2008 Woodie Awards
Explanation of Jena Six
Issue date: 10/11/07 Section: Letters to the Editor
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In September 2006, sat under a tree unoffically reserved for the high school's white students in Jena, La. The administrators advised the student to sit where he wanted. The next day, two nooses were hanging from the "white" tree. Although three white students were implicated and the principal advised expulsion, the white superintendent overruled him dismissing the event as a non-racially motivated "boyish prank." Instead, the white students were given a three-day suspension and were sentenced to isolation at an alternative school for a month.
In the next months, several racially violent incidents occurred. In December 2006, three black students said a white Jena graduate with a shotgun verbally attacked them outside a grocery store. The boys, including Robert Bailey, wrestled the gun away from the man. The three were later charged with second-degree robbery, theft of a firearm and conspiracy to commit second-degree battery. The graduate claimed he was attacked and robbed by the three teens. The fight that involved the "Jena Six" happened when a white student Justin Barker announced his support for the suspended students and used racial slurs against them. This resulted in a fight that left Barker with minor injuries.
After the "Jena attack," five black students, which included the two students from the grocery store fight, were arrested and charged as adults with second-degree murder. One black student was charged as a minor. The charges were later reduced to second-degree aggravated battery with a shoe and conspiracy.
One of the students, Mychel Bell, was found guilty of possible charges and faced 22 years in prison, but his charges were dropped in an appeals court. He now awaits a trial in juvenile court. Bell was released on bail this past September.
Two Journal staffers traveled to the Jena Six Rally and wrote an op-ed about their experience.
In the next months, several racially violent incidents occurred. In December 2006, three black students said a white Jena graduate with a shotgun verbally attacked them outside a grocery store. The boys, including Robert Bailey, wrestled the gun away from the man. The three were later charged with second-degree robbery, theft of a firearm and conspiracy to commit second-degree battery. The graduate claimed he was attacked and robbed by the three teens. The fight that involved the "Jena Six" happened when a white student Justin Barker announced his support for the suspended students and used racial slurs against them. This resulted in a fight that left Barker with minor injuries.
After the "Jena attack," five black students, which included the two students from the grocery store fight, were arrested and charged as adults with second-degree murder. One black student was charged as a minor. The charges were later reduced to second-degree aggravated battery with a shoe and conspiracy.
One of the students, Mychel Bell, was found guilty of possible charges and faced 22 years in prison, but his charges were dropped in an appeals court. He now awaits a trial in juvenile court. Bell was released on bail this past September.
Two Journal staffers traveled to the Jena Six Rally and wrote an op-ed about their experience.
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