For the past few weeks I’ve been pondering the situation in Jena, LA.
There has been a ton of outrage about 6 black high school students who have been charged (and in one case convicted) of 2nd Degree Attempted Murder against a white student. The story is a bit convoluted and has raised the ire of much of the nation.
The short version of the story is this:
At Jena High School, there was a tree that was understood by many students to be the “White Tree” where only students who are white were allowed to sit. On August 31, 2006, a freshman, asked the principal if he was allowed to sit under the white tree” and was told that he could sit wherever he wanted to. The next day, three nooses were found hung from the tree which understandably upset may of the black and surrounded community. The students who were found to have hung the nooses were suggested for expulsion by the principal, but the decision was reduced to suspension by the school board. The superintendent called the nooses a “prank,” even though the FBI and other federal officials later said that it “had all of the markings of a hate crime.”
On September 6, in response to a number of interracial fights, an assembly was held with the local DA speaking to the students. At one point the District Attorney stated, “With one stroke of my pen, I can make your life disappear.”
The racial tension and the fallout from the noose incident continued for months, with people reacting organized and civil ways as well as with outbursts of frustration that, at times were violent or destructive.
In December, the entire story hit its climax. On December 1, five black students came to a private party at the local Fair Barn, they were told they could not enter without an invitation. A white man stepped in and a fight began between the black minors and the adult man. All six were asked to leave. Once outside another fight occurred involving multiple adult white men, one of which was charged with simple battery; none of the black students were charged. The next day, at a convenience store, a white man who had been in the fight ran into several of the black students from the night before. An argument ensued and the man pulled a shotgun from his vehicle and threatened the students with it. Somehow the students got the gun from him… they were later charged with theft of a firearm, second-degree robbery, and disturbing the peace, the white man who threatened them was not charged with anything.
On the 4th of December a white student was beaten by the now-famous six students. He was knocked out, suffered a concussion and cuts and bruises on his head. He attended a school “ring ceremony” that evening. The six black students accused him of taunting one of them, Robert Bailey, Jr. who had been on the losing end of the fight at the barn. The six were expelled and charged with attempted second-degree murder… all of them were underage at the time, but all but one of them are being tried as adults.
The students, because of the poverty many of them were raised in, were not able to afford lawyers and had to be defended by a public defender. Mychal Bell is the only one to have his case go to trial thus far. The public defender, did not challenge the all-white jury, nor did he call any witnesses even though a coach at the school had stated that Mychal was not involved in the fight. Mychal was convicted as an adult and faced up to 22 years in prison, his conviction was appealed and he will now be re-tried as an adult.
That’s the short version of the story… there is so much more to it. The outrage and controversy has spread like a wildfire – 16,000+ YouTube videos, 30,000+ blog posts (one more), far more than a thousand groups on Facebook. Also, about 30,000 visited Jena to protest, accompanied by a petition with 428,560 signatures asking for a review of the incidents by the United States Department of Justice. My name is on that petition…
Here is what I believe should happen, with the information that I have at this point:
The “Jena Six” should not be “freed.” They should, on the other hand, be tried for the fight as juveniles. They did commit a criminal act of attacking someone for something he said. While what he said may have been taunting, racist and insulting, it is not illegal and he has every right to say it under the constitution. The school may have the right to punish him under school guidelines.
The man who produced the shotgun should be charged with something, possibly making terroristic threats.
The district attorney should be permanently suspended from his position for his threatening remarks toward the Jena High School student body.
Also, if there is sufficient evidence to convict, as juveniles, the Jena Six, they should serve out their sentence on a far lesser charge, with a fair jury and with a competent attorney.
Overall, people did illegal, immoral and plain wrong things in this whole event. Not every white person in Jena is guilty, not every black person in Jena is innocent… there was transgression from both sides and we should be able to hear equally what both have to say.
Oh, and unless it’s a Halloween decoration, a noose is never “just a prank”.
