The much-reported Jena 6 incident serves as a reminder that the fight for civil rights is still a relevant social movement. The case is today’s most notable example of social and racial inequality.
According to colorofchange.org, the case of the Jena 6 began August in 2006 in Jena, Louisiana when two black students asked their teacher for permission to sit under a tree where white students normally sat. The teacher said that they could sit wherever they wanted. The next day, three nooses were hung from the tree. The principal suggested that the students who hung the nooses be expelled, but the school superintendent dismissed the incident as a prank. In response to the noose incident, black students began sitting under the tree in protest.
Later that month, a young white man pulled a gun on a group of black students, claiming self-defense. The black students wrestled the gun away. The incident was reported to police, and the black students were charged with assault and robbery of a gun. A week later, a white student was beaten at Jena High School, hospitalized and released that same day with a concussion. He attended a school function later that night. Six black students were charged with attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, both of which carry sentences of 20-100 years in prison. These charges were later changed to second-degree battery.
According to Democracy Now, only one of the six students, Mychal Bell, has been tried. He was convicted of second-degree battery and was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but the decision was vacated on appeal on the grounds that Bell should have been tried as a minor. He will be retried in juvenile court.
The national day of action for the Jena 6 was last Thursday, September 20. Approximately 20,000 protesters traveled to Jena, Louisiana. The Georgetown NAACP was in Red Square during the day and held a candlelight vigil that night. I was saddened to see the large protest in response to the University alcohol policy and the comparatively smaller vigil for the Jena 6. We must not delude ourselves that racism does not exist—it does.
Pierce Nixon’s recent column in the September 25 issue of The Hoya shows that there is still progress to be made at Georgetown.
“I think that the concept of race is a stupid, dehumanizing method of classifying people into artificial groups for the purpose of discrimination,” Nixon wrote.
He also asserted that people are rallying behind the cause of the six young black men in Jena, Louisiana because they are black and the victim is white.
He goes on to say that it is more important to understand “whatever caused so much violence in such a small town in the first place.” The violence and hate in Jena was caused by RACE. It was caused by the fact that some white students hung nooses, effectively saying, “Hey, black people, we miss the days when you were hanging from trees instead of sitting under them.” Yes, the black students were wrong to retaliate by beating up a classmate. But a month earlier, a black student was beaten up at an all-white party, and no one was punished.
It is easy to say that race doesn’t exist when you are a white male. To say that race is not important is a limiting and debilitating perspective. Race does exist. It is something I see and feel everyday. Race exists in every aspect of my life. It’s an integral part of my consciousness that gives me pride, and allows me to feel a part of something bigger than myself.
There is a NAACP chapter on campus that welcomes everyone in the fight for civil rights. There are also many cultural and social justice oriented student organizations that make it their mission to make justice a reality. Anyone can be an integral part of the civil rights movement. The tools are here. I hope that we can all embrace and utilize them to the best of our abilities.
