The "Jena 6" - How Race-Related Harassment Sprials Out of Control with an Inadequate Response
The “Jena 6” of Jena, Louisiana. You’ve probably heard of them by now. The “Jena 6” are six Black, male teens (all football players) who were arrested for beating up one of their fellow high school students—White. The catalyst to all of the racial tension at Jena High School developed, when Black students asked to sit under a tree that apparently was reserved for their White counterparts. The next day, when Blacks sat under the tree, they found nooses hanging from the branches.
Three White students were accused of hanging the nooses and were suspended. However, the attitude of the top school officials was that the actions of the White students amounted to nothing more than a prank. They also implied that the noose might not have had anything to do with race, but might have been a way to tease the school’s opponents at a football game. After the nooses were hung, there were continued racial skirmishes between Black and White students. When Whites instigated the fights…nothing was done to them. But, then Black students beat up a White student…and the next thing you know…six Black students are arrested. The alleged Black “ringleader,” Mychal Bell, was charged as an adult and was charged with attempted murder. All of the students face serious charges.
In the past week, Mychal Bell’s conviction was thrown out by an appeals court, which said that Mychal Bell should have been dealt with in juvenile court. However, Mychal Bell is still rotting in jail right now. There’s been no rationale provided for keeping him incarcerated. The treatment of the six Black teens has reminded many Blacks of old-school southern justice—one sets of laws and rules for Blacks and one set of laws and rules for Whites. Regardless of which rule applies, southern justice assured that Blacks would come out on the losing end of any issues with Whites. In fact, comments by Jena’s District Attorney have fed fuel to the fire. He’s made remarks saying he could destroy the lives of the Black students with the stroke of his pen. And, then we got the heavy-handed criminal charges.
Today, thousands of Blacks flooded Jena, Louisiana to protest the arrest of the six students and to demand the release of Mychal Bell. Now, here’s what I want to address in this blog…
The way the school administration handled the noose issue is an example of how an insufficient response to a very serious issue can allow racial tensions and problems to spiral out of control. I have had posts on this site about Black workers finding nooses hanging in their lockers, etc. I even had one post that described how a Black male worker (at a warehouse) had a White coworker attempt to lasso him with a noose. This White coworker was so intent on putting this Black man in a noose that he perched himself high up on some boxes to give himself a good trajectory form which to hang this Black man.
In Jena, by saying that the Whites were engaged in a “prank” the school administrators were silently issuing a statement—to Whites and Blacks—that they didn’t consider the noose issue to be of any real significance. It was just kids being kids. They didn’t get the significance of what they’d done. But, to believe that…you’d have to believe the three White students to be stupid—which is a possibility. However, even the stupid in this country know full well what a noose symbolizes to Blacks and they know the threat and intimidation that is conveyed. Of all the things they could have hung in that tree, it is no accident that they choose nooses.
Just as it wasn’t an accident in Jena, it’s not an accident when nooses are hung in the workplace.
Federal courts have already rendered decisions, which state that images of or actual nooses and burning crosses are two examples of ISOLATED INCIDENTS that are so egregious that they rise to the level of Civil Rights violations. Historically, the noose and burning cross have been used as part of domestic terrorism against Blacks. That is why one instance of using these visual symbols of racism, terrorism, harassment/hostility, intimidation, and physical threats can bring huge liability issues against an employer.
The visual power of a noose and its impact on Blacks of any age is a fact that isn’t lost on anyone, including the White students of Jena. The response to the hanging nooses should have been as extreme as the act of intentionally harassing and terrorizing fellow students in a race and hate-filled manner.
The question in all of this is…why weren’t any charges brought up against the White students? Why didnt the White D.A. use his pen against "his own"?
I will be writing more about this issue in future posts.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE “JENA 6”? Do you think protesters should have descended on the town of Jena, Louisiana?
Three White students were accused of hanging the nooses and were suspended. However, the attitude of the top school officials was that the actions of the White students amounted to nothing more than a prank. They also implied that the noose might not have had anything to do with race, but might have been a way to tease the school’s opponents at a football game. After the nooses were hung, there were continued racial skirmishes between Black and White students. When Whites instigated the fights…nothing was done to them. But, then Black students beat up a White student…and the next thing you know…six Black students are arrested. The alleged Black “ringleader,” Mychal Bell, was charged as an adult and was charged with attempted murder. All of the students face serious charges.
In the past week, Mychal Bell’s conviction was thrown out by an appeals court, which said that Mychal Bell should have been dealt with in juvenile court. However, Mychal Bell is still rotting in jail right now. There’s been no rationale provided for keeping him incarcerated. The treatment of the six Black teens has reminded many Blacks of old-school southern justice—one sets of laws and rules for Blacks and one set of laws and rules for Whites. Regardless of which rule applies, southern justice assured that Blacks would come out on the losing end of any issues with Whites. In fact, comments by Jena’s District Attorney have fed fuel to the fire. He’s made remarks saying he could destroy the lives of the Black students with the stroke of his pen. And, then we got the heavy-handed criminal charges.
Today, thousands of Blacks flooded Jena, Louisiana to protest the arrest of the six students and to demand the release of Mychal Bell. Now, here’s what I want to address in this blog…
The way the school administration handled the noose issue is an example of how an insufficient response to a very serious issue can allow racial tensions and problems to spiral out of control. I have had posts on this site about Black workers finding nooses hanging in their lockers, etc. I even had one post that described how a Black male worker (at a warehouse) had a White coworker attempt to lasso him with a noose. This White coworker was so intent on putting this Black man in a noose that he perched himself high up on some boxes to give himself a good trajectory form which to hang this Black man.
In Jena, by saying that the Whites were engaged in a “prank” the school administrators were silently issuing a statement—to Whites and Blacks—that they didn’t consider the noose issue to be of any real significance. It was just kids being kids. They didn’t get the significance of what they’d done. But, to believe that…you’d have to believe the three White students to be stupid—which is a possibility. However, even the stupid in this country know full well what a noose symbolizes to Blacks and they know the threat and intimidation that is conveyed. Of all the things they could have hung in that tree, it is no accident that they choose nooses.
Just as it wasn’t an accident in Jena, it’s not an accident when nooses are hung in the workplace.
Federal courts have already rendered decisions, which state that images of or actual nooses and burning crosses are two examples of ISOLATED INCIDENTS that are so egregious that they rise to the level of Civil Rights violations. Historically, the noose and burning cross have been used as part of domestic terrorism against Blacks. That is why one instance of using these visual symbols of racism, terrorism, harassment/hostility, intimidation, and physical threats can bring huge liability issues against an employer.
The visual power of a noose and its impact on Blacks of any age is a fact that isn’t lost on anyone, including the White students of Jena. The response to the hanging nooses should have been as extreme as the act of intentionally harassing and terrorizing fellow students in a race and hate-filled manner.
The question in all of this is…why weren’t any charges brought up against the White students? Why didnt the White D.A. use his pen against "his own"?
I will be writing more about this issue in future posts.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE “JENA 6”? Do you think protesters should have descended on the town of Jena, Louisiana?
Labels: harassment, intimidation, intolerance, racial ignorance
posted by S. Mary Wills at 11:59 AM
6 Comments:
mullah cimoc say jena show ameriki society so mix up and be destroy.
in waziristan these boy get the flog and beating and the father of each boy also. this to teach the respect of law flogging for six on one cowards attacking white boy.
but fake divil right leaders (appointed by him whitie control media and filthy black man like sharpton) tell ameriki it okay for the back boys attacking whitie. worser still him ameriki so mental destroy think it okay for black to coward attack white boy.
white ameriki male not having the gonad now. him accept loiethat all white man the evil and must destroy the patriarchy allow woman take over. for this ameriki destroy at this moment, man the feminize and woman the slut with LBT (low back tattoo). this sign of destroying of ameriki.
google: mighty wurlitzer +cia
then ameriki discover how brain control work technical in usa.
I appreciate your comments and your blog. I grieve for the state of our country and our schools. I also agree with you that people know darn well what a noose represents to black people in this country.
There is one point being overlooked in this whole ugly situation: It isn't just a "southern" thing. The circumstances in Jena are a microcosm of the twisted antipathy people really do harbor against African Americans. The Internet in many respects demonstrates the dark and vile side of humanity. I don't know what's worse: the hatred; how some downplay incidents like this one; how others have the gall to be indignant about our frustration; or the apathetic response many people have to injustice in general. These acts are repeated endlessly on college campuses, in the workplace, and in seemingly "wholesome" communities throughout the U.S.
And when black people stand up for themselves, the first thing our detractors want to say is we're whiners, or we take things too seriously. What a bunch of crap. Frankly, I'm tired of this mess, tired of other people's ignorance and arrogance, tired of folks not teaching their children how to act right, and tired of having to explain (and justify) why I'm tired.
Well, I think that justice should be justice - white kids had to be punished for their unacceptable behavior. But comparing nasty but still symbolic acts to real physical destroying of a person - this is beyond my understanding. These two events cannot be combined together. When six physically fit football players beat one helpless person - it is a crime. And the crime has to be punished, no matter, whether blacks are beating whites, whites are beating blacks, or reds are beating greens. Until we, as a society, stop covering any crime including a murder (as in the case of O. J. Simpson) with racial grounds - we will not get rid of racial problems. If we want equal rights - they should be equal for everyone.
Who are these red and green people you're talking about? Last time I checked, I didn't see these on the color-complex spectrum.
Seriously, I'm not justifying the beating the young men gave the other youngster who happenned to be taunting one of their classmates with racial epithets. But I can certainly understand it, and don't think that all of those who came before, who by the grace of God protested peacefully when they were spat upon, beaten, attacked with dogs, routinely maligned, humiliated, forced from jobs, jailed and in many cases MURDERED didn't think the same thing at times.
It's ironic on the almost 50th anniversary of the Little Rock Nine's integration of Central High School in Arkansas that people have the nerve to question the outrage something like the Jena sitation engenders, when for years we've had a systematic criminalization of black youth in this country, which inevitably leads to squandered lives, extinguished dreams, jailhouse recidivism, and all sorts of "pathologies" people like to think so many of us harbor.
Remember that "All-American" teenage and adult mob at Central High, who screamed some of the most vile things at Minnijean Brown after a thoughtful Republican president was forced to send in federal troops to protect the other black students trying to go to school.
(I'm sure Eisenhower chafed at the idea of that use of using federal force in that situation. Anyone who understands the role of government power would. But it was necessary and just in this case.)
You can't tell me for one minute that things can't get just as ugly. And when parents on all sides don't teach their kids lessons in basic humanity, you get what happened in Jena.
The bottom line is, school administrators in Jena allowed the situation to fester even before those nooses were draped over trees. What people were peacefully protesting for in that town was equitable treatment for all those involved in the situation, not attempted murder charges that could send some kids to jail for the rest of their natural-born lives while their antagonists got a wink and pat on the head for a harmless "prank." Perhaps if the criminal justice system were truly representative of the lofty egalitarianism you espouse, we wouldn't be in this situation. There are plenty of examples where we've fallen down on the job despite our "living" Constitution and reams of historical legal precedent. So my point is this: To do nothing is not an option.
None of the protesters I've heard speaking since yesterday overlook the fact that the beating occurred and was flat out wrong. They provided a positive example to young people by peacefully demonstrating. They also want the district attorney down there and other law enforcement officials to actually use ethical standards, rather than a double standard, to support their decision-making.
Excellent Post here: http://averagebro.blogspot.com/2007/09/averagebro-blogs-live-from-jena-la.html
I personally don't beieve in marching.
I believe, the only reason, it worked, so well in the past,was because of the times, in which it happen.
The statement alone(marching in white areas), meant you meant business!! and it was the most effective way to get your point across.
With the technology and money we have collectively.
I believe, we should have set up a fund, to get the best dam-yum lawyers money can buy,IN the state!.
Thats, what freed the the DUKE PLAYERS>>>>>>MONEY and GREAT LAYWERS.
Theses marches, are only for people, who want to feel good about standing up (figurabaly speaking)for something, when a whole lot of people have your back!!.
The true test, of a cause!!(to me). Is when you stand up for something, when nobody is there to have your back, or cameras are there to record the history of the event.
Many of us have been there, and been burnt.Helping others!!
I'm not chastizing the marchers,I just believe, that if we are really about something as a people!!!! our weapons, need to be sharper (no pun intended)then a march. Because if it ain't causing them, to rethink, how they treat us!!!!, we are (in my oppinion), just wasting energy..........AGAIN
DOLPHINFAN
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