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'Jena Six' case is a racial flashpoint

Thousands come to small town to protest black students' treatment.

By the Times staff and wire reports
Published September 21, 2007

JENA, La. -- Thousands of people from around the nation converged early Thursday on this rural town to protest what they consider the overzealous prosecution of six black high school students charged with beating a white schoolmate.

The impetus for the rally in the small town and at smaller vigils across the country was the anger demonstrators feel over the charges -- which at one point included attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder -- leveled against the "Jena 6."

But many participants said they also wanted to make a statement about what they believe is unequal treatment black people receive from the criminal justice system everywhere.

"There's Jenas in Atlanta, there's Jenas in New York, there's Jenas in Florida and there are Jenas all over Texas," the Rev. Al Sharpton told a raucous crowd Thursday morning.

Sharpton and another old-guard lion, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, joined scores of college students bused in from across the nation who said they wanted to make a stand for racial equality just as their parents did in the 1950s and '60s.

The cause of Thursday's demonstrations dates to August 2006, when a black Jena High School student asked the principal whether blacks could sit under a shade tree that was a frequent gathering place for whites. He was told yes.

Nooses appeared in the tree the next day. Three white students were suspended but not criminally prosecuted. LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters said this week he could find no state law covering the act. Critics were outraged the students were never prosecuted for committing a hate crime.

The incident was followed by fights between blacks and whites, culminating in December's attack on white student Justin Barker, who was knocked unconscious. According to court testimony, his face was swollen and bloodied, but he was able to attend a school function that same night.

Six black teens were arrested. The charges have been reduced to second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit battery, but many at the event Thursday said they believe the charges are still too harsh for what they characterize as a schoolyard fight.

Stephanie Brown, 26, national youth director for the NAACP, said the Jena case resonates with the college-age crowd because they aren't much older than the youths charged. Many of the student protesters had been sharing information about the case through Facebook, MySpace and other social-networking Web sites.

People began massing before dawn Thursday, jamming the two-lane highway leading into town and parking wherever they could. State police estimated the crowd at 15,000 to 20,000.

"The turnout is amazing, and you haven't seen anything yet," said Charles Smith Sr., president of the Augusta, Ga., branch of the NAACP. "It's wonderful to see citizens in America come behind a cause for justice."

But the citizens of Jena were scarce, and most businesses were closed.

"They were telling everybody to barricade their home," Sierra Whindhan, 17, a black student at Jena High School, said as she sat on the steps of her grandmother's house. "The whites just want it to be over."

She said she and her peers were not allowed to wear their Jena 6 shirts to school.

Larry Crum, 58, an officer from Winnsboro, La., who came to help with crowd, said, "I've been doing this for 34 years and I've never seen a more peaceful crowd." There were no reports of trouble.

"We have a right to protest for right and that's what we did," said Barbara Williams, a retired teacher from the Dallas Independent School District waiting to be picked up by her bus. "Whatever happens, at least we did our best to support Jena 6."

Mike Slay, 48, who is white, sat on the curb of his closed car sales lot in Jena, which faces the city courthouse. A crowd had congregated in front, and an activist was on the bullhorn shouting "Black Power!"

As he dipped snuff, Slay chose his words carefully.

"It's been a long day, and yesterday was and possibly tomorrow will be," said Slay, who has lived in Jena most of his life. "I've met some extremely nice people today and I think this went as good as it could for all groups."

In Washington, President Bush said at a news conference that he understood the emotions and that the FBI was monitoring the situation.

Times staff writer Nicole Hutcheson and correspondent Nicole Bardo-Colon contributed to this report, which used information from the Washington Post and Associated Press.

At a glance: Jena

• Population: 2,971
• Racial makeup: 86 percent white, 12 percent black
• Median household income: $30,938

Source: U.S. Census 2000

[Last modified September 21, 2007, 00:57:46]