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 Two Races, Two Systems of Justice in LouisianaPosted on Jul 17, 2007By Amy Goodman Last week in Detroit, the NAACP held a mock funeral for the N-word. But a chilling case in Louisiana shows us how far we have to go to bury racism. This story begins in the small central Louisiana town of Jena. Last September, a black high school student requested the school’s permission to sit beneath a broad, leafy tree in the hot schoolyard. Until then, only white students sat there. The next morning, three nooses were hanging from the tree. The black students responded en masse. Justin Purvis, the kid who first sat under the tree, told filmmaker Jacquie Soohen: “They [other black students] said, ‘Y’all want to go stand under the tree?’ We said, ‘Yeah.’ They said, ‘If you go, I’ll go. If you go, I’ll go.’ One person went, the next person went, everybody else just went.” Then the police and the district attorney showed up. Substitute teacher Michelle Rogers recounts: “District Attorney Reed Walters proceeded to tell those kids that ‘I could end your lives with the stroke of a pen.’ ” It didn’t happen for a few more months, but that is exactly what the district attorney is trying to do. Jena, a community of 4,000, is about 85 percent white. While the black community gathered at a church to respond, others didn’t see the significance. Soohen interviewed Jena town librarian Barbara Murphy, who reflected: “The nooses? I don’t even know why they were there, what they were supposed to mean. There’s pranks all the time, of one type or another, going on. And it just didn’t seem to be racist to me.” Tensions rose. Robert Bailey, a black student, was beaten up at a white party. Then, a few nights later, Robert and two others were threatened by a white man with a sawed-off shotgun at a convenience store. They wrestled the gun away and fled. Robert’s mother, Caseptla Bailey, said: “I know they were in fear of their lives. They were afraid that this man was going to shoot them, you know, especially in the back, running away from the scene.” The next day, Dec. 4, 2006, a fight broke out at the school. A white student was injured, taken to the hospital and released. Robert Bailey and five other black students were charged ... with second-degree attempted murder. They each faced 100 years in prison. The black community was reeling. Independent journalist Jordan Flaherty was the first to break the story nationally. He explained: “I’m sure it was a serious fight, and I’m sure it deserved real discipline within the school system, but he [the white student] was out later that day. He was smiling. He was with friends ... it was a serious school problem that came on the heels of a long series of other events ... as soon as black students were involved, that’s when the hammer came down.” The African-American community began to call them the Jena Six. The first to be tried was Mychal Bell, 17 years old and a talented football player who was looking forward to a university scholarship. Bell was offered a plea deal, but he refused it. His father, Marcus Jones, took a few minutes off from work to talk to me: “Here in LaSalle Parish, whenever a black man is offered a plea bargain, he is innocent. That’s a dead giveaway here in the South.” Right before the trial, the charges of second-degree attempted murder were lowered to aggravated battery, which under Louisiana law requires a dangerous weapon. The weapon? Tennis shoes. Mychal Bell was convicted by an all-white jury. His court-appointed defense attorney called no witnesses. Bell will be sentenced on July 31; he faces a possible 22 years. The remaining five teens, several of whom were jailed for months, unable to make bail, still face second-degree attempted murder charges and a hundred years each in prison. Flaherty, who grew up in New Orleans, sums up the case of the Jena Six: “I don’t think there is anyone around that would doubt that if this had been a fight between black students or a fight of white students beating up a black student, you would never be seeing this. It’s completely about race. It’s completely about two systems of justice.” Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco gained national prominence during Hurricane Katrina. There’s another hurricane that’s devastating the lives of her constituents: racism. The families of the Jena Six are asking her to intervene. District Attorney Walters says he can end the boys’ lives with his pen. But Gov. Blanco’s pen is mightier. She should wield it, now, for justice for the Jena Six. Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!,” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on 500 stations in North America. © 2007 Amy Goodman; distributed by King Features Syndicate Previous item: McCain Campaign: Not Dead Yet Next item: Birth Control Is Back Elsewhere: . CommentsAre you a Truthdig member yet? Login now, or register with Truthdig.
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By Jim, March 29 at 12:03 pm # Re:Nice posting. Email me re worldwide peace movement.
By Charles Sumter, November 4, 2007 at 8:49 am # Liberals on this site had better read the latest issue of The Christian Science Monitor and journalist Craig Franklin’s words of caution ("Editor Believes Media Created Myths About Jena 6"), before ranting about social justice. Seems that Mychal Bell was a four-time loser with a criminal record long before the Jena “incident,” and it’s likely the man’s criminality won’t end anytime soon. Read Craig Franklin’s piece, and be prepared to weep, liberals. Once more, the Big Lie hasn’t worked for you. It’s high time to come to terms with truth and reality, lest you continue to wallow in fabrication and ill-begotten hated.
By Michael Cousins, September 27, 2007 at 11:43 pm # Fox News creates fear, someone said? Actually--real, palpable fear is when you’re knocked to the ground by six unruly thugs, and then repeatedly kicked in the head.
By Michael Cousins, September 25, 2007 at 11:59 am # Mychal Bell, a proven habitual criminal, is still behind bars--precisely where he needs to be. Let justice be done! God bless Reed Walters!
By Michael Cousins, September 25, 2007 at 6:03 am # Mychal Bell already boasts an uncomfortably lengthy criminal past, or so his record indicates. Justice be done: Let the kid do his jail time. You go, prosecutor Reed Walters!
By Thomas Andrews, September 24, 2007 at 6:42 pm # Ignorance is a Virtue. Portrayed by any man, creed, color, or nationality. Where injustice happen over any cause and But the true statement is this no this caucasion guy was not deliberatly beaten to a pulp. And it is stupid to believe that in your world you beat someone near death you go to prison. Because the male student by choice went to a party the same night he was released from the hospital. Which intentionally shows any sinceable person right away that he was not so called beat. Any ways in california people got stomped i didn’t see my friends sent to jail with attempted murder with a shoe and worst when i moved to texas. So this is true fact of racism
By rickeven, September 23, 2007 at 5:31 am # in my world you beat someone to near death you go to prison .....
By Quartermain, September 22, 2007 at 8:19 pm # So this crusade is on behalf of 6 young punks that ganged up on a single boy and beat him nearly to death.
By Rufus Phinnessee, September 22, 2007 at 5:13 pm # Just keep in mind folks, Reed Walters, the DA in this case, is a Democrat. The senator Robert Byrd is a former member of the KKK, also a democrat. Plain and simple, the democrats are NOT your friends until election time. Love him or hate, Bush promoted not one, but two African Americans to Secretary of State. Are you going to listen to the facts or Kayne West?
By Keith Richard Radford Jr, September 22, 2007 at 3:03 pm # My name is Keith Richard Radford Jr. At the bottom of the stairs picking myself up I walked home blurry and blooded. Knowing this was not about me but polittical reason I declinded feeling people are more important than politacal reasons. Being a boy who watched men with guns on rooftops in Watts during the L.A. riots, championing the beginning of the end of these civil and human rights abuses, I realized then that we were all in a battle created by the same prejudice, giving rise to the movement to end a really big problem.
By Dominique Woods, September 21, 2007 at 8:11 am # This is flat out ridiculous...I can not believ that after all the struggles black people have went to and all the respect we deserved but have to earn still we get this, I am so serious right now this is craz. How can we live in a country that says JUSTICE FOR ALL what justice and for who? Not if your African American noooo because you not fully an American. i’m only in Highschool so I didn’t o through the hardships my ancestors went through but I know that we do not deserve this we need to keep fighting for our equality. We need to bring back the traditional ways to fight rascism. If not for us then for the future my futurre and all the rest of the generations this can not keep happening to us!
By chris, September 20, 2007 at 8:12 pm # To me this has nothing to do with skin tone it’s more about lack of any thing ever close to equal,or fair. No matter what side of the fence you happen too find yourself,there seems to be short sided “JUSTICE” for all.I’m a 36 year old white male. because of that I can’t get a job on the Shreveport fire dept.Thanks to “affirmative action” that job HAS to be given to a black. what if I pass the test with a higher score than the black? No matter, his passing grade is much lower than the grade a white has to make to pass the same test.In our schools we lower the testing standard because the blacks couldn’t pass at the required level. all we are doing is dumbing down our kids to give the appearance of not leaving anyone behind. hell, we’re leaving them all behind instead of working to bring those who need a little extra help up to the standard.If we all would take a little pride in ourself as AMERIACANS and not ancestors of… whatever,whoever. It has not One thing to do with you or me going through our lives making choices to do right or wrong by others and ourselves. To some I seem mad,to me,I can’t belive your not enraged that we,us as a country,once a free nation,have allowed our elected government to get away with not holding up a higher standard for all of us to adhear to and that includes socially and morally all of us should stop and look at whats going on in this country not Jena. To hell with “the Jena 6” This Government is out of control and trampling on what little freedom we THINK we have while everyone is distracted with a couple hood rats and a few good kids.(I don’t know which is kid is which of course because its not up to me to judge them in their lives. WAKE UP stop following politicians like Jessy and Al they are not doing anything that isn’t going to benefit thim and their pocket books.
By Shadeka, September 20, 2007 at 2:31 pm # Chris,
By Bryan Barnard, September 20, 2007 at 1:32 pm # Dominick, I don’t see that Chris is angry. What I got from what Chris said is two things. First is that he’s proud because of his lack of skin pigment, and the second is that he believes the same standards should be applied to everyone in regard to what constitutes racism. Chris, please correct me if I’m wrong. While I can certainly agree with his second point, that ‘yes’ there are, in fact, selectively applied standards, I can’t see why anyone would be proud of their epidermal melanin content or ancestry. Skin color does not guarantee that a person inherits virtue, true morality or just judgment… these are attributes that must be cultivated regardless of who your grand-daddy was. But I think we’re missing the bigger picture, the more important point of what all of this “Jena Six” publicity is being USED for. There are elements in our society who’s goal is to agitate and inflame relations between the so-called “races” to distract our attention away from the fact that we’re ALL being set-up for a tyrannical police state. While this and O.J., Madeleine McCann, Princess Di, Paris Hilton, JonBenet, and Janet Jackson’s boob are all being selectively shoved in our faces by the obedient media, the presstitutes, bills are being signed and Executive Orders are being written that effect ALL of US, red-brown-black-white+yellow, proud or not. And “No”, voting for the right candidate isn’t going to fix it. This world is run by a criminal organization that institutionalizes evil and there is no way to “fix” it… it cannot be repaired. It’s too late for that. Why? Because individuals, the “little-guys”, YOU, have cooperated with these criminal elements and have cultivated into your own character the very same attributes of tyranny and oppression and it’s too late for you to change your ways. You patriotically go to Walmart and buy your plastic trinkets made by Communist Chinese slave-labor, and then, on the 4th of July or New years you celebrate “YOUR” freedom by lighting fireworks made by these same Communist Chinese slaves. Yes, the amoral end up digging the hole into which they themselves will certainly fall. Or, put another way, “Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man (or nation, world) sows, THAT shall he also reap.” This whole thing reminds me of two prisoners on the way to the gallows arguing who gets to ride in the front of the cart, or in this case, who gets to meet under the shade tree. Unless you have an intimate relationship with your Maker, you’re simply going to end up food for worms, and likely sooner than you had anticipated. John, I appreciate your comment that violence is not the way… very true. The Booker T. Washington quote posted in an earlier comment below revealed the way that any minority would have found success in being valued and respected in the community in which they live. http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20070717_two_races _two_systems_of_justice_in_louisiana/#96705
By DAWG, September 20, 2007 at 12:55 pm # This is the shizzle!!!! You MFs are really turning this into the country we have hoped for. I have a dream, that I can leagaly shoot any racist whitey for looking at me cross-eyed. Sweeeeet Jesus, I love America. Let it be!!!!
By John, September 20, 2007 at 10:36 am # we need more black people to vote, getting involved with their communities (church is a good start, but more), better educated african americans as a whole, more moral police, leaders and officials to change this “old south” mantality… Responding in violence is just making the black community look violent… There’s certainly still a black struggle and a thousand other situations just like this one...lets stand up with our minds, not our fists.
By Dominick J. DiNoto, September 19, 2007 at 10:15 pm # Chris,
By chris, September 19, 2007 at 9:37 pm # I ‘m Proud To Be White
By PAMELA MADISON, September 19, 2007 at 12:40 pm # FROM ROOTS TO NOW RACISM IS WRONG! IN DAYTONA BEACH FLORIDA IN 1980’S AT SEABREEZE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL MY BROTHER WAS ARRESTED AND WAS LOCKED UP FOR ONE YEAR CHARGED WITH STRONG ARMED ROBBERY. MY BROTHER WAS IN SCHOOL, IN GYM CLASS, HE AND A WHITE BOY HAD A SITUATION, THE SCHOOL OFFICALS CHARGED HIM WITH STRONG ARMED ROBBERY OF FIFTY CENT.AND NOW TWENTY YEARS LATER WE ARE STILL GOING THROUGH THE SAME STRUGGLE CONTINUES. GOD IS NOT PLEASED. TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND LEAN NOT TO YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING AND IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM AND HE WILL DIRECT YOUR PATH. THERE IS ONE JUSTICE SYSTEM, IT’S GOD.
By Dominick J. DiNoto, September 19, 2007 at 6:35 am # Princess, Kathleen Blanco, as a Governor, is a sham and wasted piece of humanity! She refuses to lift a finger to help these kids. More people should, hell Need to, write to her and let her know how our country is viewing her.
By princess, September 18, 2007 at 7:31 pm # The Jena six students strike a chord when Malcolm X quoted in his autobiography that his beliefs of freedom, independence and self-respect could never be achieved by the Negro in America, and that Negro should leave America to the white man and return to his African land of origin. For this reason he has seen four of his six brother’s die by violence, three of them killed by white man and including one by lynching. In society today this case demonstrated that racism is still thriving within our country. I’m hoping that Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco can intervene and give these young men the fair justice that they deserve.
By Julie Sullivan, September 18, 2007 at 7:14 am # Come on Kathleen Blanco; you really blew it when Katrina blew in. Now is the time to change a little bit of your pathetic legacy- step up to the plate for a change.
By Nick Falvo, September 6, 2007 at 5:27 am # Point blank… there are MANY problems with-in our society but instead of doing something about it, we simply talk about the problems. I’m a half Irish, half Italian lower-class white man. I’ve been in jail, seen the 35 year old black man who’s in on his 5th, 6th, 10th probation violation… stemming from a child support case… I’ve seen the 23 year old latino who was working under the table to send money back home to his family who’s been waiting for over a year to get deported… I’ve seen the way that minorities are treated, but don’t we all out number the racist and classist bigots who consistently slam the door in our faces? WHEN ARE WE AS CITIZENS GOING TO STAND UP AND TAKE THIS COUNTRY. we can’t take it BACK… we never really had it, but it’s been afforded to us by those who have tried before us… MLK was too peaceful… you can’t ALWAYS be peaceful… We as a nation need to rise up before we look back and wonder why we never acted… I’m sure if we rounded up 10 thousand people to march into Jena… something would get done… and I dare one of those red-neck hill-billy ignorant to attack one person… self defense is a bitch when we have nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine witnesses… am I just wishfully thinking if we took it upon ourselves we could inflict change??
By ddays06, August 29, 2007 at 4:39 am # What people don’t seem to understand is that regardless of where you stay there is going to be racism. Because of the location of the boys and the fact that the boys live in a southern state there will be little or no justice for them. If president Bush didn’t send any or very little aid to help the victims of hurricane Katrina then what makes people think that the justice system is going to be any better in some parts of Louisiana.
By Bryan Barnard, August 24, 2007 at 10:42 am # One hundred and seven years ago Booker T. Washington clearly & accurately addressed the solution as to how to dispel racial prejudice in any community in his book “Up From Slavery”, found here: http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/ebooks/pdf/WasSlav.pdf On pages 141 & 142 he states: “In this address at Madison I took the ground that the policy to be pursued with reference to the races was, by every honourable means, to bring them together and to encourage the cultivation of friendly relations, instead of doing that which would embitter… In this address I said that the whole future of the Negro rested largely upon the question as to whether or not he should make himself, through his skill, intelligence, and character, of such undeniable value to the community in which he lived that the community could not dispense with his presence. I said that any individual who learned to do something better than anybody else - learned to do a common thing in an uncommon manner - had solved his problem, regardless of the colour of his skin, and that in proportion as the Negro learned to produce what other people wanted and must have, in the same proportion would he be respected. I spoke of an instance where one of our graduates had produced two hundred and sixty-six bushels of sweet potatoes from an acre of ground, in a community where the average production had been only forty-nine bushels to the acre. He had been able to do this by reason of his knowledge of the chemistry of the soil and by his knowledge of improved methods of agriculture. The white farmers in the neighbourhood respected him, and came to him for ideas regarding the raising of sweet potatoes. These white farmers honoured and respected him because he, by his skill and knowledge, had added something to the wealth and the comfort of the community in which he lived. I explained that my theory of education for the Negro would not, for example, confine him for all time to farm life - to the production of the best and the most sweet potatoes - but that, if he succeeded in this line of industry, he could lay the foundations upon which his children and grandchildren could grow to higher and more important things in life. Such, in brief, were some of the views I advocated in this first address dealing with the broad question of the relations of the two races, and since that time I have not found any reason for changing my views on any important point.”
By joseph young, August 10, 2007 at 4:52 pm # An Open Letter To The Jena Six
By Sam Smith, August 5, 2007 at 9:59 am # Chegu, i could not agree more about the brutal reality of racism and class oppression as it plays out in the u.s. or South Africa or canada, or any other country where settlers still are in control (politically and/or economically.) Where are you in South Africa? Free the Jena 6!!!
By dominick@sonic.net, July 27, 2007 at 9:19 pm # Moira, Thank you----Done!
By moira tierney, July 27, 2007 at 8:19 pm # there was this one too, further down the comments
By dominick@sonic.net, July 27, 2007 at 2:53 pm # Moira, my question too. Thanks for putting it right out there.
By moira tierney, July 27, 2007 at 1:19 pm # found it!
By moira tierney, July 27, 2007 at 9:25 am # is there a campaign organising about this? how can we get in touch?
By bob lydia, July 26, 2007 at 8:52 pm # The title of your story “Two Races, Two Systens of Justice in Lousiana”, yes there are two races but only one justice system, justice for the whites and injustice for the black race. This reminds me of Tula Texas where the white community used the injustice system to convict more than fourty members of the minority community on bogus drug charges, thank God for Judge Ron, he came in and set things right for the minority community after the damage was done. The question was asked “where is the NAACP”, I can tell you we are on the case, the President of the Lousiana State Conference of NAACP is present and counted for, and for the person who asked about the NAACP you should be a member and and on the case with us.
By Verna Rowley, July 26, 2007 at 3:55 pm # I agree with Amy Goodman that Gov. Kathleen Blanco should intervene immediately. This is the ultimate gross injustice. It is not surprising that hate crimes continue when the people elected to represent all the people allow this to happen and do nothing to prevent or punish it (usually because of politics).
By MarkC, July 24, 2007 at 12:23 pm # to 87901: The prosecution’s message is the same as it has always been in racist jurisdictions, but it’s a forked message, like the tongue on a serpent. One side says: Zero tolerance, we’re tough on crime. The other says, with a wink, “we like things done a certain way ‘round these parts.” I am tired of otherwise rational white people going stoned deaf, dumb and blind when it comes to the racial realities of our country.
By Dominick J., July 24, 2007 at 7:59 am # I came here looking for solutions and found none. All the comments I have read here, all great supportive comments against a racisist community, I fond nothing or anyone who would stand up and give a solution or a place to go to file a petion on the National level to help these kids and that small % of black people in a dominant “white” racist town.
By stonyd, July 19, 2007 at 10:36 am # regarding comment#87815;
By THOMAS BILLIS, July 19, 2007 at 6:57 am # To Mike I could not agree with you more.In my comment I alluded to the N word more to make a point rather than have people focus on it.I am a Lenny Bruce guy in terms of words have no meaning if you do not want them to.When you start to take ownership of words you give those words more power.Honky and cracker are words used to describe white people but because white people do not use the words themselves they have lost their meaning.Nothing warms a racist heart more than having black people refer to themselves as niggers.The battle is to stop black people from denigrating themselves.Italians do not refer to themselves as ginnies nor do Jews refer to themselves as kikes.Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star has a great take on this.To Al and Jesse the problem on this topic is not some white disc jockey in New York it is in your own community.
By Chegu, July 19, 2007 at 2:47 am # I must say that though disgusted, I am not amazed by the manner in which the case was handled. Being South African I have always maintained that racism within the nations from which the neo-colonialist are spawned cannot be non-existent if their treatment of those in a country they continue to colonize through financial means is anything to go by. British and American corporations have continued to benefit from the blood and sweat of our indigenous brothers whilst maintaining the facade that convinces the ignorant that they have nothing to do with the suffering of the impoverished masses within Africa and elsewhere. Their puppets in government enrich themselves with money paid to show the world that their process of reconciliation has avoided bloodshed. It may have done so initially, but the deaths remain unchecked as the blood of South Africans continues to flow because of conditions created by the “house servant”. Their pompous attitude does nothing but feed the fire beneath the pressure pot that is close to blowing. Debates about racial intolerance and suffering are dominated by those who have money and power while those that are being killed by white farmers are sent to their graves in silence. It is only now that there is mention of these ongoing atrocities in main stream South African media to be found in small articles somewhere in the middle of the print media. South Africans have adopted an ostrich approach to its troubles. Therefore stories such as what happened in Jena does not amaze me, as this is just the well-known beast that cannot help exposing his ways.
By MLMRev, July 18, 2007 at 5:24 pm # This story, with deeper analysis, has been covered by Revolution Newspaper for the last 2 weeks. Black oppression is not a result of racist individuals but a system that is rooted in this oppression and exploitation. Check out these articles: Nooses and White Supremacy A Better World Is Possible!
By mike, July 18, 2007 at 3:02 pm # Does anyone else find it stange that on a site such as this dedicated to uncovering the truth and discussing the issues of the day that everyone pussyfoots around the ( n-word) what word need maybe noncom maybe its nose. I understand how hurtfull the word is ( I grew up in the country in texas) but it just seem like we are acting like we are talking to children instead of using the word. If we are to discuss the word niger and use the word that is completly different than using it as an insult. I am really not trying to offend I would just like to hear other peoples thought on this. If we cant dicuss this like adults we are completely screwed Add Your Comment |
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