What is this Jena Six thing about

[semilaxed]

6 young Black males in Jena, LA are involved in a school fight with white students; the Black students get arrested and face attempted 2nd degree murder charges while white students go free. The arrested students face 20 yrs to life for the school fight. This all started because of hangman's nooses that were hung under a tree at the high school. Speakers:King Downing, National ACLU office & Sis.Khadijah of the Community Defender TV Show - Lafayette, La. 10 mins

That quote is from the caption of a Black Nation video on youtube. If you notice its not even close to the facts. If you just read this you would think that they would want the victim charged.

[jessexy]

I've read everything posted here and have a few facts to add that may alter some opinions.

-It started as a racial incident because the tree is nicknamed "The White Tree" and is where white students congregated. The fact that a black student had to ask permission from the principal to sit underneath the tree is crazy.

-Hanging the nooses may not be a crime, but could be considered a threat. If an Islamic person were to walk into a public building and lay a "suspicious" briefcase on the ground, someone would may deem that a terroristic threat and report it. It may not be right, but its today's society. If I walk into a store with my friends to shop, the owner/staff/security is going to follow me around. It just happened this past weekend in Miami. The DA said he couldnt find a Louisiana law that applied to hanging nooses.

-To my knowledge, the black student that sat under the tree was jumped by several white students and injured, though not severely. This led to the retaliatory jumping of the white student by black students.

-The principal did, in fact, recommend expulsion for the white students that voluntarily admitted to hanging the nooses. The Parrish Superintendent ingored the principal's recommendation and assigned in-school suspension instead, hardly justice.

-the adult that pulled the shotgun was a relative of the white student that was jumped by the Jena 6. cousin, uncle, big brother or something. That leans toward retaliation by the adult, which leans toward pre-meditation and planning but also looks like my "ill get my brother to beat you up...."

-The DA determined that the black students jumped the white students in a planned, pre-meditated attack, hence the attempted murder charges. His actions are excessive, especially since he couldnt find evidence of pre-meditation in the shotgun incident or a hate crime in the noose hanging incident.

-He also tried the one black kid that was convicted (Mychal) as an adult. The State Court disagreed with that and threw the case out months ago, but the DA is still holding Mychal without a new trial or new charges, which cant be legal. Mychal's priors were like theft (dont hold me to that). Also, the charges for the other boys were changed AFTER the first judgement was overturned because the State Court was going to overturn each conviction for Attenpted Murder. That's why the DA wanted to get them on 2nd degree assault.

"I say equal justice all around."

Clearly this hasn't happened here. hate crime for hate crime or high school fight for high school fight. Either there should be some white guys awaiting trial for attempted murder or assault or there should be some black kids chilling and going to school like normal. The principal seems like the only sane one around and his/her recommendation should have been followed. This isnt different, though, from a weed dealer getting 20 years and a cocaine dealer getting 2 years. Justice is not equal, especially in this case.

Sorry this is so long, but the issue is not the protests and cries for freedom and justice. The issue is why has it taken so long for this issue to come to light and national attention. This is clearly something from the 1960s and should be brought to national attention. This is not justice for anyone involved.

[Danny Hogan]

jessy breeze through the wikipedia entry on the 6, specifically mychal bell, his charges and his priors. i also find it odd that he is still being held.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mychal_Bell#Mychal_Bell

[StrykerFSU]

Let's take it easy with using wikipedia for a source on this one. You guys realize that anyone can post information there and factchecking can be a little spotty, right? Not saying it's false information but just be careful about taking it as gospel.

One columnist's perspective:http://www.slate.com/id/2174600, my emphasis added.

The marchers gathered to protest criminal charges brought against six African-American high-school students, the "Jena 6." But the racial problems facing this town—and many others—are more complex than simple prejudice, and finding solutions will necessarily require more nuance than a mass protest can offer. The mismatch between the complex and layered racial tensions in Jena and the one-issue rallying cry of "Free the Jena 6" suggest that the tactics of last century's civil rights movement may be an anachronism for today's racial conflicts.

...It's plausible that this prosecutorial overzealousness was inspired by racial prejudice, but even privileged white people can fall victim to overzealous prosecutors—ask the Duke lacrosse team.

...The disparity is striking, and it's plausible that racism was behind it. But the various incidents aren't really comparable. At most, the nooses threatened violence that was never carried out. By contrast, the Jena 6 were charged with an assault that resulted in physical injury. The more serious racial problem—and the root cause of the Jena 6 altercation—was that students at Jena High School had effectively re-created Jim Crow segregation on an informal basis—instead of whites-only bathrooms and drinking fountains, they had a "white tree" that black students considered off-limits. Such informal segregation is commonplace at racially mixed high schools (and universities). And if other cities and schools are any indication, black self-segregation along with white racism may have played a role. Reportedly, Jena High also had "black bleachers" where white students did not sit.

...."Free the Jena 6" has become a rallying cry, perhaps because, "Stop Informal Segregation and Prosecutorial Overzealousness That Disproportionately Affects African-Americans Here and Elsewhere" won't fit on a T-shirt or a placard. (And the Rev. Sharpton, who has led rallies in support of self-segregation in ethnic theme houses at Cornell University, is especially ill-positioned to lead the way forward in this respect.)

The 21st century's civil rights movement will need more sympathetic poster children than the Jena 6. These young men weren't exactly engaged in peaceful civil disobedience when they ran afoul of the law. The injustice here is not that they are being prosecuted for their crime—it is that the many other wrongs that preceded the assault have been inadequately addressed. When you think about it, the logic that underlies the demand to free the Jena 6 comes down to this: These six young men were justified in kicking their lone victim senseless because other people who shared his race committed offenses against other black students. This sort of racial vendetta is diametrically opposed to the message of social justice and cross-racial understanding that underlies the civil rights movement of the last century.

[Beta]

Whoa whoa whoa Stryker...is that writer trying to say that hanging a noose isn't as bad as 6 kids beating someone to a pulp? Blasphemy! A symbol is pretty much the same thing as beating someone unconscious. And this alleged "white tree" was unjustified in being exclusive to whites. You wanna sit on the black bleachers you ask!!? Stop trying to take what those kids have earned against YEARS of racial pressure! I mean 60 years ago, lynchings....40 years ago....water hoses and police dogs....and in today's time....Delaware won't play Delaware State in football....racism is obviously running rampant in every conceivable aspect of our lives. Like just the other day...I was sitting in traffic and someone was tailing me pretty close...I look up and what do I see...a WHITE woman in a WHITE suv. I know right? Exactly. Just another tool of THE MAN put in place to keep me down. Im not black you say? Well my car is so there ya go. Violence committed by the Jena 6 is ok because something unrelated happened and stuff...I read it about it on a website. And by "read about it on a website", I truly mean "I heard about it from a friend of a friend that went to Louisiana one time.

I love how people are trying to now justify violence. Someone can say the most awful, terrible, insulting, ignorant and racist things EVER..and that is NEVER grounds for assault. They're not going to rewrite the law so basically...the Jena 6 is going to serve 100% justified hard time.

If the protesters have such a problem with the law system in Louisiana they should be protesting every single person that committed a crime there in the last year. But only the white ones, of course.

[sohotrightnow]

First of all, nobody is saying to use Wikipedia as the Gospel truth. Most of the time, the information that is displayed is backed up by citations, sometimes it isn't. I think most people are aware of this.

Beta, God forbid you would ever have to walk a mile in a black man's shoes. I fear your tone would be quite different. You act as if 40 years ago were an eternity. This is the greatest nation on earth and look at what it was doing to its own people 40 years ago! Today is not much different (cough, cough Katrina). It is tragic that in your ironic attempt at sarcasm in stating that "racism is obviously running rampant in every conceivable aspect of our lives," you reveal the truth.

[Beta]

Beta, God forbid you would ever have to walk a mile in a black man's shoes. I fear your tone would be quite different. You act as if 40 years ago were an eternity. This is the greatest nation on earth and look at what it was doing to its own people 40 years ago! Today is not much different (cough, cough Katrina). It is tragic that in your ironic attempt at sarcasm in stating that "racism is obviously running rampant in every conceivable aspect of our lives," you reveal the truth.

1) I can't walk in anyone else's shoes. There's no way I could know what it's like to be black...and vice versa. To say I know, or anyone actually knows what it's like to have a darker/lighter shade of skin is pretty damn smug. I could go take an "African American Studies" class...and that doesn't mean I know anything. I could hang out with my black friends more and that doesn't mean I know how/why they think how they might. I'll ask my boss (who's black) why he thinks how he does when we go to lunch today so I can finally get the scoop. Perhaps all people of the same color don't agree or think the same way about everything, like they do on this exact topic for example (and on other things)....is that ironic enough for ya?.
2) I don't think the Delaware State "scandal" is racism...hence part of the sarcasm.
3) Ohh Katrina, that's a topic in itself. In such a historically "racially peaceful" place as the Chocolate City, I should have remembered that. So what was racist, the hurricane? The fact that many people evacuated? The slow response I assume, because our gov't is timely about EVERYTHING. Since there were white people trapped in New Orleans...I guess THE MAN decided to sacrifice some of his own for his cause.
4) Racism only runs rampant when people (white or black) fall back on it as an excuse for everything. There are racist people, yes. They exist. If a bunch of people claim racism...that doesn't automatically mean that it is the cause.
5) 6 students beat 1 student and they are (should be) going to to jail under Louisiana Law. This fact seems to escape everyone as we blast off to planet tangent about how this country is so racist and so filled with bigotry...however THE MAN somehow got caught this time. The Jena 6 are not only civil rights leaders for beating up a student...they're heroes. (That would be sarcasm...because they're not and I said they were).

[Danny Hogan]

i used wikipedia as a source because the entry was pretty heavily cited and 1 place to find a pretty accurate and broken down display of the events. i think everyone knows the possibilty of inaccuracies with wikipedia.

[jessexy]

there is an issue of racism here, its obvious and cannot be ignored. There is also an issue of the fairness of the justice system here. if a person gets beaten by 6 people, those 6 should be punished, no doubt. if a person gets a shotgun pulled on him with pre-meditation and intent, the shotgun wielding guy should be punished. If i said shotgun wielding "thug", most of you would assume a black guy and would be crying for "justice" if a black stripper cries rape against a "gang" of rich white guys and an overzealous prosecutor goes buckwild, shouldnt that overzealous prosecutor lose his job and be brought up on charges himself?

as a person of mixed racial background, i can say what its like to walk in another person's shoes cuz ive been in multiple shoes. but its all racism and its all wrong.

[Zeuslax]

To say I know, or anyone actually knows what it's like to have a darker/lighter shade of skin is pretty damn smug.

Well......there is one guy..........beat it, beat it, beat it.

[peterwho]

Today is not much different (cough, cough Katrina).

I will go off on a tangent, here, about Katrina.

Did the hurricane target New Orleans because of it's black population?

Was the pathetic preparedness plan and lack of action as the hurricane approached due to the self-serving actions of a white mayor, unconcerned with his black constituency?

Side note: Katrina came over my South Florida home almost a week before it made landfall from the Gulf. Max Mayfield was sounding the alarm for the Gulf before it hit us.

Was the poor state of the levys a federal problem (I seem to recall reading where sufficient money had been provided) or did the local commissions mis-spend that money?

Who's fault is it that people didn't carry sufficient insurance? I watch a little television and can't count the number of commercials I see for the National Flood Insurance Program.

As far as response from FEMA, look at the impact of Hurricane Andrew and the response there vs. the response to Katrina. The primary difference is that in South Florida, there are comprehensive action and recovery plans. The most recent review of the aftermath of Katrina shows that this was sorely lacking in Louisiana.

You can't infer that because there is bias in the resulting statistics that there was bias in the root-cause.

End of tangent.

I think we have made progress in the elimination of institutional bias. However, we have a long way to go culturally. We have double-standards for words, for heaven's sake (n-word, b-word, etc.).

[Beta]

there is an issue of racism here

Explain the issue of racism (in the system) to me here so I can understand from a different perspective.

[Sonny]

Let's try to stay on topic fellas. Thanks.

[Zeuslax]

As far as response from FEMA, look at the impact of Hurricane Andrew and the response there vs. the response to Katrina. The primary difference is that in South Florida, there are comprehensive action and recovery plans. The most recent review of the aftermath of Katrina shows that this was sorely lacking in Louisiana.

I guess racism is the topic here, but to pull the tangent from your point. I'm currently involved with the Greensburg Kansas (town destroyed by tornado) recovery. This is white town of 1500 people and it's a logistical nightmare. Take a look at Greensburg if you want microcosm/analogy for recovery efforts and the federal gov't.

Reading one of the linked stories on here took me back to high school. We had "black" lunch tables and bleachers and this was at a progressive, very diverse, liberal public school. Technically in the South, but Baltimore is a lot more north-east than southern. I remember the topic being discussed and it was determined since the minority created the status quo that it is acceptable. Just like a minority choses what to call it's self. IE) in the early 90's when "black" evolved to African American as the correct label. In this case the minority didn't create the situation. I'm not saying that their actions were correct initially, but the pot was simmering and boiled over.

[semilaxed]

This is turning into a competition now. Last night I saw a report by Sean Hannity on several other black kids beating up a white kid that was waiting for a fight. Then this morning on the radio here in Miami I hear about several white (could mean anything here) kids beat up a black kid after some kind of argument about a boat.

Is it going to be news every time two kids of different races fight. I realize it looks like a hate crime every time a huge black defensive end hits our white dolphins QB. But it shouldn't make the news.