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.”
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 story has gotten minimal press. Together, we can make sure their story is told and that the Governor of Louisiana intervenes and provides justice for the Jena 6.
Thas what I’m talkin about my brothas and sistas let’s band together!!!!
Sad that this still goes on in 2007! I will be signing!
It’s so sad to know that in this day and time things are still going on like this.
I swear time is going in full circle.
I just signed. Sad that shit like this still occurs in some parts of the deep south. I’ve had bad experiences both in TN & in Jax,FL.
I live in Baton Rouge, LA and I had no idea that we still had problems like this occurring in out state. It is an outrage! I am not only shocked, but this also disturbs me.
God be with us
I can’t believe they have a damn “White Tree”……WTF?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!!?!
That is not a prank I would be fucking pissed and OH HELL YES my ass would be protesting under the tree!!! This is unbe-freakin-leavable!!! Why? What? I’m in awe but stuf like this still goes on in the south I know for a fact if you go to Stone Mountain in Georgia the KKK still has meetings in the hills. They also meet in the parking lot of the Tanger Outlet Mall in south Georgia on Sunday afternoons. And on your way to or from Georgia by way of Florida you can see a house in Americus, Georgia where their is KKK spray painted all over it.
….from the Highway
This comes as no suprise, especially coming from the South.
The justice system is what it is…………..JUST US!
in the words of kanye west, racism still alive….that is a damn shame in 2007 people still are trying to lynch black people….as a people if we stand for nothing, we will fall anything…everybody please sign this petetion and pass it on to others as well.
fuck this shit it aint my problem so i dont care about it.
******ONLY “WHITES” WOULD SAY SLAVERY DOES NOT EXIST ANYMORE IN AMERICA……WE, THE AFRICAN AMERICANS, KNOW BETTER!!!
SOME ONE NEEDS TO GO DOWN TO LOUISIANA, AND CHECK THEM WHITE PEOPLE….QUICK! WHERE YA AT JESSE????????????????
WTF DIZ IS A SAD VERY SAD DAT WE STILL LIVE IN DARK TIMES LIKE DIZ ….I BE DAMNED IF WE GO BACK THERE….OH HELLL NAWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WHERE DA FUCK IS AL SHARPTON AND JESSE JACKSON , I THOUGH THEY WAS FOR DA PPL , I HAD MY SHARE OF WHITE PPPL BUT DIZ IS IT ,
IT HAS TO STOP NOW !!!!!!!!!!!
HELP DEEZ PPL GOD , CUZZ IT AINT RITE, IF DEM PL CAME UP NORTH WIT DA SHYT DEY WOULDNT LAST AN HOUR WIT OUT BEEN DEAD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i just signed……this is damn shame how racism is still goin strong in this time…..People please sign the petition!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@ “100%”……I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT TALK YOU’RE TALKING! THAT’S OUR PROBLEM NOW, WE CAN’T COME TOGETHER, UNLESS IT BENEFITS U. CHANGE THAT ATTITUDE PLAYA…..WHAT IF IT WAS U.
MAN I WISH SOME WHITE PPL WOOULD TRY SOME SHYT LIKE DAT ON ME !!!!!!!!!!!!!
IT SAD HOW DA WHITE MAN GOTS US ACTING , MAN WE GOT TO STOP DIZ MADNESS
This is ashame the so called country of the Free and Of Equal Opportunitity is sill like this in 2007!!
Why does it always have to be in the South?? That’s why so many black people be afraid to take trips out there and Mississppi.
may god bless them an b wit them!!
@100% you shouldn’t even be in this country if it doesn’t apply to your dumb ass…People like you are the reason why they treat us the way they do now…You look the other way like it doesn’t concern you BUT IT DOES!!! THIS CONCERNS EVERYBODY BASED ON CULTURES, AGE, GENDER, EVERYTHING CONCERNS US.
When are black people going to learn that the south hasn’t changed? Just because they took the “whites only” signs down, doesn’t mean the minds of white southerners has changed.
Philly may have 300 murders a year, but atleast I don’t have to worry about a cross being burned on my lawn. Because we don’t have lawns! Bwauhahahhahahaah.
it’s about time you guys posted this CL. i heard about this a while back. this is such a shame. i pray our signatures will make enough of a difference. @ 100% i’m pretty sure you posted that just to rile people up because if you’re a black person or even a person at all you cannot seriously mean that.
Times sure have changed huh?I guess not.I live in the south and I can’t say I experience any type of wrong doing but I know it happens in little towns because I never heard of Jena until now.I signed the petition.
Where is Al Sharpton when you need him???
Signed…SMH @ a “white tree”
WOW @ 100%, why did you take the time out of your pathetic day to even leave a comment like that?
i’m glad i live in california… this would never pop off out here…
wish there was more we could do.
Thats hurts so bad man… ugh could be any of us
I’m so glad that you all have done a post about this! Thanks!!!
I just signed and it is sad that this world is not use to change or accepting different races.
@ # 6 i just came from Alexandria,LA sunday.did you not check the paper??
thats all ive been hearing(jena six) everytime i went down home this summer.
The world needs jesus.
This is a shame that this still happens in 2007 and I will be signing…. 22 years because he was involved in a fight that the boy walked away from? That doesn’t make a damn bit of sense!
@ Chillin @ Work…Al Sharpton only cares if black people get called bitches, hoes, and niggas, he doesn’t show face when black people go to prison for no reason or when thousands of blacks are murdered every day for no reason at all…
Thats sad i signed the petition, 22 years is crazy!!! at the age of 16 wtf??? Thats straight up racism they didnt even lock up the white boy Justin Barker for beating the black boy up at the party in the first place.
@ 100%
Your a dumbass!
Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are busy running around trying to get certain rap lyrics banned. Maybe they haven’t jumped on the case because no one is paying them to. If you want Al Sharpton’s or any other so called black activist’s help, you have to show them some green. For the sake of the people, you would think that these “black leaders” would speak, rally and march for free.
I miss Dr. King.
I just signed an on top of that, forwarded it in a email to all on my contact list.
this is ridiculous..i cant believe stuff like this still goes on!
I cant believe they have a white tree, and that this tree is recognized by everyone including the police as the white tree. I dont think those kids were told to leave because of their protest, but because they were protesting under the white tree. This needs to stop, racism is ignorant, no can say one race is a better race, because there is ignorace everywhere.
That school system should be punished for not taking any of that seriously. They let it go on for so long. Someone could have gotten killed. I mean this could have turned into another Columbine-type situation. I actually commend the black students for keeping their cool for so long.
If some shit like that happened in Southeast Michigan, we’d never hear the end of it. Plus, I would like to think that none of the judges here are crazy enough to make a ruling like that. Attempted 2nd degree murder? Conspiracy? What the hell is going on? There’s something really foul going on there!
This is why we need to stand up as a people, stop playing games with each other, putting out negative messages to the masses about our people, sometimes it’s not about the ice, whips, chains etc, but about our existence and our ability to be together and work together both young and old, I am from Louisiana, and from the problems we faced after Katrina (which we still face today) to this, give me the desire to continue the fight alongside my brothers and sisters, so please join in, at my last check I found approximately 19,000 signatures, please rise up and sign, it is only a start, but it is a good one.
What’s sad is that it will never get better, only worse. White people still hold the power to do whatever they want. There should never be a “white tree” Segregation has been long gone, therefore anyone can sit under that tree.
Racism is pure ignorance, and for 100% you must not be black to think that this doesn’t effect you. It effects us all. We all have had our run ins with racism in one way or another.
I heard about this a couple of months ago, my friends and I were like WTH. One of the boys has already went to trial, and no one on the jury was African American. smh
Please access this website for more information:
http://freethejena6.org/
Young Black males the target of small-town racism
Jesse Muhammad
Final Call Staff Writer
reposted from finalcall.com
JENA, La. (FinalCall.com) – Marcus Jones, the father of 16-year-old Jena High School football star Mychal Bell, pulls out a box full of letters from countless major colleges and universities in America who are trying to recruit his son. Mr. Jones, with hurt in his voice, says, “He had so much going for him. My son is innocent and they have done him wrong.”
An all-White jury convicted Mr. Bell of two felonies–aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery–and faces up to 22 years in prison when he is sentenced on July 31. Five other young Black males are also awaiting their day in court for alleged attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder charges evolving from a school fight: Robert Bailey, 17; Theo Shaw, 17; Carwin Jones, 18; Bryant Purvis, 17; and Jesse Beard, 15. Together, this group has come to be known as the “Jena 6.”
Read more…
I am utterly disgusted, but what in the hell made us think that discrimination was dead? Racism is alive and well. African Americans are STILL one of the most hated groups. And because the foundation of family is dead, Our young people are caught up in this THUG fantasy and we remain uneducated, underachievers we are headed right back to the fucking plantation. We fought so hard for equal opportunity yet and still we settle for less!
This is horrible. However, check this out: http://ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/press/bvvcpr.htm. It shows that black on black violence is highest amongst all races. Where is the outrage and the protest for this?
what really makes this sad it that racism still exist…
Thank you for posting this!
racism is still very alive in ’07
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE??? I DON’T GET IT, IT’S NOT LIKE IN THE 60′S WHERE THEY MIGHT HAVE HAD A MOB MENTALITY. SOME PEOPLE WILL NEVER LEARN AND WILL ALWAYS BE SCARED THAT OTHER PEOPLE ARE BETTER THAN THEM.
ALSO, THERE’S ONLY 20,733 signature on the petition….
wtf…do they even have tvs or any kind of ANYYTHING…do they not realize we are in a whole new level in life now? that is so fucked up…that really pisses me off…it is such an ashaming thing…especially with me livin next to that state..bless them
WTF! “A white tree” I just signed the petition and its at 20907 Signatures Total…I wanna thank concreteloop for bringing this to my attention, I had no idea this was going on.
This is why we have to start with the music. We are always going to feel Jim Crow’s hand when we go down south but we have to start with us. Until all the racists die off we must make the change within ourselves. Thats why when people think I’m “hating” on songs like “Ay Bay Bay” and “Crank Dat”. This bull is not bettering us as a race. White people on the outside looking in are like “There they go again…fire up the truck and grab the ropes!” We look like some common day “Step-N-Fetch Its when we do shit like this. I’m not saying every song on the radio has to be empowering, but at least have the decency to let our children hear proper english, and when they hear you, aspire to be great people no matter what path they take. I have don’t have enough time on this earth to hate, but I would like to see change before were gone.
I went and signed I wanna say I’m shocked but at the same time I’m not this is just like the kids in texas a couple years ago who had two different proms one for whites and one for blacks and this was like 2003..I dont agree with the violence that happened I hate it had to come to that for those kids but this is just bull
right on #41. thanks for posting this angel. i was going to email the story to the cl@gmail address but i figured since this site is centered around celebs it would get ignored. but yeah that mess is outrageous, it makes my heart ache for the black community and i’m almost definately sure this post won’t get half as much attention as candid beyonce pictures because that’s what we’ve become all about in the last 30 years: exactly what #41 said.
And another thing what kind of country are we in that Paris Hilton gets more news and press than something like this..thanx concrete if not for yall I may have never known
I thought Al sharpton and Jesse Jackson were already involved in this? Yeah this is way more important than trying to bann certain rap lyrics. Oh and I live in the south also and everywhere down here is not like this. Maybe in the rural parts. This just goes to show you that Black people will never really be free and racism is hear to stay. Its just sad.
here in NEW HAMPSHIRE the biker gang is also the KKK
20. CAFFALI
When are black people going to learn that the south hasn’t changed? Just because they took the “whites only” signs down, doesn’t mean the minds of white southerners has changed.
_______________________________________________
The problem is so many black people out there do not care unless it affects them personally and we’ve got to get past that. Nobody cares about these events UNTIL it happened to a family member or a close friend, then we all want to get self-righteous and holla for justice. We’ve should have been looking out for each other and react by protesting, writing letters and demanding respect and rights…and not look to idiots like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. They are not for us…they are only into leadership for fame and the limelight.
It is not just in the south…it’s all over this country. The difference is that you can’t tell who your enemy is in some parts of the land because they pretend to be your friendly unlike those Southern Caucasians who let you from jump that we don’t like your kind and you’re not welcome here.
Nothing has changed…those KKK garments have been traded for police uniforms; Political/CEO Taylor made suits and Judge robes and have been dispersed all over this country. Please do not be fooled by stating that it’s only in the South. True- the racism and hate crimes are more common in the South but it still exists everywhere.
I pray that these families, communities and anyone else who was affected put their trust in God and have strength to defeat all things that are against them.
wow THAT”S SO RECENT…
and it doesnt matter WHERE YOU LIVE..its so sad..yeah it really does seem like time is doing a FULL circle..and whats SAD IS..we’d like to think that blakc people are making it somewhere…truth is we havent really gotten that far..all the BLCK CELEBS we see are the FEW that make it ..we are the MAJORITY of the populatin..not the MINORITY…never been the minority..the FEW BLCK CELEBS we see only make it seem like we’ve gotten somewhere..if they sat up under that tree they’d experience the SAME SHIT…and what’s sad is that no black celebs reallly do much to help ‘us’ out…they just go and buy million dollar bags..smh
The DA, School Superintendant and the principal all need to lose their jobs. They are their to ensure that these students receive a good education, not discrimination. When the School Administration became aware of a “white tree”, it should have been removed from school property.
I’ve signed and forwarded to my family as well, this is terrible.
no.11 stop trying to start drama. sad
i don think america is ready for a black president. if things like this are still going on…
I received an email a while back and signed the petition. What is crazy is that in the video I watched the tree was planted by a black student . I can’t remember her name and I saw it a while ago but it was supposed to stand as a symbol. How it got twisted into the “white tree” I don’t know but its a shame this type of thing still goes on in the south. I’m not suprised one bit though.