Jena 6 Article (Full Text)

Proposed title: Lessons from the Jena 6
Kari Sledzik

Several events over the past year in the predominantly white community of Jena, Louisiana have lead to a court case over racially-motivated criminal charges. Six students from Jena High School have been expelled and charged with second-degree attempted murder. Due to racial inequities within the town, the students have relied on support from the media and activists from outside the town. Despite the thousands of protestors flocking to Jena to express their solidarity for the Jena 6, why is it that news has reached the rest of the nation with such reservations?

The trouble began with the “white tree” on the Jena High school campus. Typically reserved for whites, black students approached the administration to receive permission to sit under the tree. The administration responded in saying they should sit wherever they’d like. The following school day, they returned to campus to find three nooses hanging from the tree.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the principal of Jena High suggested that the students who hung the nooses from the tree be expelled. The superintendent denied this request, citing the incident as a prank. The students instead received a three day suspension. Democracy Now’s Jacquie Soohen approached members of the community about the seriousness of the students’ actions. Robert Bailey, one of the Jena 6, told Soohen, “Nooses hanging there -- nooses ain't no prank.” When approached by Soohen, the local librarian explained that racism was not a problem in Jena, also citing the nooses as a prank. The school called in the district attorney, Red Walters, to address the students after this chain of events was initiated. According to the London Observer, Walters said, “You see this pen? I can take away your lives with a stroke of my pen." This was perceived by some black students as a threat, as he was reportedly looking at them.

Following in December, a black Jena High student attended an all-white party. He was confronted and beaten by several whites. The following day, a white man approached several black men standing in front of a convenience store and threatened them with a shotgun. The black men wrestled the shotgun away from him, but they were arrested for theft of a firearm while no charges were filed against the white man.

A few days later on December 4, several black students organized a sit-in under the tree. When confronted by taunts from a white student, six black students responded by beating him. He was treated in the hospital and released, and he reportedly attended a social function that evening. The six students were subsequently arrested and charged with second-degree attempted murder. Mychal Bell, first of the Jena 6, came before an all-whtie jury, heavily stacked against him. Supposedly selected by a computer, the jury included two people acquainted with the district attorney, a relative of one of the prosecution witnesses, and several friends of other witnesses. Bell was convicted on lesser charges of aggravated second degree battery and conspiracy. The charge of aggravated second degree battery, according to Louisiana law, requires the attack to be with a deadly weapon. The Prosecutor claimed that Bell’s tennis shoes could be considered the weapon. Bell could receive up to 22 years in prison.

One of the most notable aspects of this case is how long it took for this to reach the public. CNN, our so-called “liberal news media,” first reported the trial in early September, while independent media outlets such as IndyMedia, Truthout, National Public Radio, and Democracy Now archived reports of the incident by early July.

Conversely, Fox News reported the case on June 26th, although diminishing the links between the racial tensions and the actual court case, as well as leaving out the confrontation with the shotgun. In a later article from Fox concerning the charges against the Jena 6, “a motive for the alleged Dec. 4 attack at Jena High School was never established.” The fact that Fox News picked up the story around the same time as the independent news media does not excuse the insensitivity to glaring racial inequalities within Jena.

Reverend Al Sharpton called for support for the Jena 6, encouraging everyone to meet in Jena for a display of solidarity. Sharpton has been vocally critical of the charges against the Jena 6, calling the case the beginning of the civil rights movement of the 21st century. Thousands have descended on Jena in a demonstration of solidarity for the students facing charges. While many people are aware of this injustice and seek to make it public, why has the mass media diminished the story? If this had been some sort of injustice against a group of white students, would the response have been any different?

It is possible that our actions produce the impression of racism, whether or not our thoughts coincide. Our nonchalance to serious issues, like tasteless racial humor and publications, undermine the importance of civil rights and support for individuals like those of the Jena 6. Perhaps our lack of attention to racist actions indicates less of an importance to publicize true inequity. Rather than making light of hurtful situations and social inequities, we should be focusing our energy on combating them. Not everyone is racist, but we forget that seemingly benign actions portray such characteristics. The push to end inequality is crippled when people ignore the emotional consequences of these actions.

These events in Jena magnify racial inequities rampant in our society. Rather than mocking such inequities with facetious publications and tasteless humor, we ought to be condemning it. The Recorder has not shown itself to be wholly sensitive to these issues, but CCSU and society at large demand a change. In the same way some inhabitants of Jena saw the hanging of the nooses to be a harmless prank, some members of the CCSU community saw the recent Polydongs comic as nothing of consequence. What these people fail to realize is that these “harmless” actions deeply offend the parties at expense and indicate that our society has made little progress against discrimination. We must be mindful that our actions have the potential to demoralize sectors of society. Otherwise unrelated incidents at CCSU and in Jena, thousands of miles apart, speak volumes about our society as a whole. Should we continue to ignore the underlying messages of our actions, we will never overcome the injustice explicitly displayed in Louisiana.