One of the problems being a blogger during a time when much of humanity finds itself in a living hell and democracy here in the US is crumbing faster right before our very eyes, it becomes very difficult exposing everything that that is going on, such as completing a post on the situation down in Jena, Louisiana – a small southern town that reveals this country’s history of slavery, Jim Crow law, and lynch mobs. The case is better know as the Jena 6 – Robert Bailey Jr., Mychal Bell, Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis, Theo Shaw and an unnamed juvenile.

A brief background of the event for those who are unaware what is happening in Jena. This event started on a late summer day in 2006, in Jena, LA, when several African American high school students, at a school assembly, had decided to challenge an unspoken rule by asking the school’s vice principal if they could sit under a schoolyard tree, dubbed the “White Tree.” The tree was on the side of the campus that had always been claimed by white students, since the school’s inception. School officials told the students they could “sit wherever [they] want.”

The day after the Black students challenged the established authority of segregation and racism by sitting underneath the tree, to their surprise, hanging from the tree were three nooses; two of the nooses were black and one was gold – Jena High School’s school colors. Interestingly, many of the White residents saw nothing wrong with the noose and downplayed as nothing more than a tasteless prank. One thing Americans love to do, is to speak through expressive conduct, often called symbolic speech. This is not a Republican or Democratic issue because lately it seems a majority of white people are disregarding the symbolic and psychological roots and meaning of their racial error. It has become a norm to excuse their disregard to a person’s humanity and dignity by pleading ignorance for their offense. Even worse, many gring@s feel all should be forgiven if they just apologize for their actions.

What is often played down are the sentiments of the community they offended. In this case, to African Americans the nooses symbolizes a sinister history of toxic racism reaching back to the Civil War. To the Black community a noose, like Blackfacing, also symbolizes danger: threats, arson, violence, robed night riders, lynchings, and murder. Therefore, it was not surprising to see that racial tension ran high between White and Black students of Jena High in the days that followed. The school board’s decision to give the boys involved three days of in-school suspension instead of the recommended permanent expulsion was seen as an insult and only exacerbated the tensions into a “racial powder keg.”

Roy Breithaupt, Jena’s white school superintendent, dismissed the hanging of the nooses as an “adolescents prank” and told the Chicago Tribune that he didn’t “think it was a threat against anybody.” For Jena’s Black community, this was but the latest slap in the face.

Black students at the high school decided to defy the racial status quo by holding a sit-in under the “white tree” to protest the light suspensions given to the three white noose-hangers. When word got out about the pending sit-in, a school assembly was quickly convened, in which the White District Attorney General, Reed Walters, attended. Surrounded by White police officers, Walters warned the Blacks students that additional unrest would be treated as a criminal matter. He also told the Black protesters that if they did not stop making a fuss over this “prank,” he could be their “worst enemy,” and further stated, “I can make your lives disappear with the stroke of my pen” implying he would not hesitate filing maximum or death sentences against the Black students involved.

Three months after the noose incident, Robert Bailey, one of the Jena 6, was assaulted by a group of white students as he entered an all-White parties held at the Jena Fair Barn. The victim was assaulted by white male adult in the face and was later beaten with beer bottles and punches by white Jena students until adults intervened. A few days after this event, during lunch hour at school, Justin Barker and a group of whites, including the three noose hangers, taunted Robert Bailey and other black students. Barker made racist taunts and mocked Bailey for getting his “ass-whipped” at the party. An altercation ensued in which the Barker was reportedly knocked unconscious to the floor, and was kicked when he was down by a group of six boys. By the time ambulance arrived, Justin was already conscious and standing. Barker was taken to the hospital treated and released within three hours. He was well enough to attend a school event later that night.

The boys involved in the assault were arrested in under an hour and charged with aggravated assault and premeditated aggravated assault. The who were are better known as the Jena 6 – Robert Bailey Jr., Mychal Bell, Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis, Theo Shaw and an unnamed juvenile. Then, in an astonishing move, DA Walters upgraded the charges against the alleged attackers to conspiracy to commit second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. The first to be tried was Mychal Bell, after spending seven months in jail because he could not pay the extraordinarily high bail. Immediately before the trial, the charges against Bell were reduced to 2nd degree battery, also a felony. He now could face up to 22 years in prison.

On June 28, 2007, Bell, the first young man to stand trial, was found guilty by an all-White jury and a White judge. According to CNN, every jury member said hey knew some of the witnesses that were called in the case. The jury included a high school classmate of the district attorney; it included the mother of one of the prosecution witnesses, and a good friend of Justin Barker’s mother.

The prosecution called Bell’s parents as witnesses, so they were not allowed to be in the courtroom with their son, although they were not called to show in the case. Bell was defended by a public defender, Blane Williams, that did not even provide a defense whatsoever. He was met with criticism because he did not present evidence or call witnesses, including the Jena High coach, who had stated that Bell was not involved in the fight. Naturally, Williams disagrees, he told reporters that that he “put on the best defense I could,” which Cleveland Riser, the former assistant schools superintendent for LaSalle Parish, also felt that Bell received proper representation from Williams. However, one does have to wonder who Williams was really defending, Bell or the town of Jena. In Williams’ closing statements, it seem he was defending the town instead of his client.

“This is a trial of Mychal Bell,” he said, raising his voice. “It ain’t a trial of LaSalle Parish. It ain’t a trial of Jena. It ain’t a trial of anything else on people’s mind. … Things have a tendency to get blown out of proportion. Step outside of the courtroom, and you’ll see blown out of proportion.”

It is obvious that he was alluding to the attention the case has garnered both locally and worldwide. He should have used it in his client’s favor. Some were also upset with Williams because they felt he should have been for a change of venue because of pretrial publicity and the weight of the evidence against Bell.

The silver lining with all the international attention Bell received, a new team of lawyers has taken over his case and is already seeking an appeal. His sentencing date was changed from July 31 to September 20. The case has captured the attention of several Black leaders all over the country this would include Reverends Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III. They all came down to Jena to vigorously object to the miscarriage of justice surrounding the “Jena 6″ cases and to lend a hand to the already existing civil rights groups have been championing their cause.

The case has also captured the attention of both both alternative and mainstream media, including recent segments on CNN, NBC and CBS nightly news. But if there is one medium that did the brunt of informing the public about the injustices surrounding Jena 6 are the blogs. The banner at the top of thise post would not have been possible if it weren’t for fellow bloggers Tom from Automatic Preference and Sylvia over at The Anti-Essentialist Conundrum and b. medusa at mnemosyne. CenLamar at The Daily Kingfish provides a great list of links in hopes it will act as a “resource for anyone interested in learning about the Jena Six.” Laura at Pursuing Holiness provides an excellent chronology of events. However, there are still a lot of people in this country that still do not know about this gross miscarriage of justice and the importance to free the Jena 6.

One of the reasons this event is able to capture national and international attention is that it takes place in the South, so it easy to frame this as another example of old style Southern racism. Jim Crow laws were named after a minstrel show song, “Jump Jim Crow,” and existed from the 1890s into the 1960s in many arenas of public life in many states and cities both north and south of the Mason-Dixon Line. There is a common misconception, many people continue to believe Jim Crow laws were only “enacted in the Southern and border states of the United States.” The fact is, Jim Crow laws could be found in states as far north as Alaska.

As Alan Bean from the Friends of Justice put it Jena 6 goes beyond “white trees” and nooses, it isn’t a Southern thing, Jena 6 is about America. This is about justice and stopping and reversing a terrible outrage that is now going on throughout the United States. We as a people, regardless of race or ethnicity, should make it clear that we will NOT tolerate white supremacy in any form and demand that ALL the charges be dropped on the Jena 6.

You can help be part of the momentum to keep the heat on Governor Blanco, by spreading the word and asking your friends and family to get involved.

You can help make an impact by helping the families of the Jena 6 by help the members of Color Of Change raise money to provide legal support for the Jena 6. It’s critical that these young men get representation from exceptional lawyers; even if they find pro bono counsel, they are likely to incur $30-50 thousand each in expenses. To help, visit the following link to the Contribute to the Jena Six Defense Fund.

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• Farmers Branch, TX: The New All-American Sundown Town (7)
• Nooses Galore In the Lone Star State (4)
• Jena 6 Update: Mychal Bell is Released on $45,000 Bail (5)
• Hate Crimes: The New Politics of Racism (20)

Tags: African Americans, history, Jena 6, Jim Crow, Racism, Segregation |  Print This Post |
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