The Jena 6

Jena, Louisiana

I'm sure that by now everyone has heard of what has been happening in Jena. It makes my heart sick but I need to say something about it. Not many of you probably realize that Jena is very close to where I lived in Alexandria, Louisiana. In fact, they are only about 30 miles from each other, which is about the same distance from Palisade to Fruita (for those of you hailing from CO). I have visited Jena (a very small town, somewhat set back into the woods), I have friends that live in Jena, I have friends who have taught at the same high school where all of this happened. It makes me so sad, my heart heavy.

Let me tell you, there still is racism in the deep south. Heck, there is still racism in the not-so-deep south. However, most of the people are just like us - loving, caring people that accept anyone, regardless of their skin color. I hate how it seems that all of the residents of Jena, and the deep south in general, are being characterized as racist, noose-hanging people. My heart goes out to them as well. BUT the fact remains that there are those out there who have been taught (mostly by their parents and other family members) that it's ok to look down on others simply for their skin color. They are taught that they are higher members of society and that somehow others who are different are not 'worth' as much as they are. I ran into this with some of my students when I taught in Pineville. (But, I still believe that they are very much in the minority.)

Recently there was a rally in Jena. People were bused in from around the nation and took part in a modern day civil rights rally - minus the attack dogs and police batons of the civil rights era (thank goodness!). I would have loved to be there. The difference in how they treated these six students versus white students is ridiculous. However, even if you took that out of the equation - what person has ever even heard of kids being charged with attempted murder over a school yard fight? For heaven's sake, the 'victim' went to a party the same night!

I personally believe that there is a lot more to this story that we'll never hear. Why would 'the 6' randomly beat up one white guy if they were unprovoked? - Not saying that it's ok to beat someone up if you are provoked, but maybe it makes it a little more understandable. Perhaps he claimed to have been the one that hung the nooses. I might even have had a little of a hard time keeping my cool if that was the case, and I'm not even black. I'm not trying to place blame on the poor guy that got beat up, but just trying to show that there are some serious issues that the school and the courts did not take into account, let alone the parents of the victim. I wonder how the victim feels, having this spotlight put on him and the rest of the town like this. Having been a teacher and being around high school kids so much, I'm betting he regrets the day when his parents decided to press so extreme charges. But, I digress...

The Jena 6 deserve to be punished for beating up a guy (if they actually did it, there are some that say there weren't even in the middle of it). However, they deserve to be punished like the high school kids that they are. Not like "black" kids or "white" kids - just kids. They are not career criminals. They are not malicious 'black power' seekers. They are not murderers, rapists, thieves. They are kids. They are kids who made a mistake when the administration of their high school didn't do anything to dispel the underlying and boiling over inherent racism in their school. And unlike whoever hung the nooses, they are taking the full punch of the long arm of the law.

Thank goodness that this has finally gotten the publicity that it deserves and that high powered lawyers are coming in to help these families who were getting bulldozed because they couldn't afford good legal representation. I pray for these families, these 6 kids, the victim and his family, and the residents of Jena. I hope that they can work together to overcome this and help rid their town, my old town, and all of the deep south of the inequality that still exists. I worry that instead it will divide them more.