It all started with this tree in Jena,Louisiana, a town of about 4,000 residents,85%of whom are white. A student asked if he could sit under the tree for "Whites Only." The African-American student was then told by school administrators that he could sit wherever he chooses to sit. So the student sat.
The next day students arrived to see three nooses hung on the tree for "Whites Only." The message was clear to the African American students:you do not sit under a tree "marked" for "Whites Only." The boys who hung the nooses on the tree were suspended for a few days,yes a few days. School administrators didn't feel it imperative to expel the young white males; the superintendent felt that the incident was merely a harmless prank. The black students,however,did not take the "prank" so lightly;they staged a sit-in underneath the now infamous tree. For the remaining part of September and October, tension rose between the blacks and whites. Fights broke out and part of the school was lit on fire.
On Decmber 3rd 2006,another incident of racial tension occurred at this gas station pictured above. An argument ensued between one of the boys of the Jena 6 and a young unidentified male. A brawl followed in which the young white boy drew a rifle gun at Bailey,a Jena 6 male,and a couple of his other friends.The three teenagers were able to fight off the young man and were able to take the gun away.Bailey,the the black male, ran away with the gun and was later charged with theft of a firearm,second-degree robbery, and disturbing the peace.
Then it happened. On December 4th,yet another fight broke out between a black and white student. Justin Barker,who had been racially taunting some black students, was beaten unconscious. Justin,the alleged victim in question, was rushed to the hospital in which he was discharged after two hours of observation. This now historical fight resulted in the apprehending of six males. So it became that these six black men would be known as the Jena 6. The Jena 6 are 17-year-old Robert Bailey Junior whose bail was set at $138,000; 17-year-old Theo Shaw - bail $130,000; 18-year-old Carwin Jones--bail $100,000; 17-year-old Bryant Purvis--bail $70,000; 16 year old Mychal Bell, a sophomore in high school who was charged as an adult and for whom bail was set at $90,000; and an unidentified minor.
No justice,No peace.Will justice prevail? To date Mychal Bell has been found guilty of all charges and is awaiting sentencing on September 20th.Mychal Bell is expected to spend 22 years in jail for an incident that ordinarily would have gotten a high schooler suspended for two weeks tops. The other five are awaiting trial. So where is the Jusitice? No Justice,no peace says these protesters.
FREE THE JENA 6 SO THAT JUSTICE CAN IN FACT PREVAIL IN AN UNJUST WORLD.
