what did the Jena 6 do?

Question

cant find a story on this, can you outline it for me.

Answer 1

It happened in Jena, Louisana. some black students sat under a tree usually used by white students. Then some white students hung nooses from the tree. Then racial tensions got out of hand and six black students beat him. Now the black students are facing criminal charges and life in prison. the white students got suspended for a mere three days.

Answer 2

On August 31, 2006 at Jena High School in Jena, Louisiana a small group of black students asked if they could sit under a tree on the traditionally white side of the Jena High School square [why would they even feel the need to ask? it seems strange to me that these kids are conditioned to think they had to ask to sit under a public tree]. The students were 'granted' permission, and proceeded to sit under the tree. On the following day, three nooses [for those who don't know, nooses are ropes with the loop tied on the end of it--used to hang folks] were found hanging from the tree in which the black students were sitting under. Throughout the semester, tension around the school began to mount as a result of the incident. Both parents and students staged protests, but the city's concern was mainly to keep everyone [the black students] 'calm' threatening to "...make their lives disappear with the stroke of a pen." Racial incidents continued to occur in the town of Jena.

In one incident, a black student was assaulted by a white adult as he entered a predominantly white party. After being struck in the face without warning, the young black student was assaulted by white students wielding beer bottles and was punched and kicked before adults broke up the fight. It has been reported that the white assailant who threw the first punch was subsequently charged with simple battery (a misdemeanor), but there is no documentary evidence that anyone was charged [are we surprised by this?]. Shortly after the lunch hour of Monday, December 4, 2006, a fight between a white student and a black student reportedly ended with the white student (Justin Barker, later arrested for having a rifle with 13 bullets in his truck in the school parking lot) being knocked to the floor. Several black students reportedly attacked the white student as he lay unconscious. Because the incident took place in a crowded area and was over in a matter of seconds eye witness accounts vary widely. Written statements from students closest to the scene (in space and time) suggest that the incident was sparked by an angry exchange in the gymnasium moments before in which the black student assaulted at the party was taunted for having his "*** whipped". Within an hour of the fight, six black students were 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.

Answer 3

many things happend to lead up to this.

1. When one black kid + his friends asked to sit under a "white" tree. The next day three nooses were hung from the tree.
they recieved "in-school" suspenision. which is hardly anything.
2.Some black football players organized a peaceful silent protest under the tree and the police were called.
The local D.A. said that he could easily ruin any one of their lives.

3. Bailey, a black 16 year old+his friends, went to a mostly white party and they were beaten up by a group of whites. the white kids were not charged at all.

4. The next day Bailey confronted the white boy from the party in a grocery store and the white boy ran to his car and pulled out agun. Bailey wrestled the gun away from him. Later he was charged with 2nd degree robbery + disturbing the peace. The white boy wasnt charged at all.

5. One white student was loudly bragging how Bailey had been whipped my a white man.
THEN the black students fought him. The injuries werent as mad as "attempted murder" as he later went to a party that evening.

one of the black students, mychal bell, was tried as an adult and faces 22 years in jail

Answer 4

some white kids in jena louisiana were harassing black kids with nooses hanging from trees. six black kids beat the crap out of a white kid. the six black kids are the Jena 6.

Answer 5

They got into a typical highschool fight. There was much racial tension leading up to this fight. The prosecutors in Jena are white and racist, trying to put these 6 boys behind bars for attempted murder. The only good to come from this is a rebirth in the Civil Rights movement. Here is more info;
Dear friends,
I just learned about a case of segregation-era oppression happening today in Jena, Louisiana. I signed onto ColorOfChange.org's campaign for justice in Jena, and wanted to invite you to do the same.

http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=1842-439302

Last fall in Jena, 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. It starts now. Please join me:

http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=1842-439302

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 later arrested for the theft of the gun.

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.

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. 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. 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. But if we act now, we can make a difference.

Join me in demanding 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.

http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=1842-439302

Thanks.

Answer 6

Why is this posted in Halloween? Shouldn't it be under Current Events or News?! You should be able to find it everywhere - just google it....

Answer 7

Why is this in the Halloween area may I ask??

Answer 8

You can find this story on ANY news sight...take your pick.

Answer 9

I don't know, but I know it didn't have anything to do with Halloween.