Modern Day Lynching in Jena, Louisiana

[FAH1223]

http://www.eurweb.com/printable.cfm?id=34934

July 10, 2007

As a matter of first impression, what occurred in Jena, Louisiana has all the earmarks of old-style, racist Southern justice, although white officials are vehemently denying the accusation.

The background: There had been racial tensions at the small town's high school which reached a boiling point when a group of Black students decided to sit under the "white tree" - a location on campus where historically only white students had gathered.
White students responded to the September 2006 incident by hanging three nooses from the tree. The situation deteriorated from there until this past December 4th when a white student allegedly called a group of Black students "******s." The Blacks responded by knocking the white student down and punching and kicking him.

But instead of treating the incident as a normal high school fight which might result in suspensions, the local prosecutor decided to charge the Black students with aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit murder.

Already, one of the Black students, 17-year-old Mychal Bell, has been convicted on the aggravated assault charge and now faces up to 22 years in prison. Five other Black students are awaiting trial on charges which include attempted second degree murder. The white student involved was not seriously injured. Indeed, he attended a high school function later the same day. The case has drawn international attention with the London Observer referring to it as of "stealth racism."
Jena, where many whites still refer to African Americans as "Coloreds," is in LaSalle Parish, Louisiana which has a population of 14,000 with 12 percent of it Black.

Those desiring to stay abreast of the case or show support for the Jena Six can write to Jena 6 Defense Committee, P.O. Box 2798, Jena, Louisiana 71342 or email jena6defense@gmail.com. Meanwhile, Mychal Bell is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31.

[FAH1223]

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/...hool-Fight.php

JENA, Louisiana: An all-white Louisiana jury on Thursday convicted a black teenager of beating a white schoolmate following months of simmering racial tensions that started with white students hanging nooses in a schoolyard tree.

Mychal Bell, 17, was among five black youths charged with attempted murder and conspiracy charges, but prosecutors this week downgraded the charges against Bell following local cries of racism.

The amended charges against Bell — aggravated second-degree battery and a conspiracy to commit aggravated second-degree battery — carry a prison sentence of more than 20 years.

Bell's father rushed from the courtroom, slammed a door and was briefly detained in the courthouse lobby after the court recessed. He was released amid pleas from his family.

"The best thing if you're black in this town is to stay out of the system, because once they get you, you're done for. You're not getting out," Edna Thompson, a longtime friend of the Bells, said later.

Prosecutors have not said whether they will reduce the same charges against the four other teens accused in the Dec. 4 beating of Justin Barker. Charges against a sixth black youth have not been made public because of his age.

Racial tensions in Jena — a town of 2,900 with about 350 black residents — escalated in September when high school students found three nooses hanging from a tree on campus. The nooses appeared after a black student sat under the tree, traditionally used by white students as a gathering spot.

Three white students were suspended for the noose incident, but no criminal charges were filed.
At Bell's trial, Barker testified that he did not see who struck him as he was knocked unconscious from behind, and other students gave conflicting testimony about what happened.

Although several accused Bell, who was 16 at the time, of hitting Barker and knocking him down, others testified that it was an unidentified person in a green, hooded coat. One witness even said it was someone in a red shirt, and testified he saw Bell there, but did not see him attack Barker.

Bell's attorney, Blane Williams, rested his case Wednesday without calling any witnesses.
"The appellate court now gets a chance to set this right," Williams said.

[*jr]

Watch the full story here @ Democracy Now

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl? ... 10/1413220

[FAH1223]

lol @ the south still mad they lost slavery and the confederacy

lol @ black ppl in the USA not gonna do anything but listen to their jeezy/dipset CDs

[Ugaas Diini]

Although I hate crackers with passion, I don't feel sorry for adoonta.

[Luq_Ganane]

I feel sorry for adoonka. They were doing great, until the CIA flooded their neighborhoods with crack, and they never recovered. A generation of crack addicts gave birth to this generation. Lakin if that never happened, Matho would take over this country. How sad.

[gurey25]

sneaky white mutha fokers.

those niggas have 3 options.

1.Extreme violence, launch a bloodbath, make them piss thier pants unconciously when they see a black person or
2.Try to use that organ god put in thier skulls and think thier way out of this, it will require patience, to fight a newe war in the media and courtrooms, and uniting the nations around this incident.
3. cry, and do nothing, and drink and smoke the problem away



i suspect number 3 is most likely

[muktaar]

adoons are useless creatures , i aint got no sympathy for them baboons