2008 Woodie Awards
Student makes important distinctions in Jena Six case
Chris Stroud
Issue date: 9/28/07 Section: Forum
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Nearly 50 years ago after soldiers escorted the Little Rock Nine into Central High School in Arkansas, a rally was held in Jena, La. to protest the treatment of the Jena Six. While both events involve African-American students, high schools and catchy nicknames, the similarities suddenly end. The Little Rock Nine wanted to attend high school. The Jena Six want to stay out of jail.
The popular version of the saga of the Jena Six entails an African-American student asking at the beginning of the school year if he and some friends could sit under the oak tree on campus, called by some "the white tree" because only white kids sat there. The next day a number of nooses hung from the tree.
Three white students were suspended for three days as a result. Two months later, a wing of the high school burned down (arson is suspected). Several fights occurred between blacks and whites prior to December fourth. Much of this version of the story is hotly disputed, but what happened next is not.
On December fourth, the six black students attacked a white student at Jena High School. The prosecuting attorney charged the six youths with attempted murder. The prosecutor justifies the charges because it was six on one, the first blow knocked the victim unconscious, the youths kicked and stomped on the prone body and at least one of the attackers was on probation for two counts of misdemeanor battery. The attempted murder charges led to the massive protest in Jena.
Are the attempted murder charges extreme? Yes and no. According to an Associated Press article, "Most townsfolk … interpreted the events of last year pretty much the same way -- that a small minority of troublemakers, both black and white, got out of hand, and that the responses from authorities weren't always on the mark."
While some in Jena feel that if the roles were reversed, the charges would be the same. To many Americans not living in Jena, racial injustice and or prejudice is the only explanation.
The popular version of the saga of the Jena Six entails an African-American student asking at the beginning of the school year if he and some friends could sit under the oak tree on campus, called by some "the white tree" because only white kids sat there. The next day a number of nooses hung from the tree.
Three white students were suspended for three days as a result. Two months later, a wing of the high school burned down (arson is suspected). Several fights occurred between blacks and whites prior to December fourth. Much of this version of the story is hotly disputed, but what happened next is not.
On December fourth, the six black students attacked a white student at Jena High School. The prosecuting attorney charged the six youths with attempted murder. The prosecutor justifies the charges because it was six on one, the first blow knocked the victim unconscious, the youths kicked and stomped on the prone body and at least one of the attackers was on probation for two counts of misdemeanor battery. The attempted murder charges led to the massive protest in Jena.
Are the attempted murder charges extreme? Yes and no. According to an Associated Press article, "Most townsfolk … interpreted the events of last year pretty much the same way -- that a small minority of troublemakers, both black and white, got out of hand, and that the responses from authorities weren't always on the mark."
While some in Jena feel that if the roles were reversed, the charges would be the same. To many Americans not living in Jena, racial injustice and or prejudice is the only explanation.
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