The Jena Six

In April of 2006, I wrote regarding Cynthia McKinney's entanglement with the DC police:

Citizens, do not have the option of ignoring a police request to stop, be it at the capitol building or on a highway. This is where McKinney went wrong. Not only that, but as a representative, she is a role model for millions of black people in the US. It is not a good idea to get black people, specifically black men, the idea that it is OK to get into a physical altercation with a police officer...

Also, by lashing out in anger(?) she may signal that it is OK to use violence to resolve problems. Perhaps, deep down she does. I'm not morally opposed to that point. I do think that for what McKinney has been sent by her constituents to do, violence is off the table.

The situation in the case of the Jena Six is exactly what I was thinking about when I wrote those words. Knowing that police will fuck around with duly elected officials, we'd have to be deaf, dumb and blind to not have seen what was coming when these young men went after the white student in question.

I have to keep in mind that which I said during the Duke Lacrosse team was put in the spotlight. I knew then that the evidence simply did not add up and that reasonable doubt would prevail. Not that I liked the Duke players, or disliked the young lady involved. I simply looked at the case as an outsider. Similarly I see the same thing here.

From what I understand, nooses notwithstanding, the individuals involved at the very least premeditated aggravated assault on the student in question. So lets make sure we don't get besides ourselves with the charges and questions of guilt. Furthermore, while an issue in a larger context, what some silly white man got a different sentence for over his actions is irrelevant to a jury trial. Let's get it straight, from the evidence, the boys are guilty as charged. Now the issue is, that we are asking for, legitimately in my opinion, is for the sentencing to be put aside, or some sort of pardon be given. That is, we know full well they beat the kid's ass. What we are suggesting is that there are extenuating circumstances that should allow the courts to deal differently with this particular case.

It is a indication of the sad state of Jena LA. that white students in 2007 believe that they "own" a tree simply because they are white. That in and of itself is a rank condemnation of the parents AND the school system that apparently had no clue that such persons were in attendance of that school and carrying on with such things. That is a level of indignity that could have been dealt with by the community and school, had the administration and parents had a clue. Indeed it would appear that since this was a "known" thing by black students at the school, the black students had been pretty "nice" in the face of such an affront to their basic humanity and citizenry. I tip my hat to the students for tolerating such bullshit without fisticuffs for such a long time. The court needs to be informed with the strongest language possible, that the students showed great restraint for having to suffer the indignity of being told, in whatever fashion, that they "could not" sit under this particular tree simply because of their biology. The court should be made aware that in other parts of the country, any white student that attempted such nonsense would probably had been beat down for being dumb enough to have made that a conscious thought.

But what is most insulting, and hence what makes the act of violence negated by mitigating circumstances, was that the white students felt so bold as to put nooses on the tree. As far as I am concerned, and I can safely say that I speak for any number of black folk, any white person who posts a noose in my presence is threatening me. Nooses and burning crosses have a special place in American history and are not to be trifled with.

If one looks at various white supremacist websites you will find all kinds of white students of varied ages and of both genders who are committed to wiping blacks off the US map. On these sites they post pictures of themselves with varied firearms. They often have Nazi flags in the picture and some even do the 'Hail Hitler" salute. Since some of these types are the ones who end up bringing firearms to schools and shooting up the "Jocks and Niggers" I would say that the Jena Six had legitimate reason to believe that they were in danger. Since the racial intimidation had already been raised by the white students from "exclusion" to clear historical references to racial violence, they students probably felt that they needed to make a "statement" to let the white students involved know that they would not be intimidated and would no longer be victimized by this high school lynch mob.

So while I may disagree with how they went about protecting themselves from this would be lynch mob, this is a clear case of mitigating circumstances. The court would do well to send a message to all adolescent, wanna be lynch mobbers and segregationists, by either dropping the charges, commuting the sentences and.or a straight pardon.