What Oklahoma City and Jena Have in Common
Oklahoma City - This is the story of two trees that can serve as symbols of the best and worst in American life.
One is a symbol of hope and reconciliation called the Survival Tree. It is a 90-year-old American elm that stands in the middle of downtown Oklahoma City on the site of what was, until 9/11, the worst act of terrorism on American soil. It was badly damaged in the April 19, 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building that killed 168 people, including 19 children in the building's day care center.
The tree survived and is now surrounded by a circular wall on the highest point of the three-acre Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum that proclaims, "The spirit of this city and this nation will not be defeated; our deeply rooted faith sustains us."
The other is an oak tree that once stood on the grounds of the high school in Jena, La. Nooses were hung from its branches last year after six black students sought to join white students sitting under its shade, turning it into a symbol of racial hatred and bigotry. It didn't survive. It was cut down in July before Jena became the flashpoint for the biggest civil rights demonstration of the 21st century.
I haven't been to Jena, but I did see the Survival Tree while in Oklahoma City on Friday. It was shortly after I witnessed a demonstration by several hundred people in support of the so-called Jena 6, the black teenagers caught up in the latest chapter of racial discord that has plagued our nation from its beginning.
The protestors were gathered on the steps of the Oklahoma State Capitol as I walked out after a tour. The rally was similar, if smaller, than those held in Jena and Washington and other parts of the country in recent days as thousands of demonstrators condemned the arrests of the black students as an example of unequal justice.
The Rev. John Reed, a longtime Oklahoma City civil rights leader, told the mostly black audience, many of them carrying handmade signs and wearing T-shirts that said "Free the Jena 6," that Jena was "a wake-up call for most of us black people. The incident in Jena is nothing unusual. That incident is nothing new to us as African American people." And state Sen. Judy Eason McIntrye of Tulsa, whom I'd met in the Capitol earlier, declared, "We as African Americans built this nation and we have every right to enjoy its benefits."
I don't know enough about the facts of the Jena incident to form an opinion, but my gut instinct tells me the demonstrators are justified in claiming unequal treatment, even though the black students were charged with beating a white classmate so badly he was taken to a hospital for treatment. They were tried as adults and one was charged with attempted murder and convicted - by an all-white jury - although the conviction was overturned by an appeals court that ruled he should not have been tried as an adult.
Whatever the facts in the case, the black teenagers weren't evil, like a 27-year-old anti-government fanatic named Timothy McVeigh, who loaded a truck with 4,800 pounds of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil and detonated it in directly in front of the nine-story Murragh Building at 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995. The explosion, which was felt 40 miles away, created a 30-foot crater and blew away the front of the building, collapsing its floors and trapping victims inside.
I toured the Memorial museum located in a former newspaper building facing the Murragh Building - which was demolished a month later. It too was badly damaged, as were some 300 other buildings. It's a stunning museum, but the most stunning thing is sitting in a darkened room and listening to an audio of a routine hearing underway at the nearby Oklahoma Water Resources Board, and then hearing the actual explosion and confusion that followed.
Equally unforgettable is the news footage taken minutes after the explosion and the video of the chaos that followed as rescue worked tried to dig victims out of the rubble. Especially chilling is the footage from a security camera that captured McVeigh driving his truck past a nearby building just before reaching his target. The axle housing of his truck, which was found 575 feet away from the explosion, is also on display, along with hundreds of personal items and artifacts.
There's much more to see and hear at this incredibly moving Memorial, including the 168 metal chairs arrayed alongside a 318-foot reflecting pool that represent the people who died that terrible day. But one of the most moving sights are hundreds of hand-painted ceramic tiles from children, one of which asks the impossible question: "Can't we all just get along?"
Ironically, my visit took place on the same day that hundreds of people gathered in Littleton, Colo., to dedicate a memorial to the victims of the Columbine High School massacre, and only a month after I had driven from Washington to Oklahoma, passing by both Virginia Tech, site of the latest mass murder of students, and Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., the scene of an historic desegregation battle half a century ago.
History, it seems, constantly confronts us with haunting reminders of the good and evil that human beings are capable of. Oklahoma City still bears many scars, physical and emotional, from that terrible day 12 years ago, but it has found strength and solace in a place where compassion and kindness overcame an evil act of terrorism.
We can only hope that the better angels of our nature that Lincoln once called upon will ultimately prevail in the troubled town of Jena.
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Well put all around. The U.S. was built by slaves, and that racial tension has been there since the beginning. Oklahomans should know about the plague of racism in America's history. The state is full of Indian Tribes who were forced out of their homelands. There was no justification for their removal except pure racism on the part of the white settlers and politicians of the day. Tulsa also had one of the worst race riots in our nations history-a whole different type of terrorism- and there is no museum for that tragic event.
My biggest problem with the whole Jena 6 situation is not that racism and unfair treatment don't exist in this country. I believe that they do.The issue I have is that the overwhelming majority of people who protested about Jena 6 never took the time to look into the charges and accusations surrounding the whole uproar.If you did so you would see that the BS and second hand facts being spread don't fit the now nice and neat packaged message that activists like Mos Def have been pushing. I'm sorry, I knew something did'nt add up and when I looked into what happened It was'nt what was being presented to the American people.I wont bore with the retelling but I believe Jim R is pretty much right on with his assessment of what happened in Jena,La.By the way I'm not a racist with an agenda I'm just trying to see through the fog and misinformation so I can make an informed opinion for myself and not follow hearsay from someone who did/nt have the courtesy and respect to do the same themselves.
Al Eisele scored a homerun with his artful comparisons of the Oklahoma City Survivor Tree and the Jena Oak Tree. In an age of high tech gadgetry, it is ironic that something as simple and basic as a tree could stir the hearts and minds of a Nation. Though in fact, it has.
Both events, Oklahoma City and Jena, can find strength, much like the trees that somehow symbolize their respective hope, repair, and recovery, in the roots that helped make them strong. Each event that challenges us also brings with it the tremendous opportunity for growth.
We cannot change the past—that is a fact. What we can change is how we respond to events and what we learn from them. Recovery is about gaining strength. Our brief history as a Nation has shown us that we can do great things when united in heart, mind, and body.
What will the historians have to say about Jena five, ten, or fifteen years from now? What will be the lessons learned from this ugly event? It is in best our interests to ensure that they write about the growth, the dialogue, and new opportunities created.
Our critical task today is finding the common roots that feed us all and strengthen our beloved Nation and ultimately, the world. As long as we are talking with each other, the hope of reconcilation is still alive.
Al-
Thank you for reminding me and the other 300+ million citizens of this country that hatred exhists right here.
I, being of Swedish-Norwegian decent, don't get blamed for the way Swedes treated the citizens of Norway 100's of years ago. But, it seems to me, that the "melting pot of ethnicity" (U.S.A.) has become an example of what perfect racism is.
The reference to the tile, in Oklahoma City, with the words "Can't we all just get along", reminded me of the words of Rodney King and the LAPD incident.
Very sad to know that ethnic, religious,
I just always try to remember that it used to be a lot worse.
Interesting reading on what happened in Jena. According to teachers and administrators this reporter talked to, there was no such thing as the "White Tree."
Also interesting: "The six-member jury that convicted Bell was, indeed, all white. However, only one in 10 people in LaSalle Parish is African American, and though black residents were selected randomly by computer and summoned for jury selection, none showed up."
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Nice how you cherry picked the information you cared to believe but decided not to include other parts that pretty much tears a hole in your "its all there fault" theory.
WOW.
I didn't say it was anybody's fault at all. Nor did I offer any type of theory. But with most MSM accounts, little facts are provided, and one is left with the impression there is a large black population in town and yet that blacks were somehow purposely excluded from the jury. Neither is the case here.
I'm not saying the verdict or the charges were fair. I just like to get more facts before I go tossing out accusations without any basis - for example, accusing someone of having an "it's all their fault" theory.
You have a nice day now.
Excellent point, JimR!
Consider also the following points (probably from the same reporter, URL at end).
-The so-called "white tree" at Jena High, often reported to be the domain of only white students, was nothing of the sort, according to teachers and school administrators; students of all races, they say, congregated under it at one time or another.
-Two nooses - not three - were found dangling from the tree. Beyond being offensive to blacks, the nooses were cut down because black and white students "were playing with them, pulling on them, jump-swinging from them, and putting their heads through them," according to a black teacher who witnessed the scene.
-There was no connection between the September noose incident and December attack, according to Donald Washington, an attorney for the U.S. Justice Department in western Louisiana, who investigated claims that these events might be race-related hate crimes.
-The three youths accused of hanging the nooses were not suspended for just three days - they were isolated at an alternative school for about a month, and then given an in-school suspension for two weeks.
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I once lived in OKC and I will tell you, what happens in Jena Louisiana happens in OKC. Oklahoma is one of the most racist states I have ever lived. I would never go back to Oklahoma, never. So please, next time choose some place other than OKC when you are giving kudos highlighting the good in man, because OKC is not that place.
Greenchili, with due respect, your stereotyping is pretty amazing. I've lived in Oklahoma all my life and in Oklahoma City over 30 years. Is it a paragon of virtue? No. Does it need to work on racial issues? Yes. But are there things to be found here that exemplify the good in man? Well yes ... probably pretty much like every other city.
On the campus of Hampton University in Hampton, Va. stands an old magnificent oak tree called the "Emancipation Oak". When I was a student there, we stood beneath its branches to remember the day when a Union Army colonel gathered local slaves to read the words of President Abraham Lincoln. Slavery was no more, all men were free.
This symbol remains an important part of life at this historically black college. The small private college has grown from an agricultural and normal school into one of the top small universities in America.
Booker T. Washington was inspired by it's branches. Margaret Mead stood before it when she served on the Board of Trustees. The Honorable Dr. Jerome Holland said farewell to this beloved oak before going to serve as US Ambassador to Sweden.
Hundreds of African-American students still gather each year to remember the words read under this magnificent oak tree. The Union colonel who proudly ushered in the emancipation stayed to found Hampton Institute on the grounds surrounding the Emancipation Oak.
So that a tree as mighty as the oak, can symbolize racial divide in a small Louisiana town, healing in Oklahoma City and freedom in Hampton, Virginia should cause all of us to sow new trees in America. Trees that give life to the promise of equality.
First, thank you, I didn't know that they'd already cut down the tree in Jena. I'm very dissapointed in the people down there.
Second, your description of the site in Oklahoma was very moving, and extremely accurate. I do wish that you'd mentioned my most moving part in the museum, where they kept the restroom as it was right after the explosion, showing how much damage was really done that horrible day.
Third, as I white man living in America right now, I see many exsamples of the integration of the races, and the ways that they work together, and it warms my heart. And then I see something like the problems in Jena. Or I read something like Justaminute's comment, where a teacher, guardian of youth, is willing to say to a child in their care that they are partly responsible for the actions of someone unrelated to them, someone who at the time was unknown, but white.
Thank you for your comments. Unfortunately racism has many guises. My husband is an Iranian-American. One the day of the bombing my son was in Juniour High. The teacher rolled a TV set into the classroom so the students could watch the horrible happenings. My son innocently asked the teacher "Who could do something like this? The teacher replied,"Probably some of your people!"
An Arab man at this time was travelling from OKC to the Middle East. He had some wires in his luggage and was held. It made the news on every channel. He was named and his wife was harrased so much. Then they named McVeigh. But unfortunatly, she had already lost her baby.
The stories I could tell you.....On
Nah, we really do not need more dem inventions.
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