‘Jena 6’ protesters descend on Louisiana town

The Rev. Al Sharpton said it could be the beginning of the 21st century’s civil rights movement, one that would challenge disparities in the justice system.

"JENA, La. - Traffic jammed the two-lane road leading into the tiny town of Jena early Thursday as thousands of demonstrators gathered in support of six black teens initially charged with attempted murder in the beating of a white classmate.

The six were charged a few months after the local prosecutor declined to charge three white high school students who hung nooses in a tree on their high school grounds. Five of the black teens were initially charged with attempted murder, but that charge was reduced to battery for all but one, who has yet to be arraigned; the sixth teen was charged as a juvenile."

Wow....this could get ugly. Thoughts and opinions? Two wrongs don't make a right, but is hanging a noose from a tree considered part of freedom of speech or a threat?

From what I understand, the guy that they beat senseless was in no way a part of the "noose" incident. They all played football together, attended dances, homecoming, etc. and there were no incidents. 6 guys beating up 1 guy is wrong. Color is not an issue here, IMO. And the students who hung the noose in the tree, should have been expelled for the year.

From what I understand, the guy that they beat senseless was in no way a part of the "noose" incident. They all played football together, attended dances, homecoming, etc. and there were no incidents. 6 guys beating up 1 guy is wrong. Color is not an issue here, IMO. And the students who hung the noose in the tree, should have been expelled for the year.

Which is where I think this whole thing went wrong...

Everything else could've been dealt with if the Principal would've handled that properly...

'Ugly' is an understatement...

Which is where I think this whole thing went wrong...

 

Everything else could've been dealt with if the Principal would've handled that properly...

 

 

'Ugly' is an understatement...

I agree with you 100%, I don't understand why those students where not punished for the nooses.

From what I understand, the guy that they beat senseless was in no way a part of the "noose" incident. They all played football together, attended dances, homecoming, etc. and there were no incidents. 6 guys beating up 1 guy is wrong. Color is not an issue here, IMO. And the students who hung the noose in the tree, should have been expelled for the year.

Race is an issue here, while I agree 5 guys beating another is wrong regardless of color and much worse in reality than hanging a noose on a tree and the punishment should be more severe. The fact that they did not punish the white kids for hanging the noose makes it a racial problem, otherwise the thousands of protesters would not had drove many miles to participate.

I agree with you 100%, I don't understand why those students where not punished for the nooses.

I also agree that the students who hung the nooses should have been punished in some form or another. That kind of action isn't acceptable and never should be acceptable. The problem, as I see it, is that Al and the gang are know trying to defend kids who beat up another kid. It just so happens that the kid who got beat up was white. So for Al and the rest to say that this isn't about race, for them, isn't a correct statement from him and others or at lease IMO it isn't. I don't care what color anyone is, if they cause harm to another then they should be punished - period - end of the story.

This has been mishandled from the beginning.

JBCousins called and said this: "It's Louisiana. Take out the French Quarter and Baton Rouge and it's a third world country."

I laughed, then realized how right he was...

Which is where I think this whole thing went wrong...

 

Everything else could've been dealt with if the Principal would've handled that properly...

 

 

'Ugly' is an understatement...

I thought it was the Prosecutor who failed to bring charges? Where did the Principal come into this?

Read some of the other stories and I see now.

Yeah, back in the good ole' days a principal could have expelled them and be done with it. In the state of KY, I would believe that a HS principal in this state would not be able to expel them. Maybe transfer them to an alternative school setting but not expel them. Might be able to but it would be a tough row to hoe.

They deserve it no doubt. Did they really get NO punishment for the nooses? THat is hard to believe.

I thought it was the Prosecutor who failed to bring charges? Where did the Principal come into this?

The school administration suspended the boys that hung the nooses a few days...

Race is an issue here, while I agree 5 guys beating another is wrong regardless of color and much worse in reality than hanging a noose on a tree and the punishment should be more severe. The fact that they did not punish the white kids for hanging the noose makes it a racial problem, otherwise the thousands of protesters would not had drove many miles to participate.

After reading some more about this issue, it did all go downhill after the kids who hung the nooses from the tree weren't punished more severely. But there is still a difference in hanging a noose from a tree and beating a kid halfway to death. I was meaning that race wasn't an issue in the attack, but I could very well be wrong. :thumb: I plan on reading more about this though. Big Al and Jesse are being their normal selves and turning this into a way to get themselves shown on TV.

I also agree that the students who hung the nooses should have been punished in some form or another. That kind of action isn't acceptable and never should be acceptable. The problem, as I see it, is that Al and the gang are know trying to defend kids who beat up another kid. It just so happens that the kid who got beat up was white. So for Al and the rest to say that this isn't about race, for them, isn't a correct statement from him and others or at least IMO it isn't. I don't care what color anyone is, if they cause harm to another then they should be punished - period - end of the story.

I agree as well!

I think there is several people that should be held accountable. I think the school administration for not handling the first incident of the noose more severely and swiftly to show that sort of behavior will not be tolerated along with the prosecutor and most importantly the parents of ALL the kids involved. Then again we are also not aware of the parents views and the kids views and actions might have very well been influence by the beliefs of their parents. I guess we can only hope not.

This is NOT to give any support to the incident but to give some more insight on what happened. In one of the articles, it seems the big oak tree was a hangout on school grounds for a group of whites. A group of black students made their way to that hangout one morning. (Nothing was said in the article about the motivation of the blacks in going there one morning.)

The morning after the blacks appeared at the traditional white students hangout, the nooses appearred.

I agree, the administration should have come down as severely as possible on the students who place the nooses in the tree. But maybe they did. I would be interested to know LA school law and what route the administrators had open to them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jena_Six

According to Wikipedia (which can be wrong), the principal recommended expulsion, but the board of education overruled his recommendation and punished the students with in-school suspension (3 days).