Bloggers Put Jena Six Case on Blast
Baltimore Afro American, News Digest, Afro staff Posted: Sep 07, 2007
Editor's note: Injustice is always a sure motivator to put technological innovations in play. The Baltimore Afro-American excerpts samples from the blogosphere as African-American youth begin building national resistance to the sentencing of the Jena Six.
The case of six black boys, who face lifetime jail sentences for an alleged assault on a white peer in Jena, La., is slowly drawing the public's attention.
The alleged incident was the culmination of racial tensions triggered by a group of white Jena High School students who hung three nooses from a tree when a black student asked for permission to sit under the traditionally exclusively-white hangout. Black students gathered under the tree in nonviolent protest. The white teens were given a slap on the wrist over what school officials called a "harmless prank" and the situation spiraled from there.
The first boy to be on trial, Mychal Bell, is slated for sentencing on Sept. 20. The blogosphere has been teeming with opinions, petitions and updates on this case. Here is some of what is being said.
~Traycee's World; http://traycee-jackson.blogspot.com said:
"OK, where is the media attention on this? You know, thank GOD for black websites, because if we leave ALL of the news up to the "regular" media, we would never know about anything in OUR communities. On one side, we keep hearing that racism no longer exists. BUT, on the other side, WE ALL KNOW that racism is alive and well. Case in point: Jena, Louisiana...
Racism and segregation did not end with the Civil Rights Movement. We know that it's alive and well, some more evident than others. We experience racism in one form or another, and while it may not be as blatant as this, this is a blatant case of racism if I have EVER seen or heard of it."
~ nascent21 said on blogspot.myspace.com:
"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.
We need to band together and show America that we do give a damn about ourselves... u all need to get mad and get offended because this is offensive. First Genarlow, now this; please people, we need to start taking this personal."
~Kevin Covin on "Facing South," a blog published on the Institute for Southern Studies website http://southernstudies.org said:
"I really feel for the black students. The justice system is clearly defined in black and white. Dr. King said it best. "Unjust laws are no laws at all." It['s] a prime example how far we still have to go in order to have justice in this country. When my daughter brought this case to my attention it really drained my heart but it should bring good people together whether black or white to stand together against such bigotry. Here in America we see so many ills, I am glad that people are coming together to fight against this clear cut case of racism. I myself will be following this case and hope to spread the word about what is going on with Jena 6 as the editor and chief of Unheard-voices an online minority magazine www.unheard-voices.com. The magazine tackles these sort of ugly behaviors by whites. Blacks should put their trust in the Lord because it is through God that has brought us this far. Justice will prevail.
~Anonymous on "Facing South," a blog published on the Institute for Southern Studies website http://southernstudies.org said:
"Those kids unfortunately beat another kid until he was bleeding from every orifice. The one kid had nothing to do with the noose hanging. I can't believe that the media is running with this story of how 6 blacks were mistreated. The community is strong. I hate to see strangers making comments on an article that is half fiction. Justice will prevail.
~Invisible1 from Princeton, W. Va., said on the Welch Forum at www.topix.net:
"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.
~Jordan Flaherty in a blog entitled, "Racism and Resistance: The Struggle to Free The Jena Six," which appeared on http://southernstudies.org, wrote:
"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.
Related Category
NAM in Washington
Page
1 of 1
|
User Comments
Tisha on Sep 28, 2007 at 14:44:41 said:
O>K Jeannette K. Rook u got to understand mycial bell has spent a year in jail over a stupid school fight,he should not spend the rest of his life in jail for it.This has gone on two long.Thats just like sayin every teen that has had a high school fight should be put in jail,well thats not right and u know it.And u got to realize he didnt murder any1 so why should he be charged as if he did.O>k yea like u said those white 6 teens in NY went to jail but they murder some1 he didnt. And for u not really focusing on the reality and listen to this case it shows ur ignerence!!Really read what u write before u write it.
Jeannette K. Rook on Sep 22, 2007 at 22:12:49 said:
dior rodriguez on Sep 22, 2007 at 21:33:31 said: TO this person I have to say you are a moron because this did happen in New York however, two wrongs do not make it right. Mychael Bell almost committed murder. Howard Beach Queens New York December 19, 1986 six white teenagers
Jeannette K. Rook on Sep 22, 2007 at 22:06:51 said:
It's amazing how history comes back and bites us in the ass twenty years it's amazing how the news media did recall this story.
There is no place for Hate. However, 20 years ago remember this story.
What has happen in Jena Louisiana is not the first time in our history this type of behavior has happen. Did we all for get about the Hate Crime involing Six white teenagers in Howard Beach Queens New York Dec. 19, 1986. They murdered a young Black African American Student they ran him on to a Highway and he was hit by on Coming Traffic.
On this night December 19, 1986 a group of young black African Americans were in an all white neighborhood in Howard Beach Queens New York. I was raised in Queens and I still have a Aunt that still lives in Howard Beach, which is prodominatly white. The Six teenagers visously chased those African Americans and until one was killed. The trial that charge those six teenagers well justice prevailed.
Those six teenagers are now currently serving life in Attica for that hate crime.
Now we are faced with six black African Americans one by the name Mychael Bell is charged with the attempted murder of a white student Baker.
I say this two wrongs do not make a right. What the white students did by hanging the three nusiss they should have receive one year school suspension instead of the three. To say this type of racial hate is not to be tolerated.
So in December of 2006 Six young black males took it upon themselves to beat Baker almost to death. Now you have Al sharpton and Jesse Jackson all over this. However, they didn't say anything about the Baker student who almost lost his life. Mychael Bell deserve to be tried for the attempted murder.
What Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton want to see this student get away with attempted murder. Two wrongs do not make a right. Just as the six white teenagers went to prison for their role in Howard Beach.
Also Martin Luther King III is sadly misguided by these two fools. Martin Luther King Jr. what equality for all not just for the African American Community.
These three have done more harm instead of letting justice prevail. As where Justice Prevail in the Howard Beach incident.
Yes these two hate crimes are simlar and history has repeated itself. However, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are not the law and it should not be preusuade by them.
Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are the two most raciest people. The promote hate especially against good white people.
I am surprise the news did not bring this up.
Mychael Bell almost committed a murder and two wrongs do not make it right.
dior rodriguez on Sep 22, 2007 at 21:33:31 said:
this is so out rageous ......its so stupid how six teenager get a whole lif time in prision for beating up a kid....i know it was a wrong due....but those teens should not get a life sentence for this.....if this would of happened in new york city it wouln't oh happeed this way.....it would of been done right....i think the goverment should get invovled in this matter.......
daisy tanwani on Sep 20, 2007 at 14:43:09 said:
i for one think this is just wrong i thought we ened this whole war against blcks and white. this was not a harmless prank a harmless prank is putting a spider in your book bag
in our school today which is known as windsor mill middle school we all wore black as a sign of protest
also when our bus was pick us up at the begging of school we all chanted out the window of the bus we are black and we are proud and same as the school day ened and thats wat i beleive in.
daisy tanwani 6th grader at windsor mill elementary
rr on Sep 20, 2007 at 11:54:08 said:
a word of advice for that idiot, racist, redneck Vinnie,you shouldnt make comments harsh comments about something you know nothing about (racisim). Im a minority, i understand what black people are saying, and in their way they are right, these white racist redneck started this whole thing, then when they get a taste of their own medicine dumbasses like "vinnie", start saying that "the black kids" deserved the punishment there getting. I cant understand how is it that now a days we still have these pigs (like the one that told the black student not to take the nooses personal, it was a prank), and these judges that actually decide to put these kids in jail for so long, i understand what they did was very wrong and they should have gone to jail for a day and then gotten probation like that dumb white girl that set her house on fire, but instead they are getting life time, dont these kids have a public defender can this idiot do his job there are so many cases of this stupid white kids doing things to black kids and this dumbass cops & judges & lawyers do nothing to them can that dumb public defender compare these case to those. Im sorry for black people but i dont think that walking out in the streets is gonna do anything, they have done that before and i dont think its changed anything, there are some black people with power can they do anything can they put on trial cops even judges for racism it is very obvious that they are racist, take them to supreme courts or something, these pigs and judges shouldnt get away with putting these kids in jail for so long.
Vinnie on Sep 20, 2007 at 10:09:47 said:
The charge (attempted murder) for the crime of beating the white kid is justified. Six black boys beating one, they could have killed him! They should have also been charged with enhancements with "hate crimes". There is a difference between racist statements (hanging nooses) and racist acts (physical beatings).
Vinnie on Sep 20, 2007 at 09:08:15 said:
I think attempted murder charges for the six black kids is justified. Six beating on one person, they could have killed him! I also think that they should have recieved special enhancements for "hate crimes". There is a difference between racist statements (hanging nooses) and racist acts (physical beatings).
Jones on Sep 16, 2007 at 16:00:08 said:
I was born and raised in Jena, La. and it makes me sick that our whole town is being called racist. People who don't live here have no right to call our people that. I am not nor have i ever been racist. I went to school with many black people,most of whom I am still friends with. The media is blowing this way out of proportion, it's not a case of black verses white. The boy was beat unconcious, then beat somemore while he was down. I would have felt the same way about the situation if the roles had been reversed. I'm just ready for this whole ordeal to be over, I don't even like to tell people where i'm from anymore. My prays are with the familys of these children, and I hope they know that everyone in our town is not against them.
Let\'s Unite, Not Divide!!! on Sep 13, 2007 at 06:28:15 said:
Ok, this case is getting way out of hand. Do I think the 6 black young men who beat the white young man be punished? Yes, of course they should be punished as well as the students who hung the noose for initiating a fight. I don\'t feel as if they should face attempted murder charges, being that is such a harsh punishment. What happened to everyone being \"united\". Everyone should get some community service where they MUST work together and try to solve thier problems, instead of racially dividing an entire community, such a small community at that...could you imagine places such as New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles or Chicago with the african americans walking and talking with only african americans and caucasians talking and walking with only caucasians those areas are too diverse to focus on seperation this day and age.
Jimmie on Sep 12, 2007 at 11:33:23 said:
The school principal should have handled the fighting in-house. Less outrage...more donating to their legal defense fund!
-myrightmind.blogspot.com
Keacha Johnson on Sep 11, 2007 at 12:07:07 said:
I am a single African- American mother of three boys and I am very angry about the Jena Six case.It frustrates me that the case started about a tree that God created and that anyone should be able to sit up under.I am praying for the young men that are accused of those ridiculous charges and there families.
Frances Saxton on Sep 11, 2007 at 08:40:15 said:
I cannot believe this. I am dismayed over this news. This was not a high school prank it was meant to hurt, humiliate, and demean a gruop of people, in this case the Jena students.
Also, this was not school yard fight either if this young white student was bleeding from every orifice as the media reports, those black students should be punished for this action. But, I think everyone would admit that attempted murder charges are a bit much. the school administrators could have disfused this situation with a little common sense intervention. I pray for all who plan to go to Jena,LA that cool heads and common sense will indeed prevail.
Respectfully, Frances Saxton/Black & Proud
Lee Moultrie on Sep 10, 2007 at 20:12:00 said:
Some noteable solutions for this injustice:
We MUST mobilize individuals throughout the nation to address this issue where ever they live.
The same way there was a SHOUT OUT for Don Imus....there MUST be a SHOUT OUT for these children.
Here are some examples.
1 - Individuals should continue to drive to Jena and work to have charges dropped and or time served for the first child...for the September 20th sentencing.
2 - Individuals should be visibly protesting
about this situation in various places;
A - Jena
(Court House and or city building where the sentencing will take place).
B - Baton Rouge
(The Govenors Mansion and other elected officials for the state of Louisiana).
C - Washington, DC
(The office building of all of the elected officials of Louisiana)
D - New Orleans Saints Game
(Have individuals raising hell at the games also).
We Must not let any elected official of Louisiana feel comfortable about this situation.
E - Even if we can't get to any of these locations; each of us can call and start a phone tree to get their lines ringing off of the hook and make something happen for the good of these children.
They may not be the Judge and or District Attorney. But, they may have influence with respect to these two individuals.
Being a Civil Rights and Community Activist in South Carolina; "Makes me wanna Holla" sometimes....
But, we can make a difference by useing these methods as outlined and also incorporated with ideas from others.
Steve Harvey did a great program with the attorney of one of the boys and Rev. Jesse Jackson on monday, September 10th.
Should anyone desire to discuss my ideas and others that I have about this situation can contact me at LHMASSC@AOL.COM
We as a people; must do what is the right thing to do. And that is to get off of the bench and do something as we did with the Million Man March.
Peace and Blessings,
Lee H. Moultrie II
North Charleston, South Carolina
emmett j. rumbles jr. on Sep 10, 2007 at 05:49:32 said:
There is no surprise in this,something has been happening intentionally for decades after the civil right moving, instead of it being blantant, people of the hand of justice have quitely delt with groups of many different races, by charges, convictions, and finally silence. There are many ways to beat people from speaking the truth and this has been happening for decades, people need to realize what else will they do to subdue other peoples of different race.... Really what else will they do, because if you can't think of past, and current events into the policies of this nation that it will be done, and it time to be wise, aware, and carefull for what is to come from the government, and the entities of government.
J Casto on Sep 10, 2007 at 05:42:18 said:
America aint America to me cause America aint never been free for me. I got a Honnorable discharge from the military in 79 and moved to Florida. One month in, I had an auto accident. Two old ladies ran a stop light a hit me. I called the police to make an accident report and I ended surrounded by police and thrown to the ground kicked ruffed up and put in Jail. I spent 4 days in Jail. Then they released me with a date to appear in court. I could never get any information about what I was charged with. I learned when they sentenced me that I had been charged with resisting arrest. A felony they also stated it was mistaken identity why they arrested me. I then was given 2 years probation for a felony for resisting arrest. In addition, I paid them 25 week to be on probation for doing nothing. When I went to the local NAACP, office they told me be thankful I am alive, most times these stories start with my son or daughter is dead and this is what happened. I bit the bullet played the probation and got he hell out of that town. I had a similar incident17 Years later in NYC By then I had a degree and connection, went public in the press, and was in a film about police brutality. I was able to nipp it in the bud but not without reporting the incident to the CCRB, and the center for constitutional rights.
-->Then the police put the dismissed ticket back on the docket 4 times. So my license kept getting suspended and bench warrants issued for my arrest. They arrested me the day before thanksgiving by sweeping the building I lived in and taking me away in handcuffs at 5AM in front of my 14 year old daughter, this for a windshield wiper ticket that had been dismissed 3 times before. America is not America to me because America aint never been free to me...
One America!!! One man one vote...