Tuesday August 28, 2007, 5:49 pm

Published on Tuesday, August 28, 2007 by Candide's Notebooks

Louisiana Lynching and The Jena Six
by Pierre Tristam
It’s the sort of story that should be front-page news and fodder for a national discussion: Six black adolescents railroaded by an all-white justice system in a small Louisiana town where terrorizing blacks is still in a day’s entertainment. Instead, between the follies in Iraq, the crack-pottery in the White House and the latest starlet sightings in rehab or in prison or in the buff, the story has barely made the major news organizations’ agenda. There’s been some good reporting in the Washington Post and its affiliates, a few rare mentions on ABC and NBC news programs, and longer reports on NPR and Britain’s BBC. That’s about it. The New York Times, CNN, CBS and Time have yet to devote a word to it even as the usual civil rights showboats - Al Sharpton, the Nation of Islam - have tried to give the story bigger play. Meanwhile, the lives of six young black men are being ruined as the old stereotype of the young black male as presumptive threat regains currency.

Jena is a mostly white town in central Louisiana, population about 3,000. Jena High School (”Student Learning Is Our Top Priority”) serves the town and surrounding communities. It has about 500 students. There was a tree on campus whose shade supposedly belonged to whites only. Last fall during an assembly, a black student asked an administrator whether he could sit under the tree. To some whites in the assembly, the question never should have been asked. The question alone defied the autocratic understanding that commands the power structure of certain environments.

To more civilized people in the assembly, the question never should have been asked because the days when people could command anything by the color of their skin should have been gone, at least regarding something as immaterial as the shade of a tree. That the question had to be asked - and that the administrator dignified it with a straight answer (”You can sit anywhere you like”) rather than detect in it the chasm that enabled it - is indication of how much some places as familiar as the local high school can still be no more enlightened than a madrassa in Karachi.

Several black students soon joined white students under the tree. The next day, three nooses, in the school colors, hung from the tree, an obvious reference to that old pastime of good ol’ Southern towns - lynching. Just as the administration had been blind to the meaning of the question in the assembly, so it was to the meaning of the nooses. It took it as a harmless prank and suspended three offenders for a few days. Blacks didn’t see the nooses as a prank but as a provocation brass-knuckled in not-so-distant history. Tensions immediately rose. The administration made things worse when it invited Reed Walters, the district attorney, and several police officers, to threaten students at will, which he did: “I can be your best friend or your worst enemy,” Walters told the assembly (as quoted in Newsweek), with a focus on black students: “With a stroke of my pen, I can make your lives disappear.” Just like old times.

Walters made good on his threat, selectively. When Robert Bailey, a black student who tried to attend a mostly white party, was beaten, his white assailant was charged with simple battery, no jail time. A few days later at school, Justin Barker, a friend of the noose-hangers, supposedly taunted Baker, then was assaulted from the back, knocked to the ground and kicked by a group of six black students, several of whom dispute that kicking took place. According to a Washington Post account, Barker was taken to the hospital, treated for a concussion and a swollen eye, and released. Within hours he was at a class-ring ceremony. For the assault, Reed Walters charged the young black men, now known as the “Jenna Six” - Bailey, Mychal Bell, Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis, Theodore Shaw and Jesse Beard - with attempted murder. None had a prior record.

Bell was convicted in July by an all-white jury on reduced charges of aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit it. He faces 22 years in prison. The others are awaiting trial. Their case isn’t unusual for the severity of the charges against them. They’re young and they’re black, which means they qualify for that other unspoken rule of America’s shaded justice system: charges and punishment to the hilt. Several recent similar cases abound across the country: Georgia’s Genarlow Wilson, sentenced to 10 years in prison for consensual sex with a 15 year old when he was 17; Georgia’s Marcus Dixon, 19, also a 10-year prison sentence for having sex with an underage white girl; Texas’ Shaquanda Cotton, 16, serving up to seven years for shoving a white teacher’s aid. All those convictions were overturned on appeal. But the individuals’ records remain. Even Bunnell recently had its own rash of young black men harassed and needlessly arrested by the local police department, on charges that didn’t make it past the State Attorney’s smell test. Prison and jail demographics, including Florida’s, further testify to the travesty.

Back at Jena High School, the tree should have been the symbolic heart of any attempt at bridging racist hatreds. Let the tree shade on, minus the repugnance-a living memorial of what can be and what mustn’t be. Instead, the administration a few weeks ago cut down the tree, as if the problem could be sawed off and burned. That’s no solution, especially as the fate of the “Jena Six” still hangs by that tree’s spectral limbs.

Tuesday August 28, 2007, 6:02 pm

Here's something else I've found on the subject :

FACING SOUTH
Blogging for a Progressive South

PO Box 531 • Durham,NC 27702 • Telephone: (919) 419-8311
http://southernstudies.org/facingsouth/labels/race%20and%20racism.asp

Wednesday, August 15, 2007
The Jena 6 and the movement for justice

Racism and Resistance: The Struggle to Free The Jena Six
By Jordan Flaherty
Guest Blogger

Almost a year ago, in the small northern Louisiana town of Jena, a group of white students hung three nooses from a tree in front of Jena High School. This set into motion a season of racial tension and incidents that culminated in six Black youths facing a lifetime in jail for a schoolyard fight.

The story that has unfolded since then is one of racism and injustice, but also of resistance and solidarity, as people from around the world have joined together with the families of the accused, lending legal and financial support, adding political pressure, and joining demonstrations and marches.

The nooses were hung after a Black student asked permission to sit under a tree that had been reserved by tradition for white students only. In response to the three nooses, nearly every Black student in the school stood under the tree in a spontaneous and powerful act of nonviolent protest. The town's district attorney quickly arrived, flanked by police officers, and told the Black students to stop making such a big deal over the nooses, which school officials termed to be a "harmless prank." The school assembly, like the schoolyard where all of this had begun, was divided by race, with the Black students on one side and the white students on the other. Directing his remarks to the Black students, District Attorney Reed Walters said, "I can make your lives disappear with a stroke of a pen."

The white students who confessed to hanging the nooses never received any meaningful punishment. Nor did the white students who months later beat up a Black student at a school party, nor did the white former student who threatened two Black students with a shotgun. But, after these incidents, when Black students got into a fight with a white student, six Black youths were charged with attempted murder, and now face a lifetime in prison. The Black students may not have been involved in the fight, but they were known to be organizers of the protest under the tree. The white student was briefly hospitalized, but had no major injuries and was socializing with friends at a school ring ceremony the evening of the fight.

The Black students were arrested immediately after the fight, in December of last year. School officials and police officials took statements from at least 44 witnesses to the fight. The statements do not paint a clear picture of who was involved. Statements from white students refer to "Black boys", but many testimonies are unclear as to the identities of who was involved. Some of the arrested youths are not implicated in the fight by any of the witnesses.

Despite this, when Mychal Bell, the first youth to go to trial, refused to take a deal in exchange for testifying against his friends, he was quickly convicted by an all-white jury. Bell's public defender Blane Williams, visibly angry at Bell and his parents because the youth did not take the deal, called no witnesses and gave no meaningful defense. This attorney's behavior gives a vivid example of our nation's broken and underfunded public defender system. Some have called Jena a throwback to the past, but in fact Jena presents a clear vision of the current state of our criminal justice system.

In Paris, Texas, a white teenager burns down her family's home and receives probation. A black teen shoves a hall monitor and gets seven years in prison. Genarlow Wilson, in Atlanta, is sentenced to 10 years in prison for participating in consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old when he was 17. Like these and many other cases, the case in Jena is textbook proof that there are still two systems of justice functioning in this country, one for Black people, and one for white. No serious observer can doubt that the students of Jena would never have faced charges if a Black student had been beaten instead of a white student. The unpunished incidents in the days and months leading up to the fight clearly demonstrate this. (read more here)

Local Resistance

Immediately after the arrests, parents of the accused began organizing. Their call, "Free the Jena Six," was initially heard by activists from other parts of Louisiana, such as the Lafayette public access TV show, "Community Defender," which was the first media from outside their immediate area to give coverage of the case. Non-corporate and grassroots media have been vital in spreading word of the case, beginning with blogs and YouTube videos, which then led to high profile stories on Democracy Now and in The Final Call.

Lasalle Parish where Jena is located is 85 percent white. The town is still mostly segregated -- from the white barber who refuses to cut Black hair to the white and Black parts of town, separated by an invisible line. Lasalle is also one of Louisiana's most wealthy parishes, with small oil rigs in many back yards contributing to area wealth. The parish is a major contributor to Republican politicians, and former Klansman and Louisiana gubernatorial candidate David Duke received a solid majority of local votes. Jena was also the former site of a notoriously brutal youth prison, which was closed after years of lawsuits and negative media exposure. The prison is now scheduled to be reopened as a private prison for the growth business of immigrant detentions

Three hundred supporters, most from the immediate region but some from as far away as California, Chicago and New York, descended on Jena on July 31 to protest District Attorney Reed Walters' conduct and call for dismissal of all charges. The largest groups included Millions More Movement delegations from Houston, Monroe and Shreveport, nearly 50 members of Families and Friends of Louisiana's Incarcerated Children from Lake Charles and New Orleans. Other delegations from across Louisiana included members of INCITE Women of Color Against Violence, Critical Resistance, Common Ground and Malcolm X Grassroots Movement. The demonstration marched through downtown Jena -- reported to be the biggest civil rights march the town of 2,500 residents has ever seen -- and delivered a petition with 43,000 signatures to the District Attorney's office.

In the two weeks since the demonstration, more major allies have begun to come on board. The Congressional Black Caucus, representing 43 members including Sen. Barack Obama, issued a statement calling for charges to be dropped, while the city of Cambridge, Mass. passed a resolution in support of the families of the Jena Six. Al Sharpton and other national leaders have visited Jena, while Jesse Jackson called members of the state legislative Black caucus on their behalf.

ColorOfChange.org, which has coordinated much of the outside support, has gathered 60,000 signatures on a petition to Louisiana Gov. Blanco, calling for her to pardon the accused, and investigate District Attorney Reed Walters.

Blanco, a Democratic governor elected with the overwhelming support of Black residents of Louisiana, responded with a condescending statement, tersely informing petitioners, "The State Constitution provides for three branches of state government -- Legislative, Executive, and Judicial -- and the Constitution prohibits anyone in one branch from exercising the powers of anyone in another branch." This is the same governor who, as Katrina approached, urged Gulf Coast residents to "pray the hurricane down" to a Category Two. When New Orleans was flooded and people were trapped in the New Orleans Superdome and convention center, she informed the nation that she was sending in National Guard troops: "They have M-16s and they're locked and loaded," she said. "These troops know how to shoot and kill, and they are more than willing to do so, and I expect they will." More recently, Blanco created a program to bring federal money to homeowners rebuilding after Katrina -- the "Road Home" -- that has been a dismal failure on every level.

Mychal Bell's sentencing is currently scheduled for Sept. 20. The families are planning another demonstration for that date, and also have assembled a legal team for Bell and the other youths. National allies such as Southern Poverty Law Center and NAACP joined initial supporters such as Friends of Justice (from Tulia, Texas) and ACLU of Louisiana. Legal expenses for the youths could be hundreds of thousands of dollars, and funding is still needed. Except for Mychal Bell, who has a bail hearing scheduled for Sept. 4, all of the youths are out on bail.

The case of Jena Six has served as a wake-up call on the state of U.S. justice. It shows vividly the racial bias still inherent to our system. But is has also shown something else: That this group of families refuses to be silent in the face of injustice, and that hundreds of thousands of other people around the world have chosen to stand with them, and say that we are drawing the line, here, in Jena, La.

Jordan Flaherty is a New Orleans-based journalist and an editor of Left Turn Magazine. His May 9, 2007 article from Jena was one of the first to bring the case to a national audience. Please see www.leftturn.org for more coverage of the Jena case. Donations to the Jena 6 Defense Committee can be sent to P.O. Box 2798, Jena, LA 71342 or can be made online

posted by Sue Sturgis at 9:52 AM | There's more… (7 comments, 7 new) | Email this post
Friday, August 10, 2007

The case of the Jena 6
Facing South was one of the first media outlets to cover the case of the Jena 6 -- black youths in rural Louisiana who are facing up to 22 years in prison (thanks to an all-white jury) after getting in a schoolyard fight with white students.

This week, ColorOfChange gives us an update on the status of the case and their national campaign:

Last Tuesday, over 300 people from across the country descended on Jena: we rallied in front of the courthouse, marched through downtown Jena, and cut through a line of sheriffs to hand-deliver petitions from more than 43,000 ColorOfChange.org members to the District Attorney's office.

It was quite a moment. The families were beaming because they knew that we had their backs. And, from the looks on their faces, it was clear that the authorities hadn't anticipated such a growing and powerful force. We've also gotten the attention of Governor Blanco, who finally started sending responses to the over 50,000 emails ColorOfChange.org members sent to her office. And, together, we've raised more than $55,000 for the legal defense of the Jena 6.
But the youths haven't received justice yet. To lend your voice to the campaign, visit here. For more background on the case, listen to NPR's story or read this account from the BBC.

Labels: civil rights, louisiana, race and racism

posted by Chris Kromm at 12:16 PM | Link & discuss (8 comments, 8 new) | Email this post
Friday, July 27, 2007

The latest news on Jena 6
Earlier this week we brought you an update on the Jena 6, a case involving six black teens who are facing lengthy prison sentences for standing up to racism at their small-town Louisiana high school. We reported that sentencing for Mychal Bell -- one of the defendants who was convicted last month by an all-white jury of aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated second-degree battery -- was scheduled for July 31.

It turns out that Bell's sentencing has been rescheduled to Sept. 20. However, a mass protest over the case is still set to take place on July 31. To learn more about the protest, to sign another petition for justice, and/or to contribute to the defense committee, click here.

Donations for the defense may also be sent via regular mail to Jena 6 Defense Committee, PO BOX 2798, Jena, LA 71342. For more information on the case and to receive regular updates, e-mail jena6defense [at] gmail.com.
Labels: criminal justice, louisiana, race and racism

posted by Sue Sturgis at 10:34 AM | Link & discuss (0 comments) | Email this post
Thursday, July 26, 2007

NAACP petition seeks justice for Jena 6
Facing South contributor Bill Quigley recently brought us the shocking story of a group of African-American teens who are facing harsh criminal penalties for lashing out against racist terrorism in Jena, La.

The trouble began last December when white students hung three nooses from a tree where Jena High School's white students gathered after several blacks dared to sit under it. The white students who hung the nooses received only a three-day suspension, which led to an escalation of racial tensions at the school. After a white student allegedly taunted blacks with the "N" word, he was beaten up by black students, six of whom were arrested.

One of those arrested -- 16-year-old Mychal Bell -- was convicted as an adult by an all-white jury of aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated second-degree battery for his role in the beating. Bell's public defender called no witnesses and failed to challenge the makeup of the jury pool. With his sentencing set for July 31, Bell faces the possibility of up to 22 years in prison.

The NAACP, which is involved in Bell's defense, is now collecting signatures on a petition to Louisiana's governor and attorney general calling for a new trial for Bell and justice for the six arrested teens. To add your name to it, click here.
Labels: criminal justice, louisiana, race and racism

posted by Sue Sturgis at 12:07 PM | Link & discuss (10 comments, 10 new) | Email this post

Tuesday August 28, 2007, 6:15 pm

Better still : a petition to sign to try to get the Governor of Louisiana to intervene before it is too late.

It's on the "Color of Change" site:

Dear friend,
I just learned about a case of segregation-era oppression happening today in Jena, Louisiana. I signed onto ColorOfChange.org's campaign for justice in Jena, and wanted to invite you to do the same.

http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=2137-271007

Last fall in Jena, the day after two Black high school students sat beneath the "white tree" on their campus, nooses were hung from the tree. When the superintendent dismissed the nooses as a "prank," more Black students sat under the tree in protest. The District Attorney then came to the school accompanied by the town's police and demanded that the students end their protest, telling them, "I can be your best friend or your worst enemy... I can take away your lives with a stroke of my pen."

A series of white-on-black incidents of violence followed, and the DA did nothing. But when a white student was beaten up in a schoolyard fight, the DA responded by charging six black students with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

It's a story that reads like one from the Jim Crow era, when judges, lawyers and all-white juries used the justice system to keep blacks in "their place." But it's happening today. The families of these young men are fighting back, but the story has gotten minimal press. Together, we can make sure their story is told and that the Governor of Louisiana intervenes and provides justice for the Jena 6. It starts now. Please join me:

http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=2137-271007

The noose-hanging incident and the DA's visit to the school set the stage for everything that followed. Racial tension escalated over the next couple of months, and on November 30, the main academic building of Jena High School was burned down in an unsolved fire. Later the same weekend, a black student was beaten up by white students at a party. The next day, black students at a convenience store were threatened by a young white man with a shotgun. They wrestled the gun from him and ran away. While no charges were filed against the white man, the students were later arrested for the theft of the gun.

That Monday at school, a white student, who had been a vocal supporter of the students who hung the nooses, taunted the black student who was beaten up at the off-campus party and allegedly called several black students "nigger." After lunch, he was knocked down, punched and kicked by black students. He was taken to the hospital, but was released and was well enough to go to a social event that evening.

Six Black Jena High students, Robert Bailey (17), Theo Shaw (17), Carwin Jones (18), Bryant Purvis (17), Mychal Bell (16) and an unidentified minor, were expelled from school, arrested and charged with second-degree attempted murder. The first trial ended last month, and Mychal Bell, who has been in prison since December, was convicted of aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery (both felonies) by an all-white jury in a trial where his public defender called no witnesses. During his trial, Mychal's parents were ordered not to speak to the media and the court prohibited protests from taking place near the courtroom or where the judge could see them.

Mychal is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31st, and could go to jail for 22 years. Theo Shaw's trial is next. He will finally make bail this week.

The Jena Six are lucky to have parents and loved ones who are fighting tooth and nail to free them. They have been threatened but they are standing strong. We know that if the families have to go it alone, their sons will be a long time coming home. But if we act now, we can make a difference.

Join me in demanding that Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco get involved to make sure that justice is served for Mychal Bell, and that DA Reed Walters drop the charges against the 5 boys who have not yet gone to trial.

http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=2137-271007

Thanks.

Tuesday August 28, 2007, 6:57 pm
Jill that was very interesting reading thanx for that. It is a very sad fact this shocking racism and my heart is so so sad for the families of these boys and the unfairness of the people, juries, judges, law enforcement agencies. I cannot abide racism - I am for all peoples - there are good and bad in every race - but - to continue on this dreadful hatred of African Americans is horrendous -haven't they suffered enough through the years????
What about how they've represented their country in wars and died for their country, and in the olympics winning accolades for their victories?????

Tuesday August 28, 2007, 7:15 pm

Please sign the petition and add your comments to the letter :

http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=2137-271007

Tuesday August 28, 2007, 7:38 pm

Jacqueline,

Did you sign the petition on the Color of Change site ?

We have GOT to get these sentences turned around !

Wednesday August 29, 2007, 7:23 am
I, too, wonder why this story didn't get more coverage in the national media. Despite what many would like to believe, racism--and Jim Crow "justice"--is still prevalent in this country. Thanks for posting this, Jill ! Noted and signed.

Wednesday August 29, 2007, 7:51 am
Noted! Thanks Jill :)

Wednesday August 29, 2007, 8:07 am

Thanks for noting and signing:
On front page, the exposure will help -I hope- get many many signatures for the petition. These boys have a right to a life and not to become the victims of racism in a country that prides itself so highly on being democratic and free !

Wednesday August 29, 2007, 8:17 am
it is sad in today's world that stuff still happens, but it does...especially in the good ole boy south...

Wednesday August 29, 2007, 9:36 am
Noted and petition signed

Wednesday August 29, 2007, 10:06 am
ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS! I knew racism was still bad but didn't think the establishment news was quite this effing bad. I'm just shatttered. I feel (AM) entirely impotent! My friends and I worked our white butts off in the late 50's and the 60's, and thought more progress was made that such racial violence would not be covered up by the establishment media again.

OK, if you haven't (Admittedly II hadn't read to the end of Jill's comments. Let's get on these sites and petitions and make any actions we can as loudly as possible! Courage, Peace, etc. Bruce Combs bcombs@ecologyfund.net

Wednesday August 29, 2007, 11:22 am

My friend, Pamela Lyn, discovered an article about this outrage in May. It had been published in the Guardian and the Observer.

Can anyone tell us if it made a front page in any major US newspaper such as the NYTimes, Wash Post, LA Times, etc ?

I can't help thinking of Martin Luther King, what he lived for, what he died for.
We mustn't let all the work, all thesweat, hopes, dreams of the civil rights movement be betrayed by the redneck fascists in Louisiana or anywhere else.

Tell everyone you know. Let's get this on the front pages of ALL the major US newspapers and on all the TV news.

Wednesday August 29, 2007, 11:30 am

All the brave people, all the blows, all the arrests, all the confrontations, ...

for what, if 6 high school students are so badly mistreated - can't get justice in this country ? ? ?

Wednesday August 29, 2007, 11:45 am
I saw this profiled on "Democracy Now!" earlier this summer. Essentially, these boys are facing 20-some-odd years in prison for a schoolyard fight that they did not even instigate! And some of the locals have the audacity to say there is nothing racist going on.

Wednesday August 29, 2007, 12:10 pm
See what happens when we fail to learn from our history? We get to relive it, again and again - this is really appalling.

Wednesday August 29, 2007, 12:32 pm
I'm from Louisiana (southwestern area), and I honestly expected as much from a small northern-ish Louisiana town. Some of those places are so behind the times.

Wednesday August 29, 2007, 3:30 pm
This story just breaks my heart, I don't understand racism or injustice of any kind, we are all human and shed the same blood, this is so sad I just don't know what else to say, except that I live in the hope that one day the hate will stop.

Wednesday August 29, 2007, 7:17 pm
Just proves that the South is as backward and racist as it was 50 years ago. They may have integrated their schools (after considerable force from the federal government) but they will never change their mind set. They're prejudice and racist - it's the "Southern Way".

Thursday August 30, 2007, 1:05 pm

I have just discovered a 2nd petition. This one strikes higher, since it is directed to the federal level, the Justice Department. I am furious because I cannot sign it myself, not being a US resident.

If you are a US resident, please hurry on over to
http://www.petitiononline.com/aZ51CqmR/petition.html

This is what you'll read on the site :

To: Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice
We respectfully request that the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice review events surrounding the prosecution of six Black students in Jena, Louisiana, to determine whether the civil rights of Jena residents have been violated.

In a May 20, 2007 Chicago Tribune article titled "Racial Demons Rear Heads," Howard Witt reported that the six students faced prosecution for charges including second degree attempted murder -- and possible prison sentences of up to 100 years -- for allegedly participating in an unarmed school brawl that resulted in no serious injuries. The alleged brawl followed months of racial tension after hangman's nooses were hung from a tree at the students' school.

From the same Chicago Tribune article:

“There’s been obvious racial discrimination in this case,” said Joe Cook, executive director of the Louisiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, who described Jena as a “racial powder keg” primed to ignite. “It appears the black students were singled out and targeted in this case for some unusually harsh treatment.”

The prosecution of these young men represents a gross miscarriage of justice, punishing Black students for opposing segregation of their schools while ignoring the threatening and provocative acts of those engaging in segregation.

We respectfully request that the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice launch a full investigation into events in Jena, Louisiana, beginning with the noose incident of August 31, 2006, and culminating in the alleged fight of December 4, 2006 to determine whether the civil rights of Jena residents have been violated.


Sincerely,

The Undersigned

Thursday August 30, 2007, 1:12 pm

I have just discovered that there in another petition to sign.

This one strikes higher, it is directed to the Civil Rights division of the Department of Justice.
It is available and waiting for your signature at :

http://www.petitiononline.com/aZ51CqmR/petition.html

This is one page that you'll find there:
To: Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice
We respectfully request that the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice review events surrounding the prosecution of six Black students in Jena, Louisiana, to determine whether the civil rights of Jena residents have been violated.

In a May 20, 2007 Chicago Tribune article titled "Racial Demons Rear Heads," Howard Witt reported that the six students faced prosecution for charges including second degree attempted murder -- and possible prison sentences of up to 100 years -- for allegedly participating in an unarmed school brawl that resulted in no serious injuries. The alleged brawl followed months of racial tension after hangman's nooses were hung from a tree at the students' school.

From the same Chicago Tribune article:

“There’s been obvious racial discrimination in this case,” said Joe Cook, executive director of the Louisiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, who described Jena as a “racial powder keg” primed to ignite. “It appears the black students were singled out and targeted in this case for some unusually harsh treatment.”

The prosecution of these young men represents a gross miscarriage of justice, punishing Black students for opposing segregation of their schools while ignoring the threatening and provocative acts of those engaging in segregation.

We respectfully request that the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice launch a full investigation into events in Jena, Louisiana, beginning with the noose incident of August 31, 2006, and culminating in the alleged fight of December 4, 2006 to determine whether the civil rights of Jena residents have been violated.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned


There are over 124,000 signatures so far.

If you are a US resident, please sign it.

Thursday August 30, 2007, 2:01 pm
Thank you:Jill G
Signed and noted.What can say more;I don't know...Heartbreaking.All around the world(24,hours)similar news,more more.Cruel world...
Love&peace

Tuesday September 4, 2007, 11:19 pm
SEVERAL WAYS TO TAKE ACTION

Thursday September 6, 2007, 1:40 am

the Southern Poverty Law Center Seeks Justice for 'Jena 6' : Contributes to Defense By Finding Legal Counsel for the Boys

< http://www.splcenter.org/legal/news/article.jsp?site_area=2&aid=278 target="_blank"/a >

August 15, 2007 – Responding to a groundswell of public outrage over the racially-charged prosecutions of six black teens accused of attempted murder in Jena, La., the Southern Poverty Law Center has brought one of the state's top defense attorneys into the looming court battle.

Accused of beating a white student, the black teens – known as the Jena 6 – each were charged with attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy.

The white student, 18-year-old Justin Barker, reportedly suffered a concussion and a swollen eye. He was treated at a hospital but was released the same day and attended a school event that night.

The Barker incident occurred amid a period of racial tension that began when white students hung nooses from a campus tree after black students had dared to sit under it.

The principal recommended expelling the white students who hung the nooses, but his decision was overruled in favor of three-day suspensions by the school superintendent, an act that outraged the black community.

"These prosecutions are a symbol of a justice system gone wrong," said SPLC President Richard Cohen. "There's leniency for white kids and harshness for black kids. For some time now, we've been working closely with advocates in Louisiana, and many of our members have contacted us to express their shock and outrage over the charges."

The SPLC has retained of Baton Rouge as a cooperating SPLC attorney to assist with the defense. Boren is a former president of the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

The SPLC is working with other advocates at the grassroots and national levels that are deeply involved in the fight and share a commitment to racial justice. These groups include , , the and the .

One of the black students, Mychal Bell, who was 16 at the time of the incident, was tried as an adult in June and convicted by an all-white jury of aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy. No witnesses for the defense were called by his court-appointed attorney. He faces a possible 22-year prison sentence when he is sentenced on September 20.

"In so many places throughout the country, the scales of justice are weighted against defendants, particularly those who are poor and of color," Cohen said. "By bringing in a great lawyer like Jim Boren, we hope to balance the scales."

Trial dates have not been set for Bryant Purvis, Carwin Jones, Robert Bailey Jr. and Theodore Shaw, all 18, and an unidentified juvenile.

Thursday September 6, 2007, 2:08 am

Watch this great film-report on the Case:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuoiZnr4jLY

Thursday September 6, 2007, 7:13 am
HI Jill thank you for keeping us informed, I have also posted it on my yahoo goup hopefully they will realise how wrong it is when this case becomes an international incident and not just national.

Love and Hugs
Steph

Tuesday February 26, 2008, 3:54 pm
Countdown: The Implications Behind O’Reilly’s “Lynching Party” Quote

Keith Olbermann brings on Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson to discuss the horrific history behind Bill O’Reilly’s casual and callous use of the phrase “lynching party” in reference to Michelle Obama’s quote about being really proud of this country and the implications one may draw from it.

You know what lynching was? Lynching was a horrific practice of murder, torture, dismemberment, burning alive, hanging, and the only purpose of lynching was to perpetuate white supremacy in the Jim Crow south. It wasn’t…the idea of course, wasn’t to lynch all black people, but by lynching a few black people…not a few, by lynching some black people to demonstrate to other African Americans that this could happen to you, that you have no power, that we have all the power, and that we can take anything we want from you, including your life. There’s nothing funny about lynching. There’s certainly nothing at all funny or remotely appropriate about the use of a lynching reference to talk about Michelle Obama. And the word “unless” followed by “we’ll track it down,” is way beyond the pale.

Wednesday February 27, 2008, 3:04 am

Thanks for this link, BB.
At the beginning of this Crooks & Liars video, we see Bush speaking about lynching and he says the nooses cannot be construed as a prank !!
This must be the first time that the President ever came out against the justification that was made for the use of nooses by the school officials in the Jena Six case.

Too bad he didn't come out on this subject at the time.

But perhaps all the racists will be moved to take a hint, when it comes from George W.

Although he speaks with his characteristic lack of conviction, his supporters seem to like that style, so maybe he will have some effect on the many hate-crime organizations.

Wednesday February 27, 2008, 3:14 am

PS. What a litany of 'lynching' remarks, & all coming out during the African-American History Month ! Well, that really says something ... dreadful !

The following, btw, is the NY Times article on Bush's speech. I hope that all those ignorant racists who defended the noose incident in the Jena 6 case are hanging their heads in shame; after all, even George W knows what the noose represents !:

Bush, at Commemoration, Says Nooses Are Symbol of ‘Gross Injustice’

By STEVEN LEE MYERS
Published: February 13, 2008

WASHINGTON — Making some of his most pointed remarks on race relations, President Bush on Tuesday denounced racially charged incidents involving nooses and called the era of lynchings from the 19th to the 20th centuries “a shameful chapter in American history.”

“The noose is not a symbol of prairie justice, but of gross injustice,” Mr. Bush said at a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. “Displaying one is not a harmless prank. And ‘lynching’ is not a word to be mentioned in jest.

“As a civil society, we should be able to agree that noose displays and lynching jokes are deeply offensive. They are wrong. And they have no place in America today.”

The remarks followed highly publicized cases in which nooses were brazenly and intimidatingly displayed, including at Columbia University and on a Coast Guard cutter. Many of the cases followed a seething racial and legal dispute in Jena, La., where nooses were hung from a schoolyard tree in 2006 and where six black teenagers were charged with beating a white student.

The president made his remarks at a ceremony commemorating African-American History Month, an annual event that he has previously used to praise the political, social and economic contributions of blacks, though rarely to speak as passionately as he did on Tuesday.

Mr. Bush did not address the Jena case. The case has revived accusations that his administration has not done enough to prosecute hate crimes. In September, when the main case prompted protests and marches over the teenagers’ prosecutions, Mr. Bush said that the events saddened him and that the Justice Department would monitor the problem.

His press secretary, Dana M. Perino, cited reports detailing more than 70 instances in which nooses had been displayed since the publicity in the Jena case. Mr. Bush’s reference to jokes about lynching appeared to refer to a furor last month over comments by a Golf Channel commentator, Kelly Tilghman, about Tiger Woods and a subsequent Golfweek magazine that depicted a noose on the cover.

Mr. Bush said the use of such language and images revealed ignorance about “why the sight of a noose causes such a visceral reaction among so many people.” He described mobs’ carrying out lynchings under the cover of darkness, “in many cases” with the complicity of law enforcement officials.

“For generations of African-Americans, the noose was more than a tool of murder,” the president said. “It was a tool of intimidation that conveyed a sense of powerlessness to millions.”