skippy the bush kangaroo: i dream of jena

Friday, September 21, 2007

i dream of jena

here's the best and most complete run-down of the events leading up to the jena 6 fiasco we have seen. mtvnews:

things were relatively quiet for much of the rest of september and october, mostly due to the soaring fortunes of the football team, whose winning streak was helped by the efforts of some key black players. but shortly after the season ended on november 30, a fire burned down the main academic building of jena high school in what was believed to be arson, with blacks pointing the finger at whites and vice versa.

the fire preceded a series of ugly racial conflicts that escalated tensions in the town. the night after the fire, then-16-year-old robert bailey jr. was attacked and beaten when he and some black friends attempted to enter a party that was mostly attended by whites. on december 2, bailey got into a verbal altercation with a white student who had also attended the party, with the white teen running to his truck and pulling out a shotgun. bailey and his friends chased the teen and took the gun away, leading to charges of theft of a firearm, second-degree robbery and disturbing the peace for bailey, while the student who pulled the weapon was not charged at all.

at jena high school that monday, december 4, a white student, justin barker, 17, was allegedly overheard bragging to friends about how bailey had been whipped by a white man. when he stepped into the school's courtyard, barker was attacked by a group of black students who knocked barker out with one punch and then kicked him in the head repeatedly. he was treated and released from a local hospital and attended a party later that night, while the six were arrested and all but the 14-year-old charged as adults. the escalation of the charges — which could have kept the boys in prison for more than 30 years — outraged many of the town's black residents, who said the charges were way out of line with the crime.

"it reminded african-americans of what they've gone through and where they've come and that those days aren't over yet and that we still have this system in the south that grinds down black people and treats them unfairly," gunter said. "this case can serve as an awakening that these things still go on."

in june, on the morning of his trial, the charges against bell were reduced to aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy. the black community again protested, taking issue with the battery charge, which requires the use of a "deadly weapon" — in this case the gym shoe that bell was wearing when he kicked barker. district attorney reed walters argued the shoe was indeed a deadly weapon.

bell was found guilty by an all-white jury — which included two people who were allegedly friendly with the da and one who was a friend of the victim's father — after his court-appointed public defender did not call any witnesses. he now faces up to 22 years in prison at his sentencing hearing on thursday — the conspiracy charge was dropped on september 4 and the battery conviction overturned on friday when a court of appeals ruled that bell should not have been tried as an adult. he remains in jail while prosecutors deliberate whether to file new charges against him in juvenile court.

tip of the kangaroo tail to susie mandrak, for the link.

Labels: civil rights, racism