Ames Progressive

In the small town of Jena, Louisiana (population 3,000) a complicated civil rights debate has erupted. The story originated in September 2006, when a black student requested permission from school officials to sit under a tree in his schoolyard that was typically understood as being reserved for white students. Rightfully, he was told to sit wherever he wanted. He sat, and the next day three nooses were hung from the tree. The white students responsible were suspended for three days and their act was regarded only as an “adolescent prank”. This was followed by a series of racially motivated incidents through the remainder of the year. In October, a black student was beaten for trying to attend a private all-white party. Also in October, a group of black students had a gun pulled on them by a white student at a gas station. They were able to wrestle the gun away but were later charged with assault and robbery. No white students ever faced charges for either incident. In November, the high school was the site of attempted arson, which fueled even more racial tensions. In December, a white student was attacked in a school fight. He was beaten and suffered a concussion. He was released from the hospital and attended a school function on the evening of the assault. The six students responsible, known as the Jena 6, were charged with attempted second-degree murder. This charge was allowed after the court ruled that the tennis shoes belonging to Mychal Bell, one of the six, constituted a murder weapon. Bell has been in jail since December, unable to raise his $90,000 bail. Throughout the year, the other five have raised money for comparable bail and been released. Mychal Bell, 16, the first to be charged, received a conviction of aggravated battery that could have sent the teenager to jail for up to 15 years. But on Friday, September 14th, with his sentencing date looming on September 20th, the state appeals court vacated the felony conviction on the grounds that he was improperly tried before an all-white jury, improperly tried as an adult, and that his court-appointed public defender didn’t call any witnesses on Bell’s behalf. The conviction vacation comes in the shadow of an upcoming civil rights protest, scheduled for September 20th: the day that Bell would have been sentenced. The protest will bring an estimated 20,000 people to the small town, including national civil rights leaders Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III. The District Attorney, Reed Walters, has two weeks to appeal the ruling. Bell may remain in jail until the two weeks. The rest of the Jena 6 still await their trials, and can be convicted as adults under Louisiana law because they were 17 at the time of the incident.