September 12, 2007
Justice is not blind in Jena, Louisiana
I grew up in the South in an era of institutionalized, government-sanctioned racism. I remember the “Whites Only and “Coloreds Out Back” signs, and the “We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone” signs that replaced them. Those signs had already disappeared by the time I was in sixth grade, the year that we finally had black kids in our classes. That was also the first year I was in classes segregated by sex, and the public high school I went to in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana was a girls school. “Outsiders” may have forced the school system to integrate, but, by damn, no one was going to make them put white girls at risk by exposing them to black boys. Such resistance was common in the South of the sixties. We in the New Orleans area didn’t have race riots like some places, but the tension was always there. Still, step by uneasy step, things changed, and have continued to change in the years since. Does anyone doubt that change comes too slowly? It took Hurricane Katrina to show the world just how inequitable a “separate but equal” society can be. Katrina made it clear that the journey is not over - there is still a great distance to be traveled. Current events in Jena, Louisiana make that picture clearer still. In Jena, Louisiana, the government has not fostered equality for all. The local justice system is blatantly racist. What follows is excerpted from an article by Color of Change. Please read it.
Last fall in Jena, Louisiana, the day after two Black high school students sat beneath the “white tree” on their campus, nooses were hung from the tree. When the superintendent dismissed the nooses as a “prank,” more Black students sat under the tree in protest. The District Attorney then came to the school accompanied by the town’s police and demanded that the students end their protest, telling them, “I can be your best friend or your worst enemy… I can take away your lives with a stroke of my pen.”1
A series of white-on-black incidents of violence followed, and the DA did nothing. But when a white student was beaten up in a schoolyard fight, the DA responded by charging six black students with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
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 odds are stacked against them. Six Black Jena High students, Robert Bailey (17), Theo Shaw (17), Carwin Jones (18), Bryant Purvis (17), Mychal Bell (16) and an unidentified minor, were expelled from school, arrested and charged with second-degree attempted murder. Bail was set so high — between $70,000 and $138,000 — that the boys were left in prison for months as families went deep into debt to release them.
The first trial ended last month, and Mychal Bell, who has been in prison since December, was convicted of aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery (both felonies) by an all-white jury in a trial where his public defender called no witnesses. During his trial, Mychal’s parents were ordered not to speak to the media and the court prohibited protests from taking place near the courtroom or where the judge could see them.
Are you surprised that you haven’t heard this story? You shouldn’t be. The mainstream media is remarkably disinterested in what amounts to “business as usual” in a small Southern town. Are you as outraged as I am? I hope so. I hope you’ll join in with your blogging voice and help to publicize this story. The ball has been set rolling, but your energy is needed to help it gain momentum. Here’s how you can help:
1. Read the entire Jena 6 article at Color of Change.
2. Sign the Jena6 online Petition requesting the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate this matter.
3. If you can be in Jena, Louisiana on September 20th, join in with the peaceful protest march and rally which nas been organized to support the Jena 6 and their families.
4. Send your statements of protest to Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and District Attorney Reed Walters. Please consider making a donation to the Jena 6 legal fund while you’re on that page.
5. Blog it! Every one of us has the ability to help spread the word. Marisa and Suni have organized a campaign to publish the Jena 6 story on as many blogs as possible. Their stories are linked below. I will also list other blogs associated with this campaign, and will add new blogs to the list as their articles publish. Display the strength of numbers by doing the same in your Jena 6 post. Let’s shine a spotlight of public outcry on the injustice taking place in Jena, Louisiana. You’re trackbacks to the articles listed here will help display our strength. Please also consider giving each post a Digg, a Stumble, A Delicious bookmark, a Thoof link - anything that will help the viral spread of this story.
Marisa: Racism is alive and well in Jena, Louisiana
Suni: Bloggers unite: Stop Jena 6 racist injustice
Karen: This can’t be happening
Tim: Time out
Amy: Racism in the Deep South - Jena 6 Travesty
Marcus: Support the Jena (Louisiana) 6
Cheryl: The Jena 6
CyberCelt: Racism Rears Ugly Head in Jena, LA
Bluepainted: How Disgusting!
Add your name! A link to my post will automatically give you a trackback. You may also add your link to a comment below.
[tags]Jena 6, Jena Louisiana, racial injustice, racism, racism in the south[/tags]
Posted by skeet @ 11:56 am • current events, Society & culture
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September 12th, 2007 at 4:31 pm, Support the Jena (Louisiana) 6 at my thoughts Says:
[…] Skeet: Justice is not blind in Jena, Louisiana […]
September 13th, 2007 at 7:43 am, CyberCelt Says:
Wow! Did you post bring up memories. My parents were from NYC, so I was not raised around prejudice.
When I went to junior high and they started segregation was the first time I had heard the n-word.
I remember my parents’ business being defaced by graffiti because they served people of all colors.
How dare they try to drag the human race back to those times?
September 13th, 2007 at 10:28 am, skeet Says:
There are times when I get very homesick, CyberCelt, and people and things that I miss very much. What I do not miss is the blatant racism that permeates so much of society there. While I was raised around it, I was not raised to understand such hatred and bigotry. Nope - don’t miss that at all.
September 20th, 2007 at 9:05 am, CyberCelt Says:
I’d forgotten the title of your post. I put a picture of Justice on my blog your blessing post last Sunday.
Here from the carnival. Sounds sick, saying carnival of injustice. Need to come up with a new name. Got any ideas?
Spotlight on Injustice
Eyes on Injustice
Uncovering Injustice
Oh, well…
September 22nd, 2007 at 7:25 am, skeet Says:
I agree about the title of the carnival, CC, but it goes along with the irony of the type of stories we want to feature. News items that should be shouted from the front page get a paragraph on page 6 so there’s room for Hollywood brats in the headlines. How wrong is that? I’ll accept the title of the carnival (though I wouldn’t object to a change) because it celebrates our ability as bloggers to bring much-needed publicity to these stories. The Jena 6 are in headlines across the country, finally. How much of that is due to the huge number of bloggers who spotlighted it? We can celebrate that!