Race Hate In Louisiana Or Just A Kid's Prank? - The Jena 6

[Mr Gumbo]

Louisiana is 20 years behind the times, there they still openly show their hate for us. They not like the rest of the snows who know how to hide their hate and do their damage behind your back.

[goodcookinmama]

Last fall in Jena, Louisiana, the day after two Black high school students sat beneath the "white tree" on their campus, nooses were hung from the tree. When the superintendent dismissed the nooses as a "prank," more Black students sat under the tree in protest. The District Attorney then came to the school accompanied by the town's police and demanded that the students end their protest, telling them, "I can be your best friend or your worst enemy... I can take away your lives with a stroke of my pen."1

A series of white-on-black incidents of violence followed, and the DA did nothing. But when a white student was beaten up in a schoolyard fight, the DA responded by charging six black students with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

It's a story that reads like one from the Jim Crow era, when judges, lawyers and all-white juries used the justice system to keep blacks in "their place"--but it's happening today. The families of these young men are fighting back, but the odds are stacked against them. Together, we can make sure their story is told, that this becomes an issue for the Governor of Louisiana, and that justice is provided for the Jena 6. It starts now. Please add your voice:

Jena Six Petition

The noose-hanging incident and the DA's visit to the school set the stage for everything that followed. Racial tension escalated over the next couple of months, and on November 30, the main academic building of Jena High School was burned down in an unsolved fire. Later the same weekend, a black student was beaten up by white students at a party. The next day, black students at a convenience store were threatened by a young white man with a shotgun. They wrestled the gun from him and ran away. While no charges were filed against the white man, the students were arrested for the theft of the gun.2

That Monday at school, a white student, who had been a vocal supporter of the students who hung the nooses, taunted the black student who was beaten up at the off-campus party and allegedly called several black students "******." After lunch, he was knocked down, punched and kicked by black students. He was taken to the hospital but was released and was well enough to go to a social event that evening.3

Six Black Jena High students, Robert Bailey (17), Theo Shaw (17), Carwin Jones (18), Bryant Purvis (17), Mychal Bell (16) and an unidentified minor, were expelled from school, arrested and charged with second-degree attempted murder. Bail was set so high -- between $70,000 and $138,000 -- that the boys were left in prison for months as families went deep into debt to release them.4

The first trial ended last month, and Mychal Bell, who has been in prison since December, was convicted of aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery (both felonies) by an all-white jury in a trial where his public defender called no witnesses. During his trial, Mychal's parents were ordered not to speak to the media and the court prohibited protests from taking place near the courtroom or where the judge could see them.

Mychal is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31st, and could go to jail for 22 years.5 Theo Shaw's trial is next. He will finally make bail this week.

The Jena Six are lucky to have parents and loved ones who are fighting tooth and nail to free them. They have been threatened but they are standing strong. We know that if the families have to go it alone, their sons will be a long time coming home. They will lose precious years to Jena's outrageous attempt to maintain a racist status quo. But if we act now, we can make a difference.

Please add your voice to the voices of these families in Jena, and help bring Mychal, Theo, Robert, Carwin, and Bryant home. By clicking below, you can demand that Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco get involved to make sure that justice is served for Mychal Bell, and that DA Reed Walters drop the charges against the 5 boys who have not yet gone to trial.

Jena Six Petition

Thank You and Peace,

this is just a damm shame its like they are pulling us back slowly

[SchoolofSoul]

Latest update on the Jena 6:

The Town Talk - www.thetowntalk.com - Alexandria-Pineville, Louisiana

Article published Aug 25, 2007

Bell denied bond due to criminal history
By Abbey Brown
abrown@thetowntalk.com
(318) 487-6387


Mychal Bell

JENA -- In addition to Mychal Bell's recent felony conviction, his criminal history was revealed Friday to contain four other violent crimes.

Because of that, a LaSalle Parish judge denied the 17-year-old bond in his current scrape with the law.

Bell was convicted in June of aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit that crime for his part in a Dec. 4 incident at Jena High School that left fellow student Justin Barker unconscious.

Bell is one of six black students, known as the "Jena Six," who have been charged in connection with the attack on Barker, who is white.

According to court documents, someone hit Barker from behind, knocking him out, and then others began to kick and stomp his "lifeless" body. He spent about three hours in a local emergency room for treatment of injuries to his head and face.

Three months prior to that attack, Bell committed two violent crimes while on probation for a Christmas Day battery in 2005, according to testimony. Later that same week, he led the Jena Giants to a shutout victory in a football game against the Buckeye Panthers.

Bell was adjudicated -- the juvenile equivalent to a conviction -- of battery on Sept. 2 and criminal damage to property on Sept. 3, said Cynthia Bradford, LaSalle Parish deputy clerk.

A few days later, on Sept. 8, Bell rushed 12 times for 108 yards and scored three touchdowns -- one of the best performances of the year for the standout athlete.

Mack Fowler, Jena High's football coach at the time, said Friday he hadn't heard about Bell's specific criminal history.

"That's the first I've heard of these," Fowler said of the September incidents. "And in a small town like this, you would think I would have heard about it."

Fowler said that at one point he had a policy in place more severe than the school's when it came to students with discipline problems. But he said he discovered that while he was punishing his players, the school "wasn't doing anything" to them.

Fowler said he decided then that he was going to do the same thing the school did -- nothing.


Amanda Guillot/The Town Talk

Members of a prayer group representing LaSalle, Moorehouse, Ouachita and Caddo Parishes, pray outside
the LaSalle Parish Courthouse in Jena Friday before the bond hearing for Mychal Bell.

The issue of bail

According to Louisiana code, "bail may be allowed" after conviction but before sentencing if the maximum sentence is more than five years' imprisonment. Bell faces as many as 22½ years.

The code gives an exception of "when the court has reason to believe, based on competent evidence, that the release of the person convicted will pose a danger to any other person or the community."

LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters pointed out that Bell was placed on probation until his 18th birthday -- Jan. 18, 2008 -- after an incident of battery on Dec. 25, 2005. After being placed on probation, he was adjudicated of three other crimes, the two in September and another charge of criminal damage to property that occurred on July 25, 2006.

"Mr. Bell has proven he doesn't deserve bail," Walters said. "The state suggests that bail should not be allowed."

Bell's defense attorney, Louis Scott, pointed out that Bell's father, Marcus Jones, and a number of area ministers have pledged their support to Bell to keep him on the right path.

Jones testified that he already had scheduled an interview for his son at Holy Savior Menard Central High School in Alexandria to see if Bell could attend there if released on bond. Jones testified that he didn't move back to Jena until February -- after all of the incidents involving his son -- but that he was committed to staying here to exercise greater supervision over Bell.

Jones said he had been living in Dallas for the past seven years.

Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr., with the 28th Judicial District Court, went over the factors in Louisiana code used to determine bail, pointing out specifics in Bell's case:

• The seriousness of the offense: "It is a serious offense because it is a crime of violence," he said.
  
• The weight of the evidence against the defendant: Mauffray said it was "pretty weighty" considering the jury convicted Bell.
  
• The previous criminal record of the defendant: He said a criminal record was obviously present considering that Bell had been adjudicated on three offenses that were committed while he was on probation and then convicted this year in adult court.
  
• The nature and seriousness of the danger to any other person or the community that would be posed by the defendant's release: Again, Mauffray pointed out that Bell now has either been adjudicated or convicted of five crimes of violence.
  
• Whether the defendant is currently out on bond on a previous felony arrest: He cited Bell's presence on probation and the fact that there were three other cases -- not including the case Bell is currently in jail for -- awaiting disposition.

"Past behavior is the best prediction of future behavior," Mauffray said.

Melissa Bell, Mychal's mother, grabbed her son's hand, squeezing hard and began to cry when court was dismissed. With denial of bail, Bell will remain behind bars until the completion of his still-undetermined sentence. He has been behind bars since his December arrest.

A motion hearing is scheduled for Sept. 4. Bell's attorneys are hoping their client's adult conviction will be voided and the case remanded to juvenile court. If that motion is denied, attorneys have filed a motion for a new trial based on insufficient defense counsel for Bell among other things.

Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 20.

[ardamus]

Originally Posted by darkwing69

you have got to be kidding. I am from up north D. C. and i have never seen no trash like this for years even when i was coming up as a kid. first of all a whites only tree, no one has went to court just over the fact that there is a whites only tree. you got one of to choices move from that place or move from that place

They keep P.C. and quiet in the district. Don't sleep, fam. Its nothing like Jena at all. But you'll see it on another level in DC.

[ardamus]

Originally Posted by SchoolofSoul

Latest update on the Jena 6:

The Town Talk - www.thetowntalk.com - Alexandria-Pineville, Louisiana

Article published Aug 25, 2007

Bell denied bond due to criminal history
By Abbey Brown
abrown@thetowntalk.com
(318) 487-6387


Mychal Bell

JENA -- In addition to Mychal Bell's recent felony conviction, his criminal history was revealed Friday to contain four other violent crimes.

Because of that, a LaSalle Parish judge denied the 17-year-old bond in his current scrape with the law.

Bell was convicted in June of aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit that crime for his part in a Dec. 4 incident at Jena High School that left fellow student Justin Barker unconscious.

Bell is one of six black students, known as the "Jena Six," who have been charged in connection with the attack on Barker, who is white.

According to court documents, someone hit Barker from behind, knocking him out, and then others began to kick and stomp his "lifeless" body. He spent about three hours in a local emergency room for treatment of injuries to his head and face.

Three months prior to that attack, Bell committed two violent crimes while on probation for a Christmas Day battery in 2005, according to testimony. Later that same week, he led the Jena Giants to a shutout victory in a football game against the Buckeye Panthers.

Bell was adjudicated -- the juvenile equivalent to a conviction -- of battery on Sept. 2 and criminal damage to property on Sept. 3, said Cynthia Bradford, LaSalle Parish deputy clerk.

A few days later, on Sept. 8, Bell rushed 12 times for 108 yards and scored three touchdowns -- one of the best performances of the year for the standout athlete.

Mack Fowler, Jena High's football coach at the time, said Friday he hadn't heard about Bell's specific criminal history.

"That's the first I've heard of these," Fowler said of the September incidents. "And in a small town like this, you would think I would have heard about it."

Fowler said that at one point he had a policy in place more severe than the school's when it came to students with discipline problems. But he said he discovered that while he was punishing his players, the school "wasn't doing anything" to them.

Fowler said he decided then that he was going to do the same thing the school did -- nothing.


Amanda Guillot/The Town Talk

Members of a prayer group representing LaSalle, Moorehouse, Ouachita and Caddo Parishes, pray outside
the LaSalle Parish Courthouse in Jena Friday before the bond hearing for Mychal Bell.

The issue of bail

According to Louisiana code, "bail may be allowed" after conviction but before sentencing if the maximum sentence is more than five years' imprisonment. Bell faces as many as 22½ years.

The code gives an exception of "when the court has reason to believe, based on competent evidence, that the release of the person convicted will pose a danger to any other person or the community."

LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters pointed out that Bell was placed on probation until his 18th birthday -- Jan. 18, 2008 -- after an incident of battery on Dec. 25, 2005. After being placed on probation, he was adjudicated of three other crimes, the two in September and another charge of criminal damage to property that occurred on July 25, 2006.

"Mr. Bell has proven he doesn't deserve bail," Walters said. "The state suggests that bail should not be allowed."

Bell's defense attorney, Louis Scott, pointed out that Bell's father, Marcus Jones, and a number of area ministers have pledged their support to Bell to keep him on the right path.

Jones testified that he already had scheduled an interview for his son at Holy Savior Menard Central High School in Alexandria to see if Bell could attend there if released on bond. Jones testified that he didn't move back to Jena until February -- after all of the incidents involving his son -- but that he was committed to staying here to exercise greater supervision over Bell.

Jones said he had been living in Dallas for the past seven years.

Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr., with the 28th Judicial District Court, went over the factors in Louisiana code used to determine bail, pointing out specifics in Bell's case:

• The seriousness of the offense: "It is a serious offense because it is a crime of violence," he said.
  
• The weight of the evidence against the defendant: Mauffray said it was "pretty weighty" considering the jury convicted Bell.
  
• The previous criminal record of the defendant: He said a criminal record was obviously present considering that Bell had been adjudicated on three offenses that were committed while he was on probation and then convicted this year in adult court.
  
• The nature and seriousness of the danger to any other person or the community that would be posed by the defendant's release: Again, Mauffray pointed out that Bell now has either been adjudicated or convicted of five crimes of violence.
  
• Whether the defendant is currently out on bond on a previous felony arrest: He cited Bell's presence on probation and the fact that there were three other cases -- not including the case Bell is currently in jail for -- awaiting disposition.

"Past behavior is the best prediction of future behavior," Mauffray said.

Melissa Bell, Mychal's mother, grabbed her son's hand, squeezing hard and began to cry when court was dismissed. With denial of bail, Bell will remain behind bars until the completion of his still-undetermined sentence. He has been behind bars since his December arrest.

A motion hearing is scheduled for Sept. 4. Bell's attorneys are hoping their client's adult conviction will be voided and the case remanded to juvenile court. If that motion is denied, attorneys have filed a motion for a new trial based on insufficient defense counsel for Bell among other things.

Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 20.

Run a ball down the field and they love you. Stand up to them and they want to beat you down. If the police force is reacting to him like this now, what they reacting like before? What are the specifics of those past few cases? My thing is they bring up those past cases but again its been stated how rampidly racist that town is. They could've done anything to twist up the truth of those crimes at any time.

[SchoolofSoul]

ProgressiveHistorians:: (One Reason) Why Mychal Bell's Conviction Was No Surprise.

(One Reason) Why Mychal Bell's Conviction Was No Surprise.
by: elle
Sun Jul 01, 2007 at 12:31:43 PM EDT
(Welcome back, Elle! And everybody else, please sign the petition at the bottom of this post. - promoted by Nonpartisan)

***crossposted at elle, phd***

Mychal Bell is one of the Jena Six, six black boys from Jena, LA, initially charged with attempted murder for allegedly jumping on a white boy at school. Vox ex Machina summarizes the case (comment #24):

a. Only three of the six teens arrested participated in the fight.
b. Several white teenagers jumped and beat up a black teen the weekend before the fight and were charged only with battery.
c. A white teenager threatened a black teen with a shotgun and was not charged with a crime.
d. White teens threatened the lives of the black teens by hanging the nooses from that tree and were never punished.
e. The boy who was "beaten" in the afternoon was up and at his ring ceremony that same evening.

More details at my place (just search for "Jena") especially here, here, and here.

You know what I felt like happened in Mychal Bell's case? Let me give you a couple of historical examples.

After Nat Turner's rebellion in 1831, when eyes turned to Virginia, when the lies about enslaved blacks' contentment and the relative benignity and beneficiality of slavery were so thoroughly challenged, the white South basically shut down any discussions on the peculiar institution.* Challenges and criticisms wouldn't be met with defenses, justifications, or skewed logic (not that they'd always been prior to 1831). Instead, they were met with aggression, anger, and threats toward suspected abolitionists (and even the more moderate anti-slavery folk) and further repression of blacks. Pro-slavery forces in Congress even managed to effect gag rules, shutting down the discussion in Congress for a decade.

The lesson--there are very real, very negative results if some white Southerners perceive attacks on the racial status quo, particularly in the form of liberatory actions on the part of blacks and "interference" from "outsiders."**

I've mentioned before that in the late 1950s/early 1960s, Senator Allen Ellender of Louisiana stood in the Senate and painted a picture of the South, and Louisiana in particular, as a peaceful region, with few "racial" disturbances, and a status quo accepted by blacks and whites alike. If blacks were largely disfranchised,*** then it was the result of insufficient motivation on their parts and nothing systematic or institutional. But, Ellender warned, if the Justice Department kept interfering, if civil rights organizations kept pushing, then no one could hold white southerners responsible for what they might do about the attack on their states' rights and the favoritism shown towards blacks.

And in the aftermath of new civil rights acts and the establishment of the Civil Rights Commission (CRC), white Southerners, again, shut down. They restricted access to social services to the poorest blacks. In Louisiana, they ruthlessly purged blacks from the voter rolls. They expanded the use of literacy tests and "good character" requirements. They refused to cooperate with the CRC, refused to even acknowledge its legitimacy.

The lesson--there are very real, very negative results if some white Southerners perceive attacks on the racial status quo, particularly in the form of liberatory actions on the part of blacks and "interference" from "outsiders."

So when it came to Mychal Bell's trial, I just knew. When blacks in Jena rallied around their children, when international attention came to the situation, I knew. When I read the nasty comments from Louisianans on different blogs about how "Jena isn't that bad" and "There's racism everywhere" and "If six white boys had done this...", I knew. And Lord, when they chose that all white jury, I knew, as a historian, as a black southerner, that the jury was not going to miss the chance to reinforce "the lesson."

Again.

At the expense of a child's life.
_____________________________________
PLEASE, SIGN THE PETITION. The first line: We respectfully request that the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice review events surrounding the prosecution of six Black students in Jena, Louisiana, to determine whether the civil rights of Jena residents have been violated.
_____________________________________
*The rebellion was not the sole reason, of course, but I believe it played a large role in the way the South handled the issues surrounding slavery over the next three decades.
**Outsiders can be within the community, too, e.g. white southerners who challenged the status quo in the South.
***I mention this because I am hearing the same defenses of the all-white jury in Jena.

[goodcookinmama]

damm shame

[DBlack]

I needed some time, and still do, to calm down on this one. This stinks to high heaven should remind the uncle Toms that not much has changed. This modern day version of stealth racism is just as bad a overt Jim Crow and we need to wise up to it, stand and be counted, and hold our leaders accountable for their lack of action.

White kids get in school suspension for acts of terrorism?! I wonder what would have happend if a muslim student hung a poster of Osama Bin Laden on the school main door? Somehow, I don't think that student would have received a light treatment.

And where is the media? This story is grossly underreported on the T.V. but rightly covered on the internet. That's because on the net, the racists in power don't have media over what get's discussed.

Here we are in 2007 and black kids and adults are still unfairly protected and respected by our laws; many of them mandated in the U.S. Constitution. Here we are in 2007 and yet another backwoods town; arguably the terrorcells of anglosaxon uber racism, wipes the floor of immorality and injustice with our people.

And where in the fug are our black leaders? Where is the outcry of Oprah, Presidental Candidate Obama!? Silent. Why is that Jesse and Sharpton have to always be the out there on an island crying foul and protesting the glaring injustices commited against us? Where are our celebrities and super athletes, scholars and powerfully rich black elitists?!

Quiet.....deafly Quiet...


And sadly, it looks really bad for these youth. For Whitey is sending a message to the black collective; If you retaliate, this is what we will do to you. We will destroy your life, regardlless of the promise you show. We will make an example out of you......******. YOu think I'm bullshydinn'? Remember the laws that were passed after slaver abolishment that forbid blacks to own weapons? Think about it....it's because they feared retribution. See, when you know you've wronged someone, you fear their opportunity for revenge. Every man has a sense of divine justice.

Whites will always seek to oppress and deny retribution at every turn. Which is why on one side of their face the deny racism exists. They only acknowledge that racism "used to" exist, but never in the present. When given the chance to step on the neck of even our women and kids, they will....they have....they are...

[ct123]

Charges Reduced In 'Jena 6' Attack


Tue Sep 4, 2:09 PM ET

Prosecutors on Tuesday reduced the attempted murder charges against two more teenagers among the "Jena Six," a group of black high school students who were arrested following an attack on a white schoolmate.

Five of the teens were originally charged with attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, carrying sentences of up to 80 years in prison. The sixth faces undisclosed juvenile charges.

Civil rights advocates have decried the charges as unfairly harsh.

On Tuesday, charges against Carwin Jones and Theo Shaw were reduced to aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy. That same reduction was made earlier for Mychal Bell, who was tried and found guilty and could be sentenced to 22 1/2 years at a hearing Sept. 20.

Also awaiting trial are Robert Bailey Jr. and Bryant Purvis, who still face attempted murder charges, and the unidentified juvenile.

The attack on Justin Barker, 18, came amid tense race relations in Jena, a mostly white town of 3,000 in north-central Louisiana where racial tensions have grown since incidents that started last school year at Jena High. After a black student sat under a tree on the school campus where white students traditionally congregated, three nooses were hung in the tree.

Students accused of placing the nooses were suspended from school for a short period.

The six black students were accused of beating and kicking Barker on Dec. 4. A motive for the attack was never established. Barker was treated at a hospital emergency room and released after about three hours.

Shaw's attorney, George Tucker, said Tuesday that he still doesn't believe his client will get a fair trial in Jena.

Shaw himself has dreams of attending Gramling State University. "Just drop all the charges and let us go on with our lives," the teenager told CNN Tuesday.

More Jena 6 On W.E. A.L.L B.E.:

“Southern Trees Bear Strange Fruit…”

W.E. A.L.L. B.E.: Giving God The Glory And Keeping Our Eyes On The Prize On W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio...

If you want to contact and support them in the cause, click the link below:

W.E. A.L.L. B.E.: Get Into It & Get Involved...Be On The Right Side Of History And Support The Jena 6!!!

The Tragedy And Triumph of The Jena 6 a.k.a. The New Scottsboro 9
W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio's Jena 6 Special Summary

W.E. A.L.L. B.E.: Jena 6 Special Planted Seeds Of Change W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio Style...

[Muze]

this story STILL makes me mad. i just can't believe the other kids got suspended for a few days. maaan we need some marching right now or some boycotts or SOMETHING! for real.