Racism, Hatred and Southern Justice are Alive and Well in Jena, Louisiana
"Outsiders need to stay away." That's what Billy Fowler of the school board in Jena, Louisiana, said about those who have raised concerns about the sentencing imposed on six African American boys -- ages 15-17 -- facing 100 years in prison.
Outsiders are always what people in the South have called those who challenge racism. But the story of Jena is not an outsider/insider story. It's a story about the worst tradition of what is known as Southern Justice. And like in the days of Jim Crow, it's a story where any shades of grey matter far less than black and white.
The issue by now has become well known: discussed on CNN and in the pages of USA Today. At Jena High School, a black student received permission from school authorities to sit underneath what was known as "the white tree" (remarkable that he felt he had to ask!) The next day, in retribution, three nooses hung from the branches, threats that they would soon be harvesting "strange fruit."
In protest black students collectively decided to sit under the tree. This a bold and beautiful act in the spirit of the best traditions of the '60s. They refused to comply with racist terror, even when those threats are as drastic as being lynched for simply not staying in your place.
And just like in the old South, the state made clear which side it was on. The town DA, Reid Walters, actually had the audacity to threaten only the black students, telling them that he had the power to ruin their lives with the stroke of his pen if they continued to make trouble.
Tensions escalated over the course of the semester. Two black students were beaten by a white student while another group of black students were threatened with a shotgun by a former classmate. Surprisingly, none of the white students or former students were punished in any way for these incidents.
But the following Monday when a white student was beaten up by six black classmates, they were immediately arrested and charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder, charges that would put them in jail for 100 years without parole. The Jena 6 ranges in age from 15-17. The white student spent three hours in a hospital emergency room and required no further medical care.
Mychall Bell was the first student tried. He was represented by a public defender that called no witness, and was quickly convicted by an all-white jury, white judge, and now faces up to 22 years in prison.
Recently, in response to a public outcry about the case, prosecutors have announced that charges against Shaw and Jones had been reduced to lesser felonies. But the need to be heard on this continues. Two other students, Robert Bailey Jr. and Bryant Purvis, still await trial for attempted murder. Bell's conviction has been allowed to stand even though the judge ruled he had been improperly convicted in an adult court when he should have been tried as a juvenile. Shaw and Jones still face years in prison.
As Billy Hunter, the head of the National Basketball Player's association, said:
"The situation in Jena, Louisiana is abominable and rotten to the core. The actions of the District Attorney demonstrate that "racism and bigotry are live and well in Jena ." As a former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California and Assistant Chief in the S.F. District Attorney's Office, it is my opinion that the District Attorney's has severely overcharged the case revealing his bias against the six black Jena youth. His actions should serve as a wake-up call for all Americans who believe in an impartial and fair criminal justice system."
This is a case that should outrage any individual regardless of the color of their skin. When the justice system can be a direct symbol of racism, injustice and terror, the very moral fiber of our society is threatened. This is not a time for neutrality. Insiders and so-called outsiders will be marching in Jena on September 20th. We will also be circulating a statement in the world of sports for those who choose to support the efforts to have the charges against the Jena 6 dismissed. The simple truth is that when it comes to issues of basic justice, there are no such thing as "outsiders."
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it would be naive to think that the south has somehow managed to change its colors in one generation. the entire south should be vilified as this is not an isolated incident. it is just a publicized incident.
This lingering sickness in too many places (not all of them in the South) is the ultimate enemy. It is at the core of all that ails this nation and all that threatens it. "We have met the enemy, and he is us."
Too bad the discussion about the Duke lacrosse players was so narrowly focused when it should have been about prosecutorial misconduct.
This is just more prosecutorial misconduct. Where are the same people that took DA Nifong to task?
It's just more of the same. 'Nifongs' are everywhere.
A good point...As long as DA's and judges have party-partisanships (regardless of which party) and have political motivations and consequences to take into account, you are always going to have an unfair results to worry about.
Slate had an article about what prosecutors get away with, almost anything. None of the things that happened in Duke is at all usual.
I believe one of the Duke guys said something like "If this happened to me, a middle-class white guy, I'd hate to think what happens to poor black guys."
Am I the only one, or are other people thinking that Lincoln had it wrong for all the wrong reasons. We shoud be two States
Assuming slaves had the option of leaving for the North without threat of being returned to the South, and all Northern slaves were freed, you're not the only one.
Actually, at the end of the twentieth century, census figures showed a marked increase in African-American migration TO the South. All other areas lost black population; those people moved to the South. This has been written about a lot. You can google it. Here's one example:
(Population Today, May/June 2001) Blacks ended the 20th century by returning to the region that they spent most of the century leaving....
Census 2000 numbers show that the non-Hispanic black population of the South surged in the 1990s by 3,575,211 people — more than in the other three regions of the United States combined. This number represents 58 percent of the total increase in the country's black population. It is roughly double the number of blacks that the South gained in the 1980s (1.7 million) and well above the gain for the 1970s (1.9 million), when blacks began returning to the South....*
Like whites, blacks were attracted by the South's booming economy, low density living, and warmer climate. Other pull factors included historic roots in the region, the existence of a growing middle-class black population, and an improved racial climate. Segregation studies show a decline in black-nonblack neighborhood segregation (using the index of dissimilarity) over the last 20 years for Atlanta (-13 points), Orlando (-24 points), Jacksonville (-15 points), Norfolk (-13 points), and Houston (-16 points).
source:
http://www.prb.org/Content/NavigationMenu/PT_articles/April-June_2001/Migration_to_the_South_Brings_U_S__Blacks_Full_Circle.htm
I assume that you mean "two" countries. And no, you aren't alone. 99% of all Southerners would prefer not to be associated with the rest of you (midwesterners excepted). We would have rational foreign and domestic policy separate and apart from the BS coming out of washington.
It's true that many white Southerners would prefer not to be associated with the rest of the country. But, many black Southerners disagree, so that brings down your 99% stat down.
And if the BS coming out of DC is so bad, why is that so many white Southerners insist on supporting Bush? Honestly.
Wow! A school fight?? I remember getting into a fight with a girl in 8th grade but 22 years? Wow! I hope the racist in this town come to their senses and punish all of those kids for fighting ( black & white).
They ALL should be suspended, forced to do community service work and grounded by their parents but prison time for a school fight? So sad this still goes on down south.
"So sad this still goes on down south." Give me a freakin' break! I have lived in the South for 46 years and in my occupation I spend months on assignment in every part of the country. Racism goes on in every part of the USA - South doesn't have a corner on the market. In fact, some of the worst racism that I have witnessed occurred in the northeast and the midwest (pertaining to black folks) and in the southwest (pertaining to hispanics). Southerners in general always get labled as racists because of the sterotyping left over from the 1960's and before. But I'm here to tell you that Southern Americans have made a h@ll of alot of progress since the 60's and rather than blasting us, you should commend us. Before you criticize Southerners, perhaps you should look at the state of affairs in your own wretched community.
Actually j, I have experienced more crude racism in New England and the Pacific NW. My southern experience has been rather pleasant, folk tended to be neighborly, at least.
That is why I posted previously about a need for a SPLC in all four corners of this country.
Saying that racism is rampant in the South is not equal to saying that racism ONLY exists in the South. Of course, racism is everywhere. But I have been to the South many times, my mother lives there (northern Florida), and I can tell you that the South is very racist. Even my own relatives (not Mom) buy into it. They're the kind of people who begin sentences with "I don't mean to sound racist, but..." Or refer to certain areas as being "dark" (and therefore, dangerous). I think it's just part of the general ignorance that exists south of the Mason-Dixon line, and for some reason, people down there seem almost proud of their own ignorance and hatred. It's rather scary, in my opinion, and I don't know how any person of color could willingly live down there. I'd be living in fear every day of my life.
"Bell's conviction has been allowed to stand even though the judge ruled he had been improperly convicted in an adult court when he should have been tried as a juvenile"
the fact that the judge didn't overturn the verdict JUST BECAUSE THE DEFENDANT WAS A MINOR speaks volumes
"Mychall Bell was the first student tried. He was represented by a public defender that called no witness, and was quickly convicted by an all-white jury, white judge, and now faces up to 22 years in prison."
every american citizen has the right to competent counsel. no witnesses on a charge of attempted murder? if that isn't incompetence and a lackadaisical attitude i don't know what is!!!! his lawyer could even have objected to the obvious stacking of the jury, or petitioned to send case to juvenile court or something. even a change of venue. sentencing a minor to 22 yrs in prison for a crime in which no one has ANY PERMANENT DAMAGE and obviously hasn't died is excessive to say the least. i am absolutely disgusted. the fact that this still happens in 2007 should make everyone SICK! it kinda makes you wonder how many people are wrongfully imprisoned.
As a result of the public's push for stiffer juvenile sentences the past ten years or so, sixteen states (scattered all over the map) now require that 17 year olds be tried as adults. Four now require that 16 year olds be tried as adults. Because Mr. Bell had prior records and was just weeks shy of his 17th birthday (the cutoff date for automatically being tried as an adult in Louisiana), the prosecutor decided to go ahead and charge as an adult.
I'm not defending this, trying teens as adults. I hate it. If they're too young to drink or to be held to contracts or to vote or to gamble, that's because we recognize their immaturity; we should, therefore, recognize their immaturity in the criminal courts. But this (trying teens as adults) is the law now. This is what the people have demanded this past decade, and they've gotten it.
And as I've said elsewhere (previous post), unfortunately, the Supreme Court says that an all-white jury trying a black defendant does not automatically constitute racism. To fight the all-white jury, the defense must prove intent to discriminate by the other side, must prove that the jurors were specifically biased (not just "they're all white," but an actual conspiracy, hard evidence of an overt, racist plot - as if, huh?), must undertake a costly and independent demographic study of the area, and must show that whites were overrepresented on the jury and blacks underrepresented. As I said before, this is why it matters so much who is president and who gets to nominate those justices. Before being nominated, both Alito and Roberts were on record as being on board with the Court's current view on all-white juries.
It's disgusting and wrong (how can anyone with half a brain not look at the history of this country and see that an all-white jury is indeed inherently racist?). But that's the law (for now).
Changes of venue are also very difficult to get (unfortunately).
This should be a bigger story than it is. Absolutely outrageous.
Good point. I guess because it's not about a celebrity or a cute missing blond girl, the mainstream media aren't interested.
Sean, very true.... But are you aware that when 7 black thugs murdered a innocent white man in Ford Heights, Illinois (because they wanted no whites in there neighborhood; his car had broken down driving through town) by dousing him with gasoline and setting him on fire, it was only page 3 in the Chicago paper (near the scene). And only for 2 days....I bet you did NOT hear about it, did you?
The difference here, steamboat, is that THIS story is not about the assault itself -- it about the miscarriage of justice that occurred afterwards, which was sanctioned by the government.
I hope you will finally understand that some day.
If these guys had the same lawyers as the boys from Duke they'd be free today.
Or OJ lawyers.
Hate crime laws should be equally applied to whites and blacks.
Fair enough
If you find out more about the entire story, you'll see that none of the blacks at any point were acting in "race hatred." They weren't even beating up the white boy in resistance. Just find out more about the entire story.
And, no, blacks can't be racist. When whites do it, it's called racism, cause the overall power structure benefits whites, even in ATL. When blacks do it, it's call resistance.
Yes, I said it. I'm sure you disagree.
I never been to Jena, Louisiana. I never ever been near there. And yes, these possible sentences sound very extreme, as the authors tell the story.....But I notice something was left out that I read in a couple of other articles. That the SIX African-American boys were standing trial for ganging-up and trying to kill ONE white boy. Again, I wasn't there, but is there a reason why this part of the story was left out?
Steamboat.
You only saw what you wanted to see. Try reading the whole story. Go back and read the whole article.
Wrong----all I want is the 6-on-1 explained to me. Fair enough?
Is there a reason that the whole story has been absent from the mainstream? Can you feel the truth missing from most media accounts?
If you are interested in the complete story, go here:
www.MichaelBaisden.com
We part company on this one. Yeah, six on one sounds bad at first hearing - but if you look at what had been happening in Jena (much less know how things work in that culture), I suspect a group of black boys caught one of the white trash alone and took advantage of the situation. People who've heard the local District Attorney stand in the school auditorium and threaten to lead the lynch mob tend to "overreact". It still sounds like an over-reach to charge "attempted murder", and absurd to charge conspiracy, which legally requires specific pre-planning with intent.
It's called "bullying", and when a governmental body makes it official policy, they nullify any authority or credibility they might have had. When the "good guys" don't play by the rules, the only law left is the law of survival.
Sounds like a "hate crime" to me.
No, it was not exactly that 6 boys ganged up on ONE white boy. There are accounts that the white boy taunted one of the black boys and the fight ensued. Also, one of those 6 says by the time he saw the fight, teachers were breaking it up, and he never even touched the white boy in question. Moreover, as the fight was broken up by adults, no one left the white boy to die. So, there was no gang-up, and possibly only 2 or 3 black kids involved. Not good, but not 6. There was absolutely no attempted murder.
Also, witnesses say 6 grown white men jumped one of the black teenagers at a fair and only one was charged with simple battery and got probation. So, there're leaving out a LOT in this article.
Where is the GOVERNOR, why no demand for a NEUTRAL site? Very fair questions, like I keep telling everybody.........why haven't YOU made calls, written, and emailed asking those questions?
How do you know they were trying to KILL him? How are you measuring intent in this case?
Yes, there is the obvious point that 6 against 1 is not "fair" odds, but how fair were the odds for any of these kids in that environment?
Six teenage boys, in the heat of anger, made a poor decision. Teenagers have crappy judgement because, well they are teenagers. And they also have notoriously short tempers.
For months (if not years) these kids were subjected to physical and emotional torture. They were terrorized by a community from which they could not escape. And after this period of unrelenting pressure, in one moment, they snapped. They are teenagers, it is amazing they held it together as long as they did.
Is it acceptable to beat up another kid? NO. But it is also not attempted murder, and there are definitely mitigating circumstances here.
Racism is well and alive in Jena: When SIX guys of one race gang up to beat ONE guy because he is from a different race this is racism. It seems that many whites and blacks are racists in Jena.
Anger, poor decision, teenagers there is not justification for racist behavior I think this six guys are racists sorry.
Where are is all the outrage about the injustice in Jena LA,
like the outrage about animals being killed.
The outrage you saw re Vick was, for the most part, arguing with people who rushed to defend him.
Not many people would defend the obviously disgusting racist behavior on the part of the "officials" in the cesspool they call Jena.
Once again, the issue was not defending Vick, it was defending his right to due process, and not to be subject to a lynch mob mentality. The entire nation and the corporate media being the culprits in this matter.
The situation here is little different, from the "white" tree to the fact that the white students are not subject to any restriction or punishment.
The more they stay the same, dig?
This entire story is disgusting.
There is something rotten in Lousiana.
More proof of the rampant racism that still dominates every democratic insititution in the country.
Im repulsed.
Don't you mean there is something rotten in america? It's name is Republicsum - the traitorous monster that stabbed america in its heart - the constitution.
So its only republicsum...Then explain to me how its only them when the governor, lt. governor, and half the legislature in Louisiana is democrats?.....I await the answer
No, it's not just Louisiana--something like that could have happened in Georgia, like the story a previous poster told, or Mississippi, or West Virginia--any other part of America where white people are so ignorant and hate-filled as to judge and discriminate against people on the basis of race.
And Indiana you'll agree with me. It could happen in Cook County, Illinois
Oh... You mean everywhere.
Indiana wrote:
"or any other part of America where white people are so ignorant..."
That covers the U.S. My husband was military for twenty years. Young, white liberals from the South, we thought racism was unique to the South. Nope. Our first set of friends were from Indiana; their racism shocked me. Then we spent years in Washington State - racism in the local Guard was so bad that my husband had to keep sending local whites who worked for him back for "sensitivity" training, and black law students there received threatening hate mail.
In my experience, pointing down south like a mindless compass when one hears "racism" allows too many whites to deny what happens in their own backyards.
I'm not for denying any of it - not down south, but not anyplace else either.
springsm wrote:
"That poor little white boy had his face marked....Bigotry and racial hatred is very prominent still in the backwards towns of the south. LA is prime ignorance. Those white people are...."
Making light of ANY violence is wrong. Sarcasm about a bruised face is not helpful. We can have empathy for these young men without making light of the other guy's bruised face.
As for your comments about Louisiana, again, bigotry is prominent from coast to coast. The economy of the entire nation was built on racism (slaves doing the work down South, slavers importing slaves on their big northern ships, land stolen from native Americans and Mexicans out west). I don't appreciate your generalizations about Louisiana being "prime ignorance." Some of us work hard at fighting racism and identifying white privilege. Your comments say much about your own biases.
suki 21693 wrote:
"There are obviously racist black people, just as there are racist white people."
What I learned in sociology was that racism = prejudice + power. We were taught that black people may be prejudiced, but they lack the institutionalized power required for engaging in actual racism. Only whites in America have the power to engage in actual racism.
Well ignorant white people are not just living in the south...plenty up here in the norhteast, Rudy being one example.
You might benefit by going and seeing some other parts of the world. You might learn what "rampant" racism actually is.
I love this part. "rampant racism that still dominates every democratic institution in the country"
I live in Atlanta, where the vast majority of citizens are black. I am white. The fire chief, police chief, the entire city council, and the mayor, are all black. Please let me know how "rampant racism" affects their daily decisions? Are they racist against whites?
It is more like rampant divisiveness in all aspects of our society.
Rodney King got a lot of flack for it, and it has since been parodied everywhere, but his simple question is actually very profound:
"Why can't we all just get along?"
Amen.
Has anyone else noticed this recent pattern of "respect my authoritee" among damn near everyone, from cops and prosecutors to our elected officals.
I think it is time for a little revolution to let these people know who the real bosses are ... the American Citizen!
Let's see how these "officals" react to a little peaceful rebellion. I suspect they will not handle it well.
Agreed, TekBoss! I am a pacifist to the core, but lately I have been starting to get a little itch to break out and polish up the ol' guillotine... Perhaps we can borrow a couple from the French.
It may be time to reshuffle the deck, methinks.
While I admire your spirit, I have to say that you are kidding yourself. amuricans don't "do" rebellion anymore. This will be forgotten by the end of the month. amuricans have lost the spirit that led to our birth as nation. We are consumers now baby - spend the paycheck, buy the latest i-product, vote for the latest idol, but don't bother me with any newsy thing that makes me uncomfortable. You know, I do think it is too late.
Wouldn't that be great if American Citizens band together for a peaceful rebellion? Honestly, how many do you think be brave enough to do what Ghandi and the Indian people did against the British, to achieve their freedom? How many would be willing to refuse to work, buy gas, or anything for one day? Not many, because fear of losing their lifestyle. So they complain but like sheep just graze along.
It already happened, in the 60's under Dr. King. Where were you?
There will be no banding together. Haven't you read the patriot act?
Right. Some "authorities" don't deserve respect.
It never died.
Alive and well.
Obscene miscarriage of justice, and zero outrage! This is the same site who's server broke down from all the outraged citizens over the mistreatment of canines. Your deafening silence on this trajedy speaks volumes.
There was a great deal of disagreement regarding Vick. Lots of arguing on this site.
I believe those few HuffPost readers that disagree with your position about this being a miscarriage of justice don't have very good arguments.
Questions about this Jena 6? Maybe you can answer:
1. Did these 6 gang-up on ONE white and try to kill him? 6-on-1 doesn't sound very nice.
2. Where is the Governor (Blanco) and Lt. Gov (Landreiu)? Aren't they both considered good liberal Democrats? So why the silence and lack of action?
3. Why isn't the trial at a neutral site? A New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, or Shreveport.
Well the Jim Crowe South takes some understanding.
Like to Georgia man who could not read had gotten 24 parking tichets after someone paint loading zone on the curb where he had parked for 10 years. He was arrested and jailed to face the judge over the parking tickets.
While in jail over the weekeend a violent drunken attack the man and beat him serverly. This poor man was then charged with assualt and battery along with his attacker. He got 12 years for the assult and battery and the parking ticket were throw out. The white man who attacked him got 90 days in the local jail for the attack.
In prison he was attacked again after 10 years in prison and he was given 20 years because his attacker died when he fell on his own knife.
At 80 years old this poor black man was released back into society with $450.00 and a bus ticket.
Now that's the Jim Crowe Souths affect on humans.
"I have received hundreds of calls, letters and emails from citizens concerned about the situation involving the case of the high school students in Jena, La.
As Governor, as a citizen of the State of Louisiana, and as a mother, without rushing to judgment, I condemn racism in any form, and I fully expect that those involved in this case, including all parties, will act with fairness and in complete good faith.
"I must clear up a widespread misunderstanding of my authority in this case. Our 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 issue is currently a matter in the Judicial System, and should those involved in this case suffer any defects, it is their right to address them in that system through the appeals court.
"Again, the oversight regarding how this case was handled, from arrest to prosecution, lies within the Justice System. Therefore, I have consulted Attorney General Charles Foti and Donald Washington, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, regarding these events in Jena. As a result, General Foti has been and is in consultation with U.S. Attorney Washington and other members of the Justice System. Regardless of the outcome of this case, the Jena community has much healing ahead of it, and I urge all those citizens to come together for the common good of their community and their state. Our children deserve nothing less."
-- Katherine Blanco
http://electronicvillage.blogspot.com/2007/09/govblanco-responds-to-jena-six-pressure.html
You need to shake the laziness and read this for yourself.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/10/1413228&mode=thread&tid=25
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/05/1422246&mode=thread&tid=25
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/01/1435233&mode=thread&tid=25
Would everyone be as outraged if they found out the in the year before the incident Mychall Bell was convicted of another violent assault and then while on probation for that assault committed three more crimes. Could it be possible that 5 violent crimes in one year are what led to him finally being charged as an adult potentially getting a 22 year sentence?
While I am sure that racial tensions are a problem in this third world part of our country lets not go overboard on this one. Gang beating someone 6 on 1 is disgusting and takes a very sick to do it.
Except that you don't seem to allow for the likelihood that his previous "record" might be as dubious and charged with racial bias as this case. Could it be that 5 incidents of racial baiting and bullying led to these incidents? Could it be that not all of the 6 people were actively engaged in the attack?
Either doubt everything or believe everything, but when the information is all coming from one source, don't select which points to accept at face value and which ones to doubt.
Pray for the children. That's the only way they will be freed, because the powers that be in this world are evil, this is proof positive of their wickedness.
Someone wants a riot.
NEVER GIVE YOUR OPPONENT WHAT THEY WANT!
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