoccermom. </p>

<p>I’m also astounded at the conflict of interest angle since this parish DA was also the parish school board attorney and influenced the decision to overrule the principal who wanted to suspend the boys who had placed nooses in the trees. Imagine how differently things may have turned out for everyone if that principal had prevailed.</p>

170

<p>Wow, ldmom, I didn’t even know about that part. That is truly worrying.</p>

<p>On another note, there was a CNN report on the whole situation… it was rather enlightening. It was especially good to see how the people are in real life. It could just be me, but the DA seems like he’s just as bad as people describe. I know it’s totally superficial, but that’s just the impression I got. Like when he was questioned about the pen incident at a press conference and said (in a kind of irritated way) “Well, it looks like we’re getting out of control here. Good day folks.”</p>

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<p>as a black male, one of the things I am learning from the Jena incident is the importance of sticking by my own race, because racism, covert and overt, is still very much alive in 2007. I feel as if I owe a little more to my race than I previously thought.</p>

<p>It’s sad, but at 18 years old, Jena is making me rethink the viability of complete racial integration between black and white america - perhaps it’s just not possible between two incredibly disparate races with such a bad history.</p>

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<p>Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but while Bells’ bond was originally set at $90,000, after the battery charges were overturned by the Appeals Court, he was denied bail. So he went from not being able to make bail, to being denied bail as his being charged as an adult was changed to being charged as a juvenile. If there is a legal precedent for this, could someone explain - this is getting beyond the very remedial legal understanding I have.</p>

<p>Although I do think he should be given the opportunity to post bail, I do worry about his security once he’s released. I have little faith that the Jena law enforcement will do much to protect him as the town has shown the depth of its racism. Is there even a trial date set for his juvenile charges? What is the process from here on out?</p>

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<p>rl.hill - please don’t say that. I think we have so much more in common than there are differences. I believe that’s true of with all races; for some reason, a vocal minority that chooses to express contempt of races different than their own thinks they are entitled to do so. Think of the precedence it would set if we gave up on affirming each race for who they are, that is no one is superior to another. It would set humanity back centuries.</p>

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<p>regarding whether or not there are any heroes in this story. I can’t even imagine the courage it must have taken a FRESHMAN to ask the school administration in a large public gathering whether it was OK or not to sit under the whites-only tree. Freshman are intimidated enough as it is, much less a minority freshman! Maybe down the road, his courage to question the territorial issues of an all-white tree will be compared to Rosa Parks who refused to get off the bus. I wish we knew more about this kid. I wonder if he’d ask that question if he knew then what would happen.</p>

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<p>rl. hill - </p>

<p>There are extremists on almost any viewpoint including the extremists in the various racial groups but realize that most people aren’t extremists. There are plenty of whites disgusted by the racial prejudice antics of the Jena case just as Blacks are. </p>

<p>We need only more open-minded people of all racial groups. This often simply comes down to experience confronting one’s pre-conceived ideas. It’s only by integrating and not self-segregating that this can happen. I hope the extreme Jena incident only encourages you ‘more’ to meld with different racial groups and thereby educate them and add to their own and your own experience. ‘You’re’ the one who can make this happen.</p>

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<p>rl.hill, I have to say that your’s, so far, has been the most disappointing post I’ve read. As a middle aged black woman who experienced school segregation and Jim Crow first hand, I can tell you that returning to the “good ole’ days” of segregation IS NOT the answer. Believe me, if we returned to widespread racial segregation in this country, black people would not come out the better for it. </p>

<p>Furthermore, something President Lincoln said many years ago is as true today as it was when he said it: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Our nation has never been more racially plural. If everyone were to retreat to exclusive enclaves based on race, how long would it be before ignorance, fear, and racial hostility became the defining dynamic in our land? How long before the Aryan Nation’s wet dream of racial civil war become a nightmarish reality? </p>

<p>I understand the disgust you must feel in light of the shocking number of apologists on these forums, who shamelessly ignore (or minimize) the racism surrounding the events in Jena, LA., who instead choose to restrict the discourse to the beating of the white student, the juvenile record of one of his assailants, or the presence of Al and Jesse in Jena. It just highlights the reality that there is still much work to be done toward achieving racial parity in this country (you can’t fix what you won’t acknowledge).</p>

<p>This may be the first time such naked prejudice has come to your attention (if so, that’s actually good news in and of itself—that you might have actually lived so long before confronting it). It’s always a shock the first time. But don’t give up on believing in the basic goodness latent in human beings. Just when you think all hope is gone, points of lights shining out of the darkness are everywhere to be seen. Some of them are even on this forum.</p>

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<p>rl hill, to me the take home lesson is that we should all intermarry like mad so that we are all shades of brown and the whole problem goes away. I look at my street - three white families, another eight or so African American families and an Indian American family around the corner and I am encouraged that America is indeed changing - if not as fast as I would wish.</p>

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<p>I haven’t actively followed these events until now, but this is what I managed to gather from various media sources… </p>

<p>White kids hang nooses from “Whites Only” tree = Harmless prank </p>

<p>White kids beat up Black Kid at a party = 1 guy gets charged with a misdemeanor</p>

<p>White kid threatens Black kids with a shotgun and gets it taken away by his would-be victims = Black kids charged with theft.</p>

<p>Black kids beat up White kid = Attempted Murder. </p>

<p>Now I’m the first person that will takes jabs at Al Sharktongue and Jesse Jackson, but even I can see that the town in question is screwed up.</p>

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<p>^^^Good synopsis that paints the picture.</p>

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<p>What’s your point in post #167, unsoccer-mom?

Have you thought about the crimes that brought them (and I dont single out any ethnicity, to be fair) there ? Society was damaged; someone’s house was burglarized; someone was robbed; someone’s daughter was raped and murdered…in sum, things were taken that did not belong to or earned, rights were violated; innocent lives were lost (and I am not talking about the lives wasting away in prison). I can see your liberal hearts bleeding with gaping wounds when you see young men being locked up. Where is your sensibiity for society’s (you and me) protection. Where is your compassion toward the victims?</p>