The Jena Six

Yesterday, it was hard to reach several of our partners in Louisiana involved with disaster response to Hurricane Katrina, because they were all on buses going to another kind of disaster response -- the rally against the racism and injustice in Jena. UU ministers and congregants from Baton Rouge and New Orleans were also on buses to Jena.

Jena is a small town in Louisiana that reminds those of us who need reminding that racism still runs deep in our country. A tree in one of Jena's schoolyards was known as a "whites-only tree." Some African American students asked the principal if they could sit under that tree. He said yes and they did. The next day, three white students hung nooses from that tree in the school colors. They got a three-day suspension and the school superintendent called it "a prank. " Some prank. The racial tension mounted quickly over the next several months.

According to the Color of Change website, as racial tensions mounted, threats of violence were made against African American students, some of which were carried out. 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, but the district attorney took no action.

Then 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, allegedly using the "n-word" to refer to several other African American students. He was beaten up by African American students. In this case, action was swift: six African American teens were arrested and initially charged with aggravated battery and intent to kill. Although the white youth had been bloodied and bruised, he did not sustain serious injuries. The bail posted for the six African American teenagers ranged from $90,000 to $138,000. (Bill Quigley relates the whole story in Truth Out.)

The mass demonstration in Jena yesterday was held to protest the double standards of justice for whites and blacks. Mychall Ball, the first student tried, was defended by a public defender to an all-white jury, and called by a white prosecutor. The trial was presided over by a white judge. The public defender presented no evidence and called no witnesses in defense of his client, who was summarily sentenced to 22 years in jail. The case was later thrown out of court by another judge because Ball was a minor and could not be tried as an adult. Nonetheless, he is still in jail, where he has been held since December 2006. The other young men involved in this matter also remain in jail -- none of them have yet to be tried, but their lives are being ruined as day after day goes by while their families struggle to raise the exorbitant bails.

My first response was: how can this be happening? But one of our partners said to me, "I am surprised that you are surprised, particularly after all you have seen down here after the hurricane." She was telling me that to be surprised is a luxury, while for her it is a bitter reality. She was right. This is not a time for surprise, only outrage.