The Jena Six: Schools, Prisons, Guns—Black, White, Young
admin January 5th, 2008
A few weeks ago, I got a last-minute call to do “something” for Race Equality Week at the University of Tennessee. I agreed to conduct a one-hour open discussion about the Jena, Louisiana, racial conflict and its layers of meaning.
Here’s a brief recap. First, I read the students a chronology of events:
8/31/06 In an assembly, a black student asked if he could sit under the single shade tree that white students always sat under.
9/1/06 Three nooses were hung from the tree. The Principal wanted to expel the responsible students but the Superintendent overrode his decision.
9/6/06 The District Attorney (Walters) was invited to a school assembly. Black students reported that he was looking at them when he said, “With a stroke of a pen, I can make life miserable or I can ruin your life.”
9/10/06 Black students asked to address the school board but were denied.
11/20/06 There was arson of a school building.
12/1/06 There was a private party at the Jena Fair Barn; a few black students tried to enter and a fight broke out.
12/4/06 A white student (Barker) was beaten by black students and sustained injuries. He attended his school’s ring ceremony that night.
8/31/07 The school cut the tree down.
11/20/07 The New York Times reported that over 10,000 people marched for civil rights in Jena.
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