Students show support for the Jena 6

   Several GCSU students joined others nationwide in supporting the Jena 6 by wearing black t-shirts.
    Odinaka Ezeokoli, a senior chemistry major, was one of the students wearing one.
    “(Wearing the black shirt) is something to create awareness and something to show solidarity,” he said.    

What Happened
    According to CNN, racial tensions began at Jena High School and in the small town for the first three months of the 2006 school year after black students sat under a tree where white students usually congregated.  One of the students asked the vice principal if he and some friends could sit there. The vice principal told him they could sit where they pleased, and they sat there.
    The next day, students came to school and discovered three nooses hanging from those tree branches. The school’s principal suggested that the students be expelled, but a school district committee suspended three white students for three days for hanging the nooses. The gesture was written off as a prank.
    Several off-campus fights were reported, and on Nov. 30, someone set fire to the school’s main academic building. The arson is still unsolved, but many suspect it was connected to the racial discord.
    Four days after the arson, six black students jumped a white classmate, knocking him unconscious, while stomping and kicking him. The charges against the Jena 6 caused from that incident. Parents of the Jena 6 said they heard the student was hurling racial epithets, while the student’s parents said he did nothing to provoke the beating. The student was treated at a hospital, released the same day and attended a school function that same night. Bail for the Jena 6 was set at between $70,000 and $138,000. All but Bell posted bond; the judge had refused to lower his $90,000 bail, citing Bell’s criminal record, which includes four juvenile offenses, two simple battery charges among them.

Supportive Students
Students and adults protested and participated in rallies around the country and some even went to Jena on Sept. 20. That date is significant because it was the date that the sentencing of Mychal Bell was supposed to occur. Some GCSU students wore black, which symbolizes strength and mourning.
    Ashley Brantley, a freshman pre-dentistry major, said she wore black to show her backing of the teens.
    “I wanted to support the people in Louisiana and show my support for my culture,” she said.
Senior Adam Gray, said he also wanted to support everything the Jena 6 are going through.
    “We’re all connected,” he said. “Even black people and white people are connected, but black people are connected even more because of things we went through.”
Many students became aware of the incidents via Facebook groups about the occurrence. Odinaka Ezeokoli said he joined a Facebook group, but knew about the incidents already.
    “My friends and I had been talking about some thing(s) we could do, something more to help (them),” Ezeokoli said
    Ezeokoli said that the six did beat another student, but since it was a school fight, he doesn’t think they should be charged with attempted murder.
     “I think that if they’re going to charge them, charge them on lesser charges.”

What Happens Next?
     According to MSNBC, on Sept. 4, the charges against Jones and Shaw were reduced from attempted murder to aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy. Bailey, Jr. and Purvis still face attempted murder charges. The unidentified juvenile is awaiting trial as well. Bell’s conviction was thrown out last week because the state appeals court said he should have been tried as a minor. The second-degree battery charge against him is still standing. The other five are out on bail.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 21 2007. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry