jena 6

[420freedme]

Can anyone set me straight on this? I saw were thousands protested the charges layed down on 6 men of color for beating a man not of their race for hanging a rope in a tree and not getting charged with? racial effigy? I mean burning a cross in a yard is wrong, but when did it become ok to become judge, jury, and exicutioner because someone pissed you off?

I have to be missing something here. what was in the noose? My dad made a mean hanging rope. We used them to bleed pigs or hang meat?

Confused....

[king of the world]

its because the white kids that hung the noose got a very lenient punishment. and that started racial tension. a couple of other incidents occured that let white people off easy. but when there was an altercation between a white boy and six black guys, the six black guys got charged with attempted murder. the whole delima is that white folks get off easy by the law, but black folks get punished much harder.

[Lifesrun]

What Really Happened in Jena

Everyone in America has now heard of Jena, Louisiana, and its alleged racial abominations. Its crimes are said to be so great that on Sept. 20, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton had to lead a massive â??civil rightsâ?� march through the sleepy town of 3,000 to drag it into the modern era. Young blacks from all over the country took part, many comparing the demonstration to events in Selma or Birmingham half a century ago.

It takes some digging to find out what actually happened in Jena, but we are not witnessing a return to Jim Crow. Although blacks have treated LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters like a reincarnation of Bull Connor, the more closely his actions are examined the more reasonable they seem. These events have become a rallying cry for â??civil rightsâ?� for only one reason: The national media have shamelessly warped them to fit the pattern of unregenerate Southern bigotry. Here is what actually happened.

The Nooses

On August 30, 2006, there was a back-to-school assembly for boys only at Jena High School. An assistant principal covered rules, dress codes, etc., and called for questions. One black asked a question that was clearly a joke: Could blacks sit with whites under a particular shade tree in the schoolâ??s courtyard. Everyone in the room laughed. The assistant principal answered that, of course, anyone could sit wherever he liked. There were a number of other questionsâ??some jokes, some seriousâ??and the assembly broke up in high spirits.

Although national commentators have assumed whites had been keeping blacks away from the tree, the Jena papers have not quoted anyone who makes that claim. It is unlikely the question about the tree would have gotten a big laugh if there had been any tension about who could sit under it.

In any case, there is no doubt that the next day, Aug. 31, the first students to arrive at school found nooses (some reports say three, some say two) hanging from the tree. Administrators immediately took them down, and the majority of students, who arrived after 7:15 a.m., never saw them. They later learned about the nooses from television and newspaper reports.

The school quickly found the three white students who had hung the nooses but concludedâ??and this is admittedly surprisingâ??that they had no racial motivation for what the school called a â??prank.â?� It should be underlined that the local police and the FBI also interviewed the boys and found no racial motive. The local US Attorney, Donald Washington, who is black, later looked into the nooses incident, and he, too, and found no grounds for action. The nooses were painted in the Jena High colorsâ??black and goldâ??which does suggest a non-racial motive. Jena High School does not release details about student disciplinary matters, but word leaked out that the culprits were imitating something from a television program.

The high school principal nevertheless recommended expulsion, but the LaSalle Parish School Board overruled him and the three were suspended. For several weeks they were attending a special campus for expelled students and were only later let back into Jena High School. Meanwhile, blacks held meetings to complain about the nooses, in which they refused to see anything but racial hatred, and were angry that the white students were not expelled.

The continuing press about the nooses seems to have raised racial tension in a school that had seen little of it. On September 6, there was a nasty argument between a black girl and a white girl, and a white boy went to the emergency room for stitches after he was hit in the head from behind. These were exceptional events for Jena High School, and police were assigned to the school all day September 7. The next day, there was a report that someone had brought a gun to school. Students were kept in classes for three hours while police looked for the gun. All the police found were a large number of cell phones, which are forbidden in school by state law.

It is important to note that from Sept. 9 through Nov. 30â??nearly three monthsâ??there were no racial incidents reported either at the high school or in the city or Jena. That night, however, someone set fire to the main high school building and gutted it. There are still no suspects and nothing but speculation about motive.

The Fights

The school was closed for four days, during which there were some racial incidents in town. On Dec. 1, there was a private party at the Fair Barn, a big metal building used for social events. The crowd was mostly white with a few blacks. At about 11:00 p.m. five black Jena High students tried to crash the party, but a woman told them they could not come in. The boys insisted, and a white manâ??not a studentâ??stepped in front of the woman to prevent them. There was a fight, which continued outside. A number of other whitesâ??not studentsâ??got involved, the police were called, and one of the whites was arrested and pleaded guilty to battery. At least two of the black students were later among the â??Jena 6.â?�

The next day, Dec. 2, there was a fight at a convenience store called Gotta Go, between three black students and the same white man. There have been conflicting accounts of what happened, with the blacks charging that the white man was brandishing a gun. Accounts from witnesses led police to charge one of the black students with battery and theft. Jena High student Robert Bailey, 17, was involved in both the Fair Barn and Gotta Go fights, as well as the famous assault that took place a few days later.

December 4 was the first day of school after the fire. There was considerable chaos, with students meeting in makeshift classes. After lunch, black football star Mychal Bell walked up to a white student named Justin Barker and punched him to the ground from behind. Some eight to ten boysâ??all blackâ??then started kicking him. Witness statements taken later used phrases like â??stomped him badly,â?� â??stepped on his face,â?� â??knocked out cold on the ground,â?� and â??slammed his head on the concrete beam.â?� According to court documents, Mr. Barker was probably unconscious before he hit the ground, where his attackers stomped his â??lifelessâ?� body. The Jena Times calls it â??one of the most violent attacks in Jena High Schoolâ??s history.â?�

When Assistant Principal Gawan Burgess got to the scene, he thought the boy was dead. He was bleeding from ears and nose and showed no sign of life. An ambulance took Mr. Barker to LaSalle General Hospital, where he was in the emergency room for about 2-1/2 hours and racked up a bill of $5,467. A brain scan showed no anomalies, and he was released.

Much has been made later of the fact that that evening he attended the schoolâ??s annual class ring ceremony where, as a junior, he was to get a ring. â??I waited 11 years to go to it,â?� he has since explained. â??I wasnâ??t going to let that get in my way.â?� Mr. Barker had a swollen face and was in considerable pain. He left the ceremony early, as soon as he got his ring. He says he was blind in one eye for three weeks, and was still suffering from headaches six months after the beating.

At the trial of his main attacker Mychal Bell, he said he had no idea why he was beaten, but this sounds disingenuous. Blacks claimed that earlier he had taunted one of them for having his â??ass whippedâ?� at the Fair Barn. A student who testified at the trial said that just before Mr. Bell attacked Mr. Barker she heard a black say, â??Thereâ??s that white mother f***er that was running his mouth.â?� It should be underlined that Mr. Barker was not one of the three whites disciplined for the noose affair, nor did he have anything to do with the fights at the Fair Barn or at Gotta Go. He does not appear to be a choir boy, however. Just a few days before the end of the school year, he was expelled from school after a hunting rifle was found in his car on school grounds. Students are strictly forbidden to have weapons at school.

The Whooping

Blacks were outraged when LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters charged six of the black attackers with attempted murder and decided to try Mr. Bell as an adult. He had good reasons to. Mr. Bell, who was 16 at the time of the attack, had been on probation since he committed battery on Christmas Day, 2005. Since then, he has been found guilty under the juvenile system of three other crimesâ??two violent attacks and one property crimeâ??before he even attacked Mr. Barker. Bail was set at $90,000, a figure his family could not meet. His father, who is now being portrayed as the caring parent, has been living in Texas for years, and resurfaced only after the boy was charged.

Just before the trial this summer, District Attorney Walters reduced charges to aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy. On June 28, after deliberating for less than three hours, a jury of five women and one man found Mr. Bell guilty. He was to be sentenced on Sept. 20. Much has been made of the fact that all the jurors were white, but none of the blacks called for jury duty that day showed up (plenty of whites dodged jury duty, too). The jury pool was white so the jury was white.

The guilty verdict made Mr. Bell into a hero. He and the five other defendants were baptized â??The Jena 6,â?� and the trial was soon being touted around the world as a classic case of bigoted white justice.

On August 5, Al Sharpton came to town with his usual message: â??You cannot have some boys assault and charged with nothing, some boys hanging nooses and finish the school year and other boys charged with attempted murder and conspiracy. Thatâ??s two levels of justice, and two levels of justice is an injustice.â?�

Jesse Jackson was in town on Sept. 10, with a not-so-veiled threat. He demanded that the sentence for Mr. Bell be thrown out and that the charges for the remaining attackers be reduced to misdemeanors. If not, he said, there would be a â??major demonstrationâ?� spurred by the â??national and international outrageâ?� with as many as 40,000 people likely to descend on poor little Jena. â??The DA and the judge can go a long way to relieve this tension,â?� he said.

Maybe the judge was listening. On Sept. 24, 28th Judicial District Court Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr. vacated Mr. Bellâ??s adult conviction, and ordered him retried in juvenile court. As an adult, the maximum sentence would have been 22-1/2 years; in juvenile court, Mr. Bell will face no more than 15 years. District Attorney Walters did not give in. He intends to try the remaining defendants on felony charges.

On Sept. 20, Jena got its demonstration, with the usual bombast about racism and unequal justice for blacks. Perhaps as many as 10,000 peopleâ??almost all backâ??were bussed in from as far away as Dallas, Nashville, St. Louis, Chicago and Philadelphia. Blacks all across the country have been whooping up the â??Jena 6â?� as the great civil rights cause of our era.

The whooping has been based on distortions that the media have done everything to encourage. The story now going around the world is that there were parts of Jena High School where blacks were not allowed. Whites strung up nooses when blacks asked to be let into those places. The whites got off scot-free. There followed a series of fights between blacks and whitesâ??the off-campus fights in which no white students were involved get a lot of attention hereâ??in which no white student even got arrested. Racism reached its ugly paroxysm when yet another â??school-yard fightâ?� resulted in attempted murder charges against blacks while whites again got off scot-free. The charge of attempted murder is obviously trumped up because the white â??victimâ?� went to a school function that same evening. Here is the storied Southern racism of old, come back from what all liberals will assure us was never the dead. Even British pop star David Bowie has given $10,000 to the NAACPâ??s â??Jena 6 Legal Defense Fundâ?� to help fight injustice.

The media are almost entirely to blame for this. All too ready to assume the worst of whites, all too happy to encourage blacks to scream â??racism,â?� they have, in effect, driven them to ask for freedom for thugs who knocked a boy down and stomped him as he lay unconscious. This is what â??civil rightsâ?� now means for the NAACP and the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.

We urge readers to contact District Attorney Reed Walters and encourage him to stick to his guns.
J. Reed Walters
P.O. Box 1940
Jena, LA 71342-1940
Phone: (318) 992-8282
Fax: (318) 992-4731

[texas grass]

if the black kids get arrested then the white kids should get arested. they fought on school property which is illegal. every one should have gotten arrested, and the fact that they hung nuces on school property should double their pelalties for the white kids(for being on school property)

if us white people think that its ok then just join the KKK and start burnin crosses in front yards again
fucking racist people

[riddlerxan]

helter skelter boyzzzzzzzzzz.

[king of the world]

its just double standard, and they ont really even try to hide it. they're in your face with it.

[killerweed420]

Doesn't matter what color they are.When you have 6 or 8 kids jump one kid some kids need to go to jail.I'm not a big fan of filing felony charges in these instances unless somebody was really trying to kill someone or was using a weapon like a baseball bat.

[ntcrawler]

Now the 3 kids who hung the nooses should of got expelled. The white men who got in the fights of campus should of got a bigger charge because from what it sounds like the white MEN were fighting minors. I don't feel much sympathy for the Jena 6 because they stomped a kid that was unconscious and the NAACP should be more concerned about getting the white men bigger charges.

Please be informed that I'm only forming this opinion with the information I have read in this thread.

[420freedme]

the nooses were to promote school spirit, but someone got in trouble and used it?

I figured as much?

expel for hanging nooses w/school colors painted on it? and just because they at school doesn't mean they were under 18. matter of fact is we all know they'ld be done yelled it.

This is just more bs. thanks for the info.

how dumb do you have to be to think those 6 should walk? if they where here they'ld be in the gang jail. hit the kid from behind? then beat him on the ground....please

[krazy chino]

fuck racist people

[Mississippi Steve]

What occurred was wrong... color has nothing to do with it. It was just plain wrong. All of the incedents that contributed and lead up to the trials were wrong. There were a lot of incedents that folks both black and white should have been prosecuted that weren't.

As far as Al Sharpton, and Jessie Jackson, neither of them have nothing else to do but stir up shit in the name of "racial equality".... Both of them are the biggest racists/bigots I know of.

[king of the world]

people get jumped at my school numerous times, and the most that could happen would be a 10-day suspension, but that is only when its a real bad fight. but these kids got charged attempted murder:eek:, thats way too harsh.

[Mohksha]

I don't think race should play any part in this at all. The facts are: a kid, not a white kid was attacked from behind by another kid, not a black kid, and was then beaten senseless on the ground by other kids. Race should not be involved in the law at all. That only encourages distinctions to be made between races. Just treat everyone like people, and racists will die out and all that will be left will be people.

[king of the world]

race has to be in it because lots of thing happened and the WHITE kids got off easy, and when it the BLACK kids got into a fight the got punished SEVERLY. wha they did was not good but it was a fight, you shouldnt be facing many years for a fight that got out of hand.

[delusionsofNORMALity]

race has to be in it.....
this is the same rationale that has launched many a bigot to fame. equating a school prank that seems not to be motivated by race (i could be wrong, but it's looking that way) with a violent assault. what you're saying is that because a group of black students felt insulted they were justified in beating a white student and should be given a free pass. this is a form of racism on a par with those fools in the kkk, even worse because it is gaining nationwide acceptance thanks to the rhetoric of bigots like sharpton and jackson.

there is a growing movement in this country advocating re-segregation. it is not being forwarded just by white supremacists and drunken rednecks, but by self proclaimed leaders within the black community. sharpton and his ilk push this agenda at even the slightest imagined possibility of a racial slur and, in doing so, fan the flames of racism in both the black and white communities. by acting as apologists for black violence they are sending out the message that past transgressions are a proper excuse for present hatred and perpetuating a division they claim to be healing. the very fact that there are black communities and white communities is proof that the hate mongers on both sides of this battle are quite adept at their jobs. these men are doing nothing more than using the frustrations of their constituencies to gain power and keep themselves in the spotlight.

equality is a two way street and it must start with a blank slate. the media and racists on both sides of the equation refuse to allow us to be color blind. we all fear that which is different and until these political animals stop dividing every issue along lines of race we will always see skin color as a difference. we can either attempt to take back a bit of our innocence or we can allow the diseased attitudes of the past to consume us.

i realize that some folks will undoubtedly claim me to be racist for some of these statements, but a really don't care what those people think. it's not about labels or genetics or even social standing, it's about treating your neighbors with a bit of kindness and understanding and finding equitable solutions to the disagreements we all have from time to time.
:hippy:

[PdoubleOTY]

hanging the nueses was a bit fucked up, the kids should of received a more severe punishment in my opinion...also the fights between the white men and blacks at the party should of received a harsher punishment...but i mean if the 6-7 black kids nearly beat a kid to death, and forced him in to the hospital etc, WHO GIVES A FUCK WHAT COLOR THEY ARE? They beat the SHIT out of someone, with full knowledge such a beating could kill someone...black white grey mexican what the fuck ever you are, if you and 5 of your buddies beat someone that close to death, all of you should be punished...fuck people that think color plays a roll in life, it does in today's legal system sadly enough, but it shouldnt. black=white=hispanic=asian=everything else. we all have the same damn set of chromosomes..


and not on a racist note, but i truly dislike black people and people of any race that pull the racial card...if there's a fight, let it be a fight...dont let it be a "hate crime"...if a white kid kicks a black kids ass, ok its a fight, same if a black kid kicks a white kids ass...6 black kids nearly beating a white kid to death is the same as 6 white kids nearly beating a black kid to death...send them all to jail and get the kid to a damn hospital...this world sometimes makes no sense to me at all

[PdoubleOTY]

race has to be in it because lots of thing happened and the WHITE kids got off easy, and when it the BLACK kids got into a fight the got punished SEVERLY. wha they did was not good but it was a fight, you shouldnt be facing many years for a fight that got out of hand.

the black kids also put the kid in the hospital with 5000$ worth of bills...the other fights didnt result in such damage now did they?? I'm sorry but if a bunch of black kids beat my ass in to 5000$ worth of medical bills, i dont give a fuck what color they are, i want them to be punished...that seems to be the problem..the other fights and displays resulted in very little hurt or issues...but the fight that did cause trouble was because THE KID WAS ALMOST FUCKING DEAD....Holy fucking shit, doesnt that make it obvious to why the judge did what he did? fuck jessie jackson and al shapton..the kids almost killed somebody..WTF?

[mfqr]

Those nooses obviously had a racist intent...

[420freedme]

i hung nooses in high school w/ppl of the opposit race than i and it had nothing at all to do w/race. it was rivalry between schools. hell we hung them w/ppl in them...not real ppl.

what fight at school? reads to me like some punk blindsided a kid then used him like vick does dogs. no fight, just assult. What white men and black kids fighting? again, all were 18 or above or we would have heard al say," an african american child of 15 was struck by a white man of 33". period

[delusionsofNORMALity]

Those nooses obviously had a racist intent...
if you try hard enough, you can find racist intent in just about anything. all too often those accusations say more about the accuser than the accused.

[deadfan420]

My two cents: If I understand it correctly, they protesters were angry because the white kids got a more lenient punishment for hanging nooses on school property (it should be a hate crime and taken very seriously), than the 6 who beat a white kid up?

Hanging nooses in a tree and beating up on another kid are two very different (albeit serious) crimes. Am I right?

Granted, I think it was wrong to try to try that Bell guy as an adult - he was only 16. But this wasn't his first offense for assault. I view him as a thug, plain and simple. If he were white, I'd still view him as a thug. What if it were reverse? What if 6 white kids beat up on a black kid? I doubt Sharpton and Jackson would be screaming bloody murder - well they would, but it'd be to have the white kids locked up for good.

Look, I'm all for equality and civil rights. But using 6 thugs who beat up on a kid as "heroes" is NOT the way to promote either. Violence is never justified, neither is hanging nooses.

It's funny that Al Sharpton, who is supposed to be all about "justice" and "equality" was nowhere to be found when the Duke LaCrosse players were acquited - and the prosecutor in the case found guilty for lying and other misconduct. He screamed bloody murder at those Duke kids, but never apologized for unduly dragging their names through the mud. Where's the justice in that?

I think that Jackson and Sharpton are guilty of the same racism they claim to oppose. Yes, racism works both ways.

[romdog11]

i hope the jena 6 are given the death penalty. only cowards would jump someone. that is something that should never be tolerated because someone can die from being jumped. so give them the death penalty ill pull the switch on the fucking little bastard shit faces

[Myth1184]

i keep hearing hate crime come up with the nooses, why is it hate crimes only apply to whites? anyone remember the noose and kkk/nazi images that was painted on the wall of some school a few years ago that had the blacks all up in a roar, only to find out that it was black students that painted it all. I dont remember a hate crime being advised there.