The Jena 6 Case is History Written in Lightning

If you don't know who the Jena 6 are, you are not alone. The first I heard about the black high school teens being railroaded through the Louisiana criminal justice system was last week when I received an email urging me to wear black Thursday the 20th in their support.

The first Sean Hannity heard about it was last night when Reverend Al was trying to bring it up and Hannity assumed he was talking about Megan Williams, the young black woman who was tortured and sexually assaulted by those crazy hillbillies in West Virginia. Cryptkeeper Colmes tried to explain but as usual Hannity didn't hear a word he said.

The Jena 6 case began last fall when a new black student to the mostly white, rural Louisiana town of Jena sat under the "white tree," so called because it was the place where the white kids at school congregated.

The next day three white boys on the rodeo team hung three nooses from the tree.

The white boys were only given an in-school suspension, their act deemed no more than a "prank."

The day after that several of the school's black high school football stars organized a peaceful silent protest under the tree. The school freaked, called in the police and the next day Reed Walters, the local D.A., addressed the school. There, he is reported to have looked at the black kids in the audience, waved his pen in the air and said, "With a stroke of this pen, I can make your life disappear."

The football season was a good one for Jena and for a few months there was relative quiet in the town. Then on November 30th, a wing of the high school was burned down. Whites thought it was blacks and the blacks assumed it was the whites.

The always excellent Wade Goodwyn of NPR reported what happened next:

"The next night, 16-year-old Robert Bailey and a few black friends tried to enter a party attended mostly by whites. When Bailey got inside, he was attacked and beaten. The next day, tensions escalated at a local convenience store. Bailey exchanged words with a white student who had been at the party. The white boy ran back to his truck and pulled out a pistol grip shotgun. Bailey ran after him and wrestled him for the gun.

After some scuffling, Bailey and his friends took the gun away and brought it home. Bailey was eventually charged with theft of a firearm, second-degree robbery and disturbing the peace. The white student who pulled the weapon was not charged at all.

The following Monday, Dec. 4, a white student named Justin Barker was loudly bragging to friends in the school hallway that Robert Bailey had been whipped by a white man on Friday night. When Barker walked into the courtyard, he was attacked by a group of black students. The first punch knocked Barker out and he was kicked several times in the head. But the injuries turned out to be superficial. Barker was examined by doctors and released; he went out to a social function later that evening.

Six black students were arrested and charged with aggravated assault. But District Attorney Reed Walters increased the charges to attempted second-degree murder."

The first black kid to go to court, Mychal Bell, then 16, was tried as an adult and convicted by an all-white jury. He faced 22 years in prison. After an outcry the charges were reduced; however, tomorrow Mychal Bell is to be sentenced on the lesser charges.

The white kids who attacked Bailey the night before have not been charged with anything.

As always happens in these cases, the blacks say of course there has always been racism in this little town, and the whites say their little town is just like any other small town full of good, churchgoing folk.

What white Southerners still fail to realize is their complicity in some of the most vicious and effective terrorism the world has ever seen. Lynchings were only the most visible and brutal embodiments of a system to terrorize the black minority. A noose is a symbol the way a swastika is a symbol. A noose hanging from a tree in that context is an almost unimaginably vicious act. Those white teens, instead of being ashamed of their terrorist ancestry, reveled in the evil. The adults who are charged with the education of all the students deemed it merely a prank.

The scariest part of this ordeal is that you know these boys are the relatively lucky ones for whom publicity might spare them. How many other black lives are still thrown away at the whim of our broken justice system?

Comments

[Dap]

Dear Mr. Ellis,

Excellence! One of your best essays/posts *EVER* and you have had many great ones. Agape.

[Camel54]

"What white Southerners still fail to realize is their complicity­..."

Careful with that, my friend. This white southerner and the white southerners I call friends and family are not complicit about such things. No one likes to be lumped into a "you people" type remark. I understand your anger and frustration, but please don't escalate the hate rhetoric by turning it on "hillbillies" and generalizations about whites.

[Poboy]

Bullshit!

The rule is not defined by the exception!

Of course all white southerners are not rabid white supremacists, and neither are all white northerners.

But your silence within the white supremacists system implies "ACCEPTANCE!"

And you know you benefit from it!!

[CaseyBabes]

Your anger diminishes your logic. The 'rule' definitely applies as there is no 'exception,' yet. Black and white southerners can remain within quiet observance because all are within care and protection of laws. Silence is not acceptance as people must silently observe the law-in-action, going about its business. Only when the law breaks down must the 'exception' then apply. It has not happened so we can sit silently, but alertly observe as a concerned citizenry must always do.

[riversideliberal]

Heartbreaking.

Governor Blanco said this on her website:

"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...wil­l act with fairness and in complete good faith.

"I must clear up a widespread misunderstanding of my authority in this case. ...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."

We can email Attorney General Charles Foti (who's white) via http://www.ag.louisiana.gov/ and Attorney General Donald Washington (who's black) via http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/law/contact/index.html.

Tell them we are watching and that we expect justice and common sense, including a sensitivity both to the boys' ages and the racial context in which these acts took place.

[Kansas Evans]

What white Southerners still fail to realize is their complicity in some of the most vicious and effective terrorism the world has ever seen.----

You said it, Trey! I, too, worry about the lives that have been thrown away. To me, this whole "War of Terror" is laughable (and would be better dealt with as a police matter instead of a military one).

[sdskelton03]

Sounds to me that the problem isn't with the six black kids getting what they deserve. The beatt the kid out cold and kept beating him.

Don't let these kids off because others weren't prosecuted. Instead, lets prosecute all the guilty people.

[stupiditykills]

I agree. Now that I know the whole story --hopefully all that Trey said is correct and not slanted--I see that there is reason to lessen the sentencing on some of these kids. H

However, I think that all involved in this incident from beginning to end should be brought to justice, including those who hung the noose and "set the fire" in the figurative sense.

I don't agree that they should be "freed" as the NAACP is calling for as well as many black protesters. Too many people in our society (white and black) get a pass because of the politicalness of a situation. It's time justice was truly blind.

[Kansas Evans]

If I may, how long should those black kids have behaved perfectly until they erupted? It didn't seem as if the authorities would intercede on their behalf, and had they, it wouldn't have come to this.

That's why I feel like none of the black students should be prosecuted. The only reacted FINALLY after several months of official knowledge of the events without appropriate actions. I don't think they should be punished because so many adults failed to act. They're KIDS!! How long were they supposed to be saints?

I understand nonviolence, but the theory behind nonviolence is that it would convict people to action. There was no action outside of Jena on this case until the 6 teenagers were arrested, most conspicuously missing is the DA who so severely punished them.

Also, the kid that was beaten so badly was only in the hospital for 3hrs and went to a school dance later that evening.

[GreatFutureForAll]

The story of Nelson Mandela's conviction to a tee.

He waited...a­nd waited....­and justice never came. So, he blew up an empty facility.

[Nommo]

Trey, nationally syndicated dj Michael Baisden has been on top of this since at least July. Pacifica stations as well and the Black press and radio where I live for quite some time.
Having said that, I remain hopeful that Black folk in America of whatever political stripe or persuasion can rise to this particular occasion.
I am baffled by the fact that an officer of the court can get away with what Walters did. To not be censured or brought up on charges suggests to me that this America is the same one that Emmitt Till experienced. Everyone gets bent out of shape over swastikas, but the noose (which may be as well a police bullet these days) is lost in American history. I am certain to this day that someone in that lynch mob across the street from the Richmond County courthouse had one for Michael Vick.
Black people remain lost in American history.

[suki21693]

Richmond City. Richmond County is a whole different place. ;)

[GreatFutureForAll]

"Having said that, I remain hopeful that Black folk in America of whatever political stripe or persuasion can rise to this particular occasion."

They will. But, that does not solve the problem that threatens to destroy America more effectively than Al Qaeda.

Where is EVERYONE ELSE? Where are the White people? And, if good people of every hue fail to come forward, then is it every ethnic group fending for itself?

Is this the America we want? A 1940s German approach that believes in waiting till they come for you?

[coolmaiden]

I am truly saddened by this, but not altogether surprised. A racist, overzealous prosecutor? That sounds like a current Republican presidential candidate.

[Ionian]

Amy Goodman on Democracy Now has been tracking the case as well. This morning she interviewed a member of the school board in Jena. She interviewed the defense lawyer for one of the defendants on Tuesday, and I have to say the interview left me wondering if, in addition to being overcharged, the Jena 6 are not getting effective counsel.

[Lemeritus]

Calling Geoff Fieger! Is anyone working to set up a defense fund for these kids? They need a good defense attorney and NOW!

[brooklyncitizen]

"The first I heard about the black high school teens being railroaded through the Louisiana criminal justice system was last week when I received an email urging me to wear black Thursday the 20th in their support."

Trey,
It is great that more posts on the Jena Six are appearing on Huffington. It doesn't reflect well on Huffpost that this is finally "breaking" here three months after Amy aired the story nationally.
Huffpost should link to Amy Goodman's Democracy Now stories and her news columns.

Frankly I don't know where America would be without Amy Goodman and her Democracy Now program.

[lisakaz]

Forgive me for writing this here, but I feel this thread would attract some educated responses to something I found in a student's paper that makes me fear for more than the Jena 6 (though they would be affected no doubt if this student were correct).

Here's what was written about Rousseau's Social Contract (excerpt): "Rousseau's writings today would be frowned upon...due to his demands of a strong active citizenship that we feel would take away from our private self." I responded to this but I'd like to hear other commenters.

[Kansas Evans]

Where'd you read that? HuffPo?

I'll try to respond, though. So, remember my tag so that if you ever run across a comment of mines that you find offensive, you'll cut me slack the first time around? Deal?

I think, to some extent, that student may be correct. Sadly. I was on a conservative site that quoted Ben Franklin, "Those willing to give up freedom for security deserve neither," as title to an article blasting Edwards' healthcare proposal for its mandate that everyone be covered. A conservative on this blog informed me that liberals and conservatives see freedom in different ways.

Sadly, yes, I think some people would frown upon Rousseau's writing (according to this student's assessment. It's been a while since I read Rousseau.)­, because some people equate freedom with lack of govt intrusion on their private lives (except in the cases of gays and women).

[rlehman]

"What white Southerners still fail to realize is their complicity in some of the most vicious and effective terrorism the world has ever seen."

As a white Southerner I can honestly say I have not been complicit in any such thing. As a white Southerner I can say that those of us who are trying desperately to teach kids that they will be judged by their appearance and to pull their pants up and to quit calling each other 'nigger' and 'ho' get called racists and worse. As a white Southerner who works day in and day out trying to convince kids that education and obeying the law of the land is going to be the key that moves them out of 'housing' and is then told that I don't understand 'black culture' I'm tired. Really, really tired.

An accident of birth landed me in the south as a white female with deep southern roots. Just as an accident of birth put these kids where they are. None of us chose and to shout that I can't help or speak to the problem is not only racist but it makes it impossible for me to do anything about the problem.

Don't paint me with the Southern racist brush. The first time I encountered overt racism and violence against those not white was in Chicago in 1972. Racism had everything to do with what happened in Jena, which is in the south. Racism has everything to do with the fact that there is no hue and cry at the injustice of it. But, that racism is nationwide. Racism, sexism and all the other isms we allow to divide us are not the special province of the south. And it isn't going to get any better until we recognize it as something our whole country is sickened with rather than just making it a southern disease.

[nihilon x]

I am from the "south" as well and I can say that I have only had one situation there where I was insulted based on my race. It was by a childhood friend in a moment of anger, and we were playing together again by the very next day.

The vast majority of my white teachers, friends, and neighbors never made an issue of my being black. I moved between Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana as a youth, and not once did I have any problem making friends with any of the white people I knew, nor was I ever ridiculed because of my race.

When I returned back to Texas last Christmas, I saw white people, black people, latinos and even Indian-Americans all sitting next to one another on the public bus, chatting comfortably like old friends.

That's the "south" I know and grew up in.

It is important to remember that Amadou Diallo was shot in New York and Rodney King was beaten in Los Angeles, so trying to make the South out to be some "hotbed" of racism is hypocritical, to say the least.

[WolfLarsen]

Very good point. The fact that you can cite so few instances of racial intolerance growing up in the south is amazing. My black friends in California have volumes of horror stories to relate and some I have witnessed firsthand. You are indeed lucky to have been blessed with a life not scarred by racism. But being black and living anywhere in America is hard and unfortunately your experience is the exception and not the rule.

If only every African American could live the life you lead. Than this country would have something to celebrate. Until that day though we will have much to feel ashamed about.

[WoodyCPM]

For the most part, and in most places, the South that you describe is real. Martin Luther King once remarked that the South would actually overcome its racist past before the North would. Why? Because blacks and whites have lived and worked together in the South for four hundred years, long before the Revolution and the founding of the country. They have a shared language, shared religious traditions, shared cuisine, shared history, shared world view. This is not to excuse nor white wash the ugly horror of slavery and racism in the South. It was horrific. But the South in general has come a long, long way toward genuine racial harmony IN MOST PLACES, in many respects more so than other parts of the country.

[wndrwrthg]

Their "terrorist ancestry"? what a load of crap. I am not responsible for anything that I personally have not done. I cannnot change the past, but I can and will work so that the past does not repeat itsself. Everything about this case sucks, and has from the begining. Of course the black kids have been railroaded, and I am quite surprised that you were so late in hearing of the matter. As bad as this situation is, there is a positive aspect to it, that being, once the news came out every comment I heard on was one of shock and disgust. The resulting public outcry has had a positive effect in that charges have been dropped,reduced or convictions thrown out. Unfortunatly we can only respond to these types of things after the fact, but it is in that reaction that there is a shining light of hope.

[nihilon x]

You are right -- it is good to see people speak out against injustice in all its forms.

At least it shows that we are making progress, no matter how slow but steady.

Neither the "white" kids nor the "black" kids are innocent in this matter. Violence was inflicted by and upon both groups over an issue that could have been dealt with in a much more positive manner (school forums, discussions, history classes, parent-teacher conferences, etc) had it been addressed more seriously from the very beginning.

The degree of "wrongness" from either side can be debated until the end of time, but what is more important is that we see this situation as symbolic of the fact that we -- as a collective nation -- can influence our government officials to make sure that the laws are not abused by those in power.

[WolfLarsen]

With all due respect nilhilon_x this incident began with kids sitting under a "white" tree and escalated when a bunch of rednecks hung nooses from the tree. This incident was definitely provoked and exacerbated by the white students. The fact that a "white" tree even exists is blame enough. Both the black and white students are to blame for the violence that followed but the flame that ignited the conflagration was struck by the white students and for that reason they deserve the lion share of the blame.

[lisakaz]

This is incredible that this stuff still goes on. Those football players should have sat out at least one game in protest. How is it that the prosecutor can abuse power like that and how is it that the white boys-will-be-boys thugs can beat someone up with no reprecussions. It takes 2 sides and where one side gets all the penalty and one gets a tut-tut or even secret congratulations (OVER A TREE?!?!) I can't blame activists for being involved. This woulda been a case where LBJ would have lodged federal civil rights charges but of course Bu$hco won't do squat. Y'all ought to raise money so these kids, including the football players, move to somewhere where they are welcomed and treated as human beings.

[barriosbabe]

That nefarious prosecutor Reed Walters was also the private attorney for the school board during closed expulsion hearings, and he claimed no conflict of interest! Unbelievable. I used to prosecute attorneys for ethical violations, we would have shredded his rear.

[indypete]

40-odd years ago I was a kid wondering how people could act this way and thinking, "It can't last long now that we're in a civilised society." Now I see how wrong I was and wonder how the hell people can still act this way.

[jackbauer0396]

I'll tell you exactly how people can still act this way... people like Guiliani, Romney, Thompson, and McCain are running the joint, that's how! It's all part of the big picture. I hope SOMEONE goes after the GOP for shunning the black debate.

[quiet1]

I'm a "white Southerner" from North Carolina and actually I heard about the Jena 6 a couple of weeks ago on a radio show. Our family discussed it at the time and talked about how it was unfair. My teenage daughter said it made her so mad. So please don't lump all white people into the same group with those ignorant, backwoods, redneck, white trash people in Jena. Yes, we need to protest what's happening to those boys, but let's not turn it into a national white vs. black thing.

[jackbauer0396]

I think that's the problem with a lot of the debate about racial issues... there is righteous indignation on the black side, but when people from that side lash out against all whites, is that not just racism manifesting itself in reverse?

In fact, I'm almost ashamed of myself to say the "black side" and the "white side". It's sad that that's what our society has been reduced to. Why are there sides? Aren't we all (I'm including ONLY people with brains, so for the DA and jury in Jena, please disregard this, though I'd be surprised if you could read anyways) on the same side?

[nihilon x]

"In fact, I'm almost ashamed of myself to say the "black side" and the "white side". It's sad that that's what our society has been reduced to."

Only if you allow yourself to work within that paradigm.

There are always two sides to every story and there is no reason you can't be one of those people who understands this and explains this truth to others.

Realistically speaking, not choosing a side is the only way to be truly objective and rational, objective analysis is the only way we are going to finally be able to resolve these issues.

[IntrepidReader]

No, it's not racism in reverse, it's racism period.

I wonder why this piece doesn't mention that Mychal Bell's conviction on the lesser charges was overturned and he won't be sentenced tomorrow, though a rally is still being held.

It also doesn't mention that the principal of the school recommended expulsion for the three white students who had put up the nooses, but the board of education overruled him and said it was a prank.

[kellygrrrl]

I hope that some day WE all reach the point that we can stop dividing the teams in racist terms.
There are good white people and evil white people
There are good black people and evil black people

Let's just call this a fight between GOOD and EVIL

[kellygrrrl]

I actually think it's less about race and more about the division of power in a police state

[GreatFutureForAll]

Kelly:

I would so love to believe you. It would give me great relief if it was true. But, it's not..

Our country is steeped in a racism that continues to handicap America. One could argue that the reason Bush was elected President in 2000 was he was everything African-Americans feared: Ignorant, anti-affirmative action, pro school segregation, etc.

Many people voted for Bush because his policies are everything black people despise. And, "if black people despise Bush, than he must be good for white people" is the mindset at play.

It's fascinating how Trey Ellis described what occurred: "Those white teens, instead of being ashamed of their terrorist ancestry, reveled in the evil."

It's that word: TERRORIST.

If one truly wants to understand Al Qaeda and their hatred of us, one need only look at this case in Jena: Fear, intimidation, adults that do not see anything wrong with their conduct as they teach their kids to "revel in the evil."

It's not just the south. In New York, not far from Ground Zero, a group of black college athletes leaving Manhattan College were attacked, robbed and beaten by a group of white men yelling "N---er time,' and 'N---ers, we're gonna get you.'"

Of course, the police arrested one of the black victims first before charging three white assailants with misdemeanor assault and one with criminal possession of stolen property.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/09/19/2007-09-19_basketball_team_were_target_of_racial_bi.html

Why fight terrorism overseas when we can't even fight it at home? What's the use?

Why should we ask black people to "remain vigilant" in the fight against Al Qaeda and then turn ourselves into the same kind of terrorists that attacked us on 9/11 when dealing with these fellow Americans?

We beat up young Megan Williams. We segregate ourselves from "them."

We are, when we hate, America's domestic Al Qaeda, a sleeper cell that can attack at any unpredictable moment.

[brooklyncitizen]

Yes I actually think we went into Iraq to bring Democracy and discovered that the Iraquis have lots of oil.

[WoodyCPM]

That would be right. Most southerners, white and black, are no more or less racist than anyone else is in the country. There are racial issues everywhere. There also more than just white/black racial issues. Racism is a human problem, the world over. It needs to be exposed when it rears its ugly head, like it has done in Jena, and it needs to be guarded against when governments are exercising their power, like it was not guarded against in Jena.

The very fact that there was some kind of "White Tree" where blacks were not welcomed to sit is just loathsome in this day and age. After all we've been through. Because racism never dies out, it is reborn in every generation and again it must be pulled out by the roots. The issue isn't who's the bigger racist, whites or blacks. Racism is a human problem. However, in the Jena case, obviously only a moron, or a racist, could deny that the justice meted out here by the local authorities smacks or rank racism.

[1will]

I've also read that one of the jurors was a cousin of the beaten white boy.
After all of the episodes of Al and Jesse crying wolf it seems they have a legitimate complaint this time.
It looks like someone should persue this DA as was done with Nifong.

[PKSSK]

Would it not be a commendable act for this country if the falsely accused Duke lacrosse players were to come forward on behalf of the Jena 6, to promote equal rights for all. Is the Attorney General investigating this case??? Where is the Governor? Where is OPRAH??? Where are the African American republicans and democrats??? This should be front and center with the media!

[Kansas Evans]

I agree with you completely.

[Dolphinfan65]

WAITING!!!
OPRAH, cares, but, wants to do both sides of the story(RATINGS).
After Kitrina,(Goverment leaders) most will wait out, this problem and hope ,it goes away.
I wonder why The NAACP, wasn't leading this charge from the git go?
O.J.,the stock market,The little girl in Spain(missing). The bathroom and the congressma­n..... Did I say O.J., thats why they AIN'T In the NEWS!!!...­.... OOH how could I forget the IRAQ, report!!!.­.....

[CaseyBabes]

Where is the president? God? The national guard.....­uh, scratch that, they're in Iraq pissing off arabs and democrats.

[mamadeus]

Oprah HAS been speaking out for quite some time about this issue and has had at least one show about it. It is criminal to hang nooses from a tree and not expect outrage from the black students.
The punishment must fit the crime! It does not.
Yes, here we have another Nifong! Let's clean up
this disgusting travesty of justice.

[rras]

Does this surprise anyone. We still have the same feelings over Blacks here up North. We just don't show them like the deep south Red Neck ass holes do. I saw on TV a few weeks ago where some countries in South Africa forbid Blacks from taking shelter under a shade tree. Are we any different, I think not.

[westwind]

South Africa IS a country. Look at an atlas.

It's quite possible that a yokel in a rural area of South Africa may have prevented some black people from seeking shade under a tree, because racism didn't automatically die when apartheid did, but how does that excuse the dreadful wrong that has been done to the Jena 6?

American Exceptionalism lets many Americans claim to be better than everyone else in the world, apparently based solely on the accident of having been born here, but when an action such as this is exposed, it's OK, because some people in other countries do it too?

And just for the record, we "here up North" DON'T have the same feelings about black people as some racists down south. Speak for yourself.