Thousands of demonstrators descended on Jena, La., Thursday from across the country for what Al Sharpton called the beginning of the 21st century's civil rights movement.
The demonstration prompted change and awareness, that's for sure. In the wake of it:
- A countless number of those who could not make it to the rally from across the country wore black in solidarity with the Jena demonstrators.
- President Bush made his first remarks regarding the case. "The events in Louisiana have saddened me." he said. "And I understand the emotions. The Justice Department and the FBI are monitoring the situation down there. And all of us in America want there to be, you know, fairness when it comes to justice."
- The story is being played around the world, from the BBC in England to Al Jazeera.
The six black teenagers who have become known as the Jena Six were first charged with attempted murder in the beating of a white classmate after nooses were hung from a tree at school. Despite their age, all but one young man was also charged as an adult.
Marchers on Thursday carried signs that said "Praise Mychal Bell," the only teen of the Jena Six who remains jailed.
After being convicted by an all-white jury, Bell was the last to have his conviction of aggravated assault overturned by a Louisiana appeals court last week. They ruled that he shouldn't have been tried as an adult. He will now be tried as a juvenile and the others still await their court dates.
Sharpton said before the rally, "Don't act like we coming to start trouble. We're coming to stop trouble."
Reports so far say that the demonstration, which shut down the school and all the businesses in the town of 3,000, was big and peaceful. No trouble.
Marchers chanted "Free the Jena Six" and "No Justice, No Peace," pointing to the case as yet another example of Southern legal injustice. All of the marchers on Thursday want ALL charges against all six dropped completely.
The Jena Six teens found themselves in an unimaginable situation last year when nooses where hung from a tree on their high school campus, a powerful sign of lynching and racism. Fights where followed by arrests, but the white teens who hung the nooses were not charged with a crime.
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By: Ms. Tolson on 9/21/2007 3:32PM
I'm very pissed off at this case!! How dare the district attorney's for the case say that the nooses had no part in why that white boy got his assed whooped like that!! Now i dont think before that happened that blacks was just beating his ass so why all of a sudden some nooses get hung from a tree and the little White boy bring a gun to school do he get his ass whooped!! Nooses and racism started that shit!!! Dont act like it wasnt the case. They sit there and lie on tv saying that they are trying to be fair yet the white boys just got suspened and are on probation while 6 black boys are being trialed for murder and everything the hell else. Thats bullshyt cause if that shyt was being played fair then them damn white kids would have they ass in somebody fucking courtroom being trialed for possesion of a weapon and racism. Whites still feel like they own some shit and know that they were not ready for all those black people to come down to they town so they better learn to play nice for shit start happening. Cause trust and believe if any of those black boys go to jail and not one of those white boys do then there will be hell to pay because those boys parents and family nor any other black person in america is going to let that shit ride as thats the law cause thats bullshit!! point blank period!!
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By: LISA on 9/20/2007 7:47PM
THE REVOLUTION WILL BE TELEVISE!!!
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By: danyelle on 9/20/2007 7:49PM
WoW! Wh y could this story be covered on the general part of AOL News. They are ready to cover the nonsense of OJ and any bad new that may follow a Black man. But when there is INJUSTICE, the story is covered 9 months later away from the general AOL population. ...Let's say it again, RACISM: Alive and Well. Sickening.
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By: douglas watts on 9/20/2007 8:08PM
Absolutely incredible! I am totally dumbfounded as to why Black people have sunk so low with regard to what we feel we must champion. I can't help but notice the hypocracy of all this so-called heart-felt emotion. It's as if the Black leadership has committed itself to chasing every media spotlight that gives it an opportunity to get up on a soapbox or draw attention to themselves or their particular agendas - whether right or wrong! I find this opportunistic behavior appauling and shameless.
What happened to the days when we as Black people held ourselves up to a much higher moral standard? Now, regardless of the situation, Black people are determined to rally around every tainted, suspect, and shameless act of immorality or lawbreaking that some unfortunately underprivaledged, uneducated, and uncarring young Black males can manage to get themselves into. I find it so mindblowing that young Black folk can call each other the N-word ad nauseum, refer to females in terms that totally overshadow the derrogatory remarks ever made by any white man, and then display the kind of unrealistic expectation that others don't necessarily see them in that same light. Which is the larger crime? How we feel about ourselves as Black people, or how other feel about us?
We Currently have leadership that doesn't seem to care about really putting this kind of thinking into perspective, nor do we have the kind of cohesive community that seems to know any better. We tend to still want to blame white people for all of our problems, and this is no different. How can we, in good conscious, condone 6 young Black boys that jumped on one young white boy? This is not only mob mentality, but it is the very kind of thing that symbolizes Black gangsta and gang mentality that plagues most Black communitities, the very kind of behavior that we are so appauled at. Were these guys so inadequate to take on a single white boy mano-e-mono, are did the gang mentality prevail? Maybe that's why the nooses where hung in the first place as a means of showing disapproval of their behavior. Were these guys sagging in there pants ridiculously and walking around acting like gangstas and thugs in a manner so distasteful that maybe even other black were sickened by it and welcomed the planting of the nooses.
As a middle aged Black male, I am so sickened by the use of the N-word by anybody, and especially by the young Black folks until it takes everything in me to reframe from being confrontational. It is quite clear to me that these young Black guys were not totally innocent of what happened to them. Maybe if there had been less thug and gang mentality displayed, and more earnest effort ot avoid this situation, just like during the civil rights era days, then maybe I could understand the justification for such pervasive and emotional display of a mass movement of demonstators. Otherwise, I see this only as a convenient vehicle for people with wildly different agendas to take advantage of a situation that should not have been afforded such media attention. Ironically, when Black folks have truly ligitimate concerns with racisism where are the troups? There are Blacks out here truly trying to live right and do the right thing but none of the so-called leaders or the rest of the calvary are ever available to come to their rescue. This is counterproductive and, quite frankly, dillutes the effectiveness of any civil rights response by Blacks.
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By: C Montague on 9/20/2007 8:45PM
It is unforutnate that we are delving back into history instead of progressing. Clearly there is racial tension happening before, during and will happen after Jena 6 in Louisiana and everywhere for that matter. Why wasn't hanging the nooses considered a crime? When considering a hate crime charge you consider how it will make the other person feel as well as other things, but that is definitely a threat to someone. Whether its directed at someone or no one. Suspension is not enough, that should have even been defacing school property as well. There was a college in MD(?)a few weeks ago where a noose was found in a tree. A full investigation was held as well as the FBI getting involved. This is not a game and should not be taken lightly. And as far as the young men go I can't understand how they have attempted murder charges against a person who is released from the hospital the same day and attends a school function later that evening. I can see assault and battery but what they're facing to me is ridiculous. Because of this these men do need someone to speak out for them because this is an American Tragedy.
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By: A. T. Morgan on 9/20/2007 8:47PM
Question for Jackson/Sharpton? WHY NOT (anywhere near) recent media hype/solidarity in support of Ms Megan Williams and/or AGAINST Big Creek (W. Va.) White Six; compared to supporting OJ/Black Six at Jena, (N. La.)?
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By: J WESTBERRY on 9/20/2007 8:51PM
The Jena incident is only the tip of and iceberge which has languished in this country since the beginning of the black experience in America,(the problem of the twenth century will be the problem of race)quote of a famouse black fighter for freedom.Have those who have supposingly gotten over and are now living what is considered middle class become so comfortable in the false world of mortages and ive league schools for there kids,until they dont look at the black people in the streets seeking some relief from this legalized hell on earth in which each day consist of trying to survive How many of us who consider them selves a productive segement of society as we view hunger and poverty grow with leaps and bounds for the mass of our black brothers and sisters.Those of us who have jobs are living some days in stress ,because we know who can destroy everything we work hard to achieve,while we are asking for civil rights,we need human rights,not some legislated right ,which has to be renew every so often If i sound bitter its not that it just that i understand what they mean when they say it takes time for changes to occur,we have given time ,blood and our lives for the right to exist and today the same old system still lives only they have taken off the robes and put on a boss suit.
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By: IPRESS on 9/20/2007 10:53PM
You are so right Mr Watts, how dare we condone six boys jumping on a white boy? Especially the same one who attacked another black boy and never punished. How dare those black people sit up under a tree dubbed 'the white tree' only to come back and see nooses hung from it? How dare we get upset when that same white boy was seen at a party the day AFTER his 'attempted murder', what is this world coming to?
How dare, the leaders we do have (whether we agree with things they have done and said in the past) come together for a PEACEFUL demonstration and fight for the injustices of OUR children? I surely didn't see any other 'leaders' up there. I am surely not a fan of Jesse or Al, but they made me proud THIS DAY! The radio hosts.. Michael Baisden, Steve Harvey, and Tom Joyner, did an AWESOME job getting the word out, and making sure that OUR culture/community remained informed.
But again how dare they?
I am still trying to decide the connection between a black male who wears sagging pants and a noose, Mr. Watts. I just don't see it. I suppose on those rare occasions when you remember where you came from and slip a little slang, it would be appropriate for your white counter part to make a noose out of a shoe string and send it to you, right? I mean, you did initiate that behavior right?
Would it have been better if the young men were Morehouse graduates or graduates of some other HBCU? Would you have come to their defense then? Or would you have told yourself that they probably did something to encourage that behavior?
I read and reread the story, and I would digress if I had thought that these young men provoked the incident, but they didn't... they felt violated, and they fought back.. HOW DARE THEY!?!?
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By: douglas watts on 10/14/2007 1:38PM
Obviously I have not made myself clear. How can something as harmless as a noose violate a young Black person unless the noose is around their necks? Again, we do more to symbolize a noose being placed around the necks of all Black people by the way some of us treat and respond to each other. Why should it take something so symbolically placed by whites to express their disapproval of us being in their space, or a space, to nullify every bit of the derrogotory remarks and negative characterizations made by Blacks regarding each other? Get it through your head, we hate each other more than whites could ever hate us! I have felt more threatened and uncomfortable by the remarks and attitudes of Blacks than I have ever felt by whites. I don't have to see a noose by Blacks but for a Black person to outright show a white person more respect than me, right in front of me, is much more of a threat than a symbolic noose.
Afterall, it hasn't been that long ago since the last Black person was actually hung in this country, and in the south at that. Where was the calvary then? Yeah, sure, we all want to respond to something we thing is rather "symbolic" and not the real thing. It is no secret that most Blacks are captive to particular areas in this country, like not being able to venture out into the wilderness like most whites. If you think that it's because you just choose not to do so of your own choosing then you are in denial regarding your own safety. Would you venture out alone, without the benefit of a mass crowd, or would you choose to brave the outdoors on your onwn, like most whites do?
You see, it's as simple as this as far as how deep racism and the known extent of racism persists. It's not that this is a new revelation about racism, as much as it is about being in the spotlight where the perceived resurgence of racism exits. Racism has never went away. For the most part, we as Blacks simply learned how to live more safely and vigilant, and to avoid situations that expose us to the drunken and uncertain whelms of white folks.
My point is still that we are our own worst enemies. We have, mostly as a result of the hip-hop culture that emphasises gansta rap, exhibited the most threahtening and demeaning behavoir against our own people than any one else. Some call it Black hatred, while others call it Black nihelisim. The overall effect is that at the root of it all, we Blacks actually hate ourselves, and that more than all others hate us.
Until we can stop hating ourselves, how can we hold others accountable. We want to march out en mass whenever someone else looks at us side-ways, but when we have been so conditioned to the extent that we do everything within our power to make whites and other non-blacks feel like a million bucks but at the same time reflect a somber glance at our Black brothers as if they are simply being tolerate, then where is the love? Are you so concerned about how they feel yourself when you have to engage them? Would you trust your children with them? Would you leave them in your house all alone? Do you really have respect for Black men, or boys? Think about it.
This is the problem. The problem is not Jena, but the problem is us! I simply think that before we march on another so-called racist city, we should address a lot of things ourselves, and maybe even march against ourselves. Until we can get rid of the N-word, and start showing our own people some dignity and respect, comparable to what we show whites, then we can't truly justify marching against anyone, that is unless we just want to march.
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By: blaqgod on 9/21/2007 12:43AM
To Douglas Watts(No.3) if you're really a black man, then you are definitely a sell out, uncle tom ass pro-white kiss ass. First of all, these black children didn't bother anyone and even got permission to sit underneath a damn tree that was deemed for white kids. When they were threatened with the nooses, they had every right to confront those who threatened them. Those same white kids threatened those same black boys with a shotgun the previous day and it was wrestled away from them. Where's your outrage with that? When that white boy got confronted, his ho card got pulled and they whipped his ass. He threatened with his friends so where's your outrage with that? There's an injustice because when a man beats up his spouse or lover, he doesn't nearly half the time these boys were charged with and I've seen some women battered beyond recognition. I've seen people shot and the suspect didn't get nearly half the time these boys were charged with. Mind you that same white boy got his out of the hospital 3 hours later and went to a party. His injuries were apparently not that serious for those black boys to charged with attempted murder. Before you speak uncle tom learn your facts first. Its men like you who've become friends with whites and have turned your back on your own. Its black men like you who forgot where they come from and didn't give back to your community, thereby not allowing these same black boys to have a "real" black man to idolize. Black boys idolize criminals because unfortunately criminals give back to their community in a negative manner and thats all they see. While you're living in your suburban home, you're afraid to come to the hood because you're ashamed of your people. Therefore you talk about them with your white associates. Man, I wanted to talk about how we should turn this positive movement into our neighborhoods to combat criminal activity and strengthen our communities, but you done pissed me off...
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