Jena Six: Justin Barker Testifies at Mychal Bell Trial
June 27, 2007 by Laura | Trackback URI
Please read the latest Jena Six post here.
Justin Barker is the white teenager whose beating resulted in the arrest of the “Jena 6″ – according to previous reports, he is friends with the three students who hung the nooses in the trees, and his beating occurred moments after he taunted the black student who had his “ass whipped” by a group of whites at the Fair Barn over the weekend. I guess sometimes being beaten by a group of people is okay, and sometimes it’s not, hmm?
Do any of those facts mean that he “deserved” a beating? No. They don’t. But I’m trying to put it in context. He wasn’t just leaped on out of the blue. The fight didn’t occur in a vacuum. This report of his testimony at the Mychal Bell trial is incomplete. Here’s Barker’s recollection, which excludes what reportedly happened moments before:
Justin Barker, 17, testified that he had just come out of his high school gym with his girlfriend walking ahead of him on Dec. 4 when they turned to avoid a group of black students.
“I turned my back and somebody hit me, that’s all I remember,” Barker said.
Well, Barker’s not required – unless a lawyer can ask him and get the judge to allow the question – to provide context. But it’s important. Here’s what led up to it -
Written statements from students closest to the scene (in space and time) suggest that the incident was sparked by an angry exchange in the gymnasium moments before in which the black student assaulted at the Fair Barn was taunted for having his “ass whipped”.
Emotions had been running high for months. Things kept escalating, and this was far from the first violence. So did Barker deserve a beating? No one deserves a beating. But high school students who let their emotions get out of hand don’t deserve to spend the rest of their lives in jail, either.
I don’t think the Jena 6 should go entirely without punishment. I just think these criminal charges are beyond ridiculous. Kids in school fight on a regular basis. I can’t even tell you how many fights I saw in my high school twenty years ago, and plenty of them were racially motivated. Expelling them from school is fair and appropriate. A misdemeanor might be appropriate. But if the D.A. honestly believes criminal charges of any kind are appropriate, he’d better look like pressing charges against the group of whites who beat the black student at the Fair Barn, and the white guy in the convenience store parking lot who threatened black students with a shotgun. What D.A. Walters did instead was charge the black students who took the shotgun from the white guy with theft and battery. I find that very telling.
I’d be even more interested to know just how many people before December, 2006 were criminally prosecuted with felony charges for a high school fight. I’m betting that number is zero. I’m also betting that any charges against Barker for having a rifle and bullets on school property are going to either go away, or he’ll get a fine and a suspended sentence. Was there a good reason for that rifle? According to comments on this story (since removed on the live version, this is a Google cache), he forgot it in his truck after cleaning out his father’s hunting camp. He was expelled for having a gun on campus; and if it is reasonable to believe he didn’t bring it to school to threaten or attack anyone, I think that’s fair.
That cached story also has more information about the beating -
Investigators from the LaSalle Parish Sheriff’s Office have gathered statements from more than 40 people — a number of them students — who told investigators they saw everything that happened. Many of these statements were included in court documents.
“When I heard a black boy say something to Justin, I turned my head and I saw somebody hit Justin,” one student wrote in a statement. “He fell in between the gym door and the concrete barricade. I saw Robert Bailey kneel down and punch Justin in the head. … Then Carwin Jones kicked him in the head. … Theo Shaw tried to kick him so I pushed Theo Shaw down. I also saw Mychal Bell standing over him.”
Phrases like “stomped him badly,” “stepped on his face,” “knocked out cold on the ground,” and “slammed his head on the concrete beam” were used by the students in their statements.
Robert Bailey said this past week that he and the other boys weren’t around when the fight happened and that the teachers and principal were making students say what they wrote in statements.
Repeated calls to Jena High School Principal Glen Joiner went unreturned.
“It was a rowdy day at school because of what had happened over the weekend,” Bailey said of earlier fights at the Fair Barn and Gotta Go convenience store. “The fight (with Justin) happened so quick. But those of us arrested weren’t even around. Once the fight broke out, we all ran to see what happened, but I wasn’t around when the fight happened.”
On Dec. 1, Bailey said he was jumped by six to seven white men at the Fair Barn and that only one was arrested and charged with simple battery.
Two days later, he and friends ran into one of the men involved in the fight at the Gotta Go and the man pulled out a shotgun, Bailey said. Bailey said he wrestled the gun away, but was charged with aggravated battery and theft.
That is injustice and racism, Bailey said.
Last week Jones said that when he went to school on Dec. 4, he could tell something was going to happen, it just felt that way, he said.
He was sitting in the boys gym after lunch, he said, and when everyone left to go back to class, he was in front of Justin and didn’t know what had happened until he “heard the first lick.”
“I wasn’t involved,” he said. “He got hit once, fell to the ground, and that was the end. Everyone just ran up when someone yelled fight, and it seemed like he was getting kicked.”
Both Jones and Bailey said they did not see who hit Justin Barker.
As to his injuries -
Justin Barker was taken by ambulance to LaSalle General Hospital’s emergency room, arriving at 12:25 p.m., according to court documents. A report from the ambulance company stated Barker “denies any pain other than his eye.”
Once in the emergency room, Barker told medical personnel that he had been “jumped by 15 guys” and was unsure of what he had been hit with, according to the emergency physician’s record in the court file. The record noted an injury to Barker’s right eye requiring follow-up medical attention and injuries to his face, ears and hand.
A Computed Tomography scan of Barker’s brain showed no abnormalities, but there were reports of him losing consciousness during the attack, according to hospital records.
Barker was discharged about 2½ hours after being admitted to the ER. Later that night, he attended a ring ceremony at the school, where he was presented his class ring by his parents, something Kelli Barker said her son really wanted to be a part of, even though he was still in pain.
“All that keeps being said is that he was just in the hospital for a little bit and not really hurt,” Kelli Barker said of Justin. “I thank God he wasn’t hurt more than he was. But we have medical bills to show that he really was hurt.”
According to court documents, the initial trip to the emergency room cost $5,467.
That’s about right for an ambulance ride and two and a half hours in the ER, a CT scan and other tests that were surely conducted. But as for “stomped on badly,” “stepped on face,” etc. I’m just not buying it, and it’s also not consistent with the injuries Barker described on the stand. The same students who used those phrases are the ones who said he was beaten unconscious during the fight and frankly I find that overall picture exaggerated. I know what it is to be beaten unconscious. I’ve experienced it. You don’t come out of that with this:
Barker said he had a badly swollen face and temporary blindness in one eye that lasted three weeks. He also said he still suffers recurring headaches since the beating but, under cross examination, acknowledged that medical tests have found no cause.
Those kind of injuries sound like a job for Morris Bart. Stomped on badly? Where are the broken ribs, bodywide contusions and abrasions, renal injuries? Stepped on face? Where’s the broken nose, loose and missing teeth?
Again, I’m not saying the beating was nothing, or that it was deserved. But I am saying that these criminal charges are outrageous, and that they are not at all consistent with the treatment white people received for the exact same offense and worse. The whites who conducted the Fair Barn beating basically got of scot free – one guy was charged with battery, and the rest got nothing at all. One of them pulled a shotgun on black kids the next day, and wasn’t charged at all for it. That’s racism.
Justin Barker’s parents want justice, but if they think justice means spending most of your adult life in prison for a high school fight, then maybe it also means having the full force of the law descend on you for bringing a rifle and bullets onto a school campus. If you ignore context in one, maybe you should in the other as well. It’s something to think about.
I would...
Like an aging monument, democracy itself is crumbling.
An Open Letter To The Jena Six
By Joseph Young
Dear Mychal,
I keep thinking about you. I also think about the other young men who have fallen prey to racial hatred. Its existence, more than a century after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, makes me fearful for your life, your safety. The freedom that it promised was tenuous.
It was not entirely without strength. In the proclamation, issued three years into the Civil War, Lincoln declared, at the urging of Frederick Douglass, that the former slaves would be accepted into the Union Army and navy, making the liberated the liberator. By the war’s end, almost 200,000 black servicemen had fought for freedom and saved the Union.
Your generation, like mine, is being denied this freedom our ancestors risked life and limb, so that we may live as free men and women. You can call them heroes, but they were not thinking of themselves when they displayed courage and self-sacrifice on the battlefields of America.
Today, then, to guard against the impending doom of American civilization, is not only opposition to racism, but also the determination to secure the civil rights for which many Americans have paid a heavy toll. Of all the civil rights, the right to learn is the surest prevention from ignorance. If at any time, children are instructed with anti-black bias; and they are made to learn what is not true and what the dominate forces in their lives want them to think is true; there’re guilty of impeding the march toward American civilization.
Astonishing as it is that those students would hang three nooses from the tree at Jena High School as a racial taunt, including calling the black students ‘niggers’; you would think that America would never again want to see a black person hang from a tree, or behind bars. The nooses show that we, Americans, have not come that far from the cruelties and barbarity of slavery as we think. (Between 1882 and 1968, an estimated 5,000 people, mostly blacks, met their deaths at the hands of lynch mobs.) And this also is an unfortunate comment upon the belief that our schools are the great path to progress, the great equalizer. If our schools are the great path to progress, they must be the freest of our institutions, opposed bitterly to the attempt to indoctrinate our children with racial hatred.
Well, Mychal, as you and the others wait behind bars because of a racially biased and an over zealous prosecutor, it is for us on the outside to continue the unfinished work of our fathers, to set you free. All of you were willing to fight racial hatred, and you know people of goodwill are beside you. If the Confederacy couldn’t stop us, the opposition we now face will fail. When history is written your detractors will get little note, but you will be remembered for standing up for what’s best of the American creed. You are part of a legacy in which our slave forebears fought to birth a new nation. You, Mychal, are a child of America’s destiny.
It was Martin Luther King who said if a man doesn’t have something worth dying for he is not fit to live. Freedom is worth dying for. Justice is worth dying for. Equality is worth dying for. A child is worth dying for, because our job as parents is to protect children.
Mychal, when you feel complete frustration and your narrow jail cell is closing in on your spirit and mind; remember the message of the old slave preacher to his flock whose resistance to oppression might have been completely in vain:
“You are created in God’s image. You are not slaves, you are not ‘niggers’; you are God’s children.”
Godspeed Mychal,
Your brother in the struggle, Joseph
OK lots of things got said here maybe this isn’t an appropriate post maybe it is who knows….. there where things left out though maybe like the DA gave the boys a plea bargin of 5 months instead they say no and know they are looking at 25-30 years. No one will ever truely know what got said what happen or anything else maybe its wrong maybe its right, but everyone knows with every story there are two sides and niether will ever be all true. Yes there has been school yard fights everywhere but how many send people to the ER how many leave a student blind in one eye. Most leave black eyes and bruises and maybe a swoll eye or knots on ya head but I don’t think its as big of a racial deal as everyone is making it out to be just my opion but there it is.
La Chick, Justin Barker was certainly NOT left blind in one eye – where on earth did you get that? His eye was swollen shut for a few days or a week, that’s all. He was in the ER for a couple of hours and attended his ring ceremony later that night. And would YOU take 5 months in jail and a felony that will stick with you for the rest of your life for a high school fight? I doubt it.
Ok shooting a gun at someone is attempted murder if you hit them or not. Kicking and stomping on someones head is aggrivated battery or even attempted murder even if there is no broken nose, blinding in the eye, loose teeth, or broken ribs. Statements from 40 different people isn’t enough proof of what happened. Damn what would be enough? 100? Another thing I have noticed people complain about is an all white jury. That would seem unfair to me. However a computer in that Parish randomly sends out the jury duty cards. Out of all the african americans who were sent one not one of them showed up for jury duty. All I can say to that is, wow.
Justin Barker was not kicked or stomped in the head. His injuries simply do not support that allegation. It never happened. I can prove it – meet me somewhere, and I, a middle aged non-athletic woman, will kick you in the head for 5 minutes, and believe me, I’ll be able to break your nose, your teeth, and quite likely fracture your skull. Seriously, let’s try it! I’ll do whatever it takes to convince you. It’s a sacrifice, mind you, but I’m willing to make it. And after you regain consciousness and undergo a great deal more medical treatment than can be accomplished in 2 or 3 hours, we can sit down and have a cup of coffee and speculate what 6 teenage athletes could accomplish by kicking your head.And the statements varied WILDLY, you should know that if you had studied this case at all.
After wathing all of this unfold. I am very disapointed in the media. I had always believed or at least figured most of their reporting was somewhat accurate. Boy was I wrong and so are all of you who believe any of the thiings said about the poor jena six. They aree thugs siple and true. There was a fight at the fair barn and it was one on one, four of the six attacted the white boy at the gotta go store then he got to his truck and got his gun which they took from him and punched his girlfriend in the face. Justin had blood coming out of his ears and was twitching on the ground while they kicked him. I know all of you backseat protesters dont want to hear the truth. I hope this doesnt get kicked off for telling the truth but you really need to know what happened. Yes there was racism there but it was black to white and being pissed off doesnt excuse almost killing someone. Futhermore Bell and Jones should have already been expelled from school and if they hadnt been such good fotball players they would have been. Are you aware Bell urinated in a class room during class, ran over a black child in a car he had stolen from his mother, beat his girlfrien d on a regular basis and has been arrested before. Jones was arrested for assault on another black 2 weeks before the district playoffs. Face if you do the crime you should be prepared to do the time.
James – I was willing to be open minded about your comment until you accused Bell of running over a child in a car he had stolen. Bull!! There is NO WAY that he would not have been charged for that. You’re full of crap. I also don’t buy the line that they have prior criminal records – Reed Walters would be shouting that from the housetops to justify these charges if they did. But I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt – provide some evidence, and I’ll gladly post it here. Otherwise I call BS. Also, it looks like you’re in Monroe, not Jena, so where are you getting this info? Because if it’s from that white supremacists message board which had similar garbage, you’ll have to do a WHOLE lot better than that.
Laura, you are completly bias. You tell everyone to read up on it more but all you rinfo comes from is bias web sites liek this one and other media outlets that say thing like. “an all white jury” but dont say crap about no blacks showing up for jury duty. Or “white shade tree”. This is crap. arguing this is pointless. Here it is. ^ black kids made a bad decision and are now going to go to jail. Thats it, it’s over and I’m done. Have fun in jail “jena 6″ you deserve it.
As a matter of fact, I HAVE posted about the fact that no blacks showed up for jury duty. Repeatedly. Go back through the archives and see for yourself. And the tree WAS known as the “white tree” – this is not in dispute even by the newspapers. Do consider taking me up on my offer to kick you in the head repeatedly until you grasp the fact that this was a high school fight, not attempted murder. It may not improve your reading comprehension, but it might do you some good in any event. School discipline or the juvenile justice system would be appropriate punishment, not adult felony charges. And your refusal to acknowledge the fault of the whites provoking this fight is a disgrace. To say that the white kids provoked this is NOT an excuse for Barker’s beating, but it’s a mediating factor that should be taken into account. This was not an unprovoked attack on an innocent person.
laura what if it was your son, how would u feel if a bunch of guys jumped on him and kicked him in the face? we r in a crises young thugs r mean and out of control they need to be put away for attempted murder before they do murder someones son……or daughter……
Margaret, I’ll make the same offer to you that I did to another commenter: Justin Barker was not kicked or stomped in the head. His injuries simply do not support that allegation. It never happened. I can prove it – meet me somewhere, and I, a middle aged non-athletic woman, will kick you in the head for 5 minutes, and believe me, I’ll be able to break your nose, your teeth, and quite likely fracture your skull. Seriously, let’s try it! I’ll do whatever it takes to convince you. It’s a sacrifice, mind you, but I’m willing to make it. And after you regain consciousness and undergo a great deal more medical treatment than can be accomplished in 2 or 3 hours, we can sit down and have a cup of coffee and speculate what 6 teenage athletes could accomplish by kicking your head.
And for pity’s sake, use words, not letters. You’re contributing to illiteracy with “u”, “r”, no capitalization and bad grammar. Are you an adult?
In any event, the only crisis here is a town that permits young men to be prosecuted for felonies for a high school fight, while letting whites who did the same crime get off scot-free. Not to mention allow friends and family of the prosecution get on the jury, and not to mention the fact that the nooses were excused, as was a group of white boys taunting Robert Bailey for having his “ass whipped” by a bunch of white guys, and calling him a nigger. Do you realize what a loaded word “whipped” is? Do you get the connection between that and the nooses?
How would I feel if my son did those things? I’d beat his ass myself. Does that answer your question?
Well Laura I am from Jena I know all involved black and white and I know their familys. I know the boy they jumped at the convience store, I know the boy who was involved in the fight at the fairbarn, ( he stays in trouble so that was no suprise and had nothing to do with the nooses). That was simply a case of the black “thugs” trying to get into a private birthday party they werent invited to. The fair barn was rented by the parents of the birthday girl and they just went there to make trouble. You know it is funny that the monroe attourneys are now trying to get bell tried as a juvenile and I think this would be better because then they could bring up all his past, the judge would make the decision and no media or public would be allowed in the court room. I know you think I am a white racist and I cant change your opinion on that but every single word I wrote here is the truth it is sad that you are defending something so hard just because the media didnt report the facts. In fact in most cases you might as well be reading the national inquirer. For the record I actually like Bell but I have watched him grow into a gangster wannabe and hopefully this will set him straight. I doubt the other five will do little to anytime but as you may not know Bell was the leader and the one who premeditated this whole attack and I expect him to get a year or less.
James, as I said before, I’m willing to listen and revise my opinion, as long as what you’re writing makes any kind of sense. “The boy they jumped at the convenience store,” is a funny way of phrasing that when by all accounts he was not injured AT ALL. The reports all say that they “wrestled the gun away” from him. The boy who was involved in the fight at the Fair Barn – which boy? Robert Bailey or Justin Sloane?
I’m still calling BS on your allegations against Bell of stealing a car and running over a small child. I find it impossible to believe that the DA who prosecuted Bell as an adult for a high school fight in which no one was seriously injured (and Walters KNEW that, because the ER head nurse told him so, which is why Walters relied on photos to sway the three members of the jury who were not connected to the prosecution) would give him a pass on two legitimate felonies.
I’m willing to be convinced – I’m a middle aged white conservative (and I’ve said for a long time, in many posts on this blog) that there have been major gains in race relations. Because there have – open discrimination may still happen, but it’s no longer legal, and it’s no longer socially acceptable among civilized people. So to have an injustice of this magnitude – as it’s been reported – weakens my arguments. But I want justice to prevail. If the things reported are true, then we need to fix this situation ASAP. If they are not true, then we need to fix this situation ASAP. But so far I have no reason not to believe the preponderance of the reports.
In any event, I agree that it would be better to try Bell as a juvenile. If he really does have priors as a juvenile, let them come out! I have never said he should have no punishment – only that 22 years is ridiculous, and that justice was NOT done to both races equally. The very fact that a white business in Jena refuses service to blacks, that something can be openly referred to as “the white tree” and that someone would feel the need to ask permission to sit under it, that all the things reported by the white pastor, Eddie (Thompson, Johnson? I forget and don’t feel like looking it up right now) about race relations in the town could be happening… and he’s basically where I am – he doesn’t want it to be true, but is reluctantly reporting it because he believes it. All of these things point to a situation in Jena that is a disgrace. Reed Walters is not allowed to talk about the case – which I find amusing given what he did to Bell’s parents to keep them silent and out of the courtroom – but others can. And they’re not. Which also indicates something to me.
Bottom line – as Fox Mulder used to say, “I want to believe.” Convince me.
As I read the entries on this subject it begs the question of education of those of you who can’t see an injustice if it bite you in the rear. Reading this story from Dallas, it sickens me to think that in 2007, blind racism on the parts of Jena residences and the justice system of Jena is allowed to continue. The Jena DA, police department and school board should be brought up on Federal Civil Rights violation charges.
I guess that none of you read the reports from the FBI who had been investigating this case at the time of the nooses up to now. They found no hate crime for the nooses , they found nothing illegal with anything the school board done or any law inforcement agencys. Again I am not saying racism doesnt exist and sadly it will be around forever. If only someone would have had a video camera, then everyone that has been mislead could witness this violent act. It would be Rodney King in reverse. As for you not believing Bell stole his mothers car and hit a child, it happened. The police werent involved as they were not in many of the criminal acts this bunch committed in the black community. You need to read the posting it the Alexandria town talk from a black neighbor of one of the six.
Let me clarify on the gotta go incident. The white boy and his girlfriend pulled into the store, the boy got out and started in. The black group were walking out with a VCR they had just rented. They looked up saw the white boy and said ” we got action boys” the white boy turned to go back to his truck and the blacks hit him in the back of the head with the VCR and he got to his truck and got his shotgun while they were still hitting him and they wrestled it away from him. Then they opened the other door and punched his girlfriend in the face. Then they ran with the gun. Luckily the gun wasnt loaded or there would have probally been a killing. That is why they were arrested and charged with theft and assault. If you dont believe any of this contact the store owner who witnessed it. By the way he is not white. Are you aware Bells mother is also no stranger to the court system, drugs, assault just to name a few.
I think basically what it comes down to is your laying on the concrete unconscious, blood running out of your ears and still being kicked. You have 40 witnesses you see this, how many more kicks would it have taken to have killed him. There was a case in California recently were a teen was stomped to death by 4 other teens, Two of which were girls. I am sure they didnt mean to kill the other teen but they did.
What worrys me more about this whole case is the outsiders coming in from all over to support and defend what they dont even know about. I have heard rumors of white groups from other states that were preparing to make an appearence here. also black radical groups promising violence if they dont get what they want. It seems were are being used as a hub for the nations racism both black and white to flurish.
Again, I dont work for a paper or the media so I dont have an agenda. I am not trying to sell papers or increase ratings. So who do you think would be more likely to be telling the truth. I invite all of you to come to Jena spend some time talk to people here you will find no more and probabally less than where you live now.
James, I have not read the actual reports; as far as I know they are not publicly available. I’m going to try to find them online, but if you are aware of where they’re available, please let me know. But the FBI says did not investigate any law enforcement agencies; they investigated the noose incident. And it was the PR division, not the Civil Rights division, which I think is meaningful. Donald Washington refuses to investigate, I’ve posted on that before. He was completely disingenuous about how selective prosecution is determined.
As to Barker’s injuries, there has been no documentation – and I’ve seen at least part of his discharge papers – that they were severe. They certainly did not indicate a lot of kicking and stomping; nothing broken, nothing permanently damaged (he claims to have suffered “headaches” for several weeks after, but doctors could find no medical reason so I call BS on that or maybe they were stress-related), and the head nurse in the ER said his injuries were not severe. No renal or abdominal injuries as you’d expect from being repeatedly kicked in his body, either. That’s why he was able to attend the ring ceremony that night. Yes, he was on pain pills for a couple of weeks after. I don’t deny the beating hurt, any more than I deny that it was wrong. But I believe it’s been overly dramatized. I’ve suffered a far worse beating; something that kept me in the hospital for several days. I know what it’s like to be beaten and kicked, and I’m sympathetic, but nothing in what has been recorded about Barker by anybody indicates that the beating was serious other than anecdotal evidence. “Blood coming out of the ears” sounds awful. But it evidently was dripping from somewhere else into his ears, as no serious cranial injuries have been recorded. As I’ve said before, Walters relied on photos, not medical testimony. That should tell you something.
As to Bell and the car and child, are you saying there is a “stop snitching” movement in Jena’s black community? Is there any real documentation (and I mean more than an anonymous commenter on Town Talk) that it happened, and info on why it was not reported and prosecuted?
I appreciate the info on the Gotta Go incident. I have been considering a trip to Jena, if I can leave my clients for that long. Failing that, can you get me his name, or contact him for me? I will post his account verbatim on this blog if he is willing to give it. (I am likely to respond, but I won’t change his words at all.) I too am not on anyone’s “team” nor do I have anything to gain – I’m on the side of the truth. If it means retracting most of what I’ve written and making a public apology, I’ll gladly do it. Not only do I write here at PH, I also write for Blogger News Network, so his account will be included in the Google News feed.
In a previous post you said there was a buisness that didnt allow blacks in it or didnt serve them, I dont remember which. I would like to know what buisness that is. I would also like to know what criminal act was committed that was treated differently. Again take the facts not what you have learned from the media. Which by the way came from the accused familys and themselves. Who wouldnt try to protect their children and what else would the accused say. The prisons are full of innocent people, if you listen to them they were all mistreated, they are all innocent and none of them had fair trials. So known facts all you really have to argue about are the nooses. Maybe those boys should have been expelled for doing someting that dumb even as a joke. But no matter how bad you want it to be it is not a crime. Just because someone hurts your feelings that doesnt justify planning and carry
ing out a brutal beating on someone.
I think if these boys hadnt been let get away with so many things in their community and at school they would not have made the decision to do what they did. After all the entire shool was warned that absolutely no kind of violence would be tolerated at the school . Apparently he meant what he said.
The barber was interviewed in several papers including the Chicago Trib saying openly that he refused to cut black men’s hair.
>take the facts not what you have learned from the media
I take the media with a healthy dose of skepticism. War reporting is abominable, for example. I cross check anything important with milbloggers. However, you can’t just declare that the media has reported nothing but lies and expect me to take your word for it instead – a total stranger on a blog! Even in the ridiculous war reporting we’re subjected to, a grain of truth exists. Often twisted, maximized, or minimized depending on the narrative, but still there. From the beginning I have resisted the narrative on this and tried to stick to facts that are not in dispute. My opinion has been formed by those facts which have never been seriously disputed by anyone.
I’ve posted that I think the entire concept of hate crimes should be abolished, and people should be punished for their actions not their thoughts or motives. But all of the facts I’ve published about the Jena 6 are not in dispute by anyone credible – anyone willing to stand up for what they’re calling the truth and be held accountable for it. Right now you seem to be asking me to put aside media reporting in favor of the testimony of a total stranger, whom I have no way of verifying even lives in Jena. Surely you can see why I’m not willing to do that, in spite of my low opinion of the media. On that scale you currently rank even lower. Nothing personal, but if you want to be considered more credibly, you’re going to have to earn it. Convince me! Give me something that can be checked, give me accounts by people I can verify are in Jena and actually have the knowledge they claim to have. If they want a forum, I’ll provide it and I’ll cross post it to BNN so it’s also in the Google News feed. If there is a truth about Jena that needs to get out there, this is an excellent chance to do so. If there is an injustice being done, people have the obligation to stand up against it – and based on the information available to me, that’s what I’m doing now.
I assure I am in Jena I have lived here my entire life. Oh and by the way nothing personal taken. if more people would quit taking every little thing personally the world would be much better. Earlier you stated you would like to come to Jena but didnt have time because of your clients. This leads me to believe you may be a lawyer and if so I would have lower opinion of that than the media. Other than a politician that would be near the bottom. Of course I guess you could be a therapist. I dont expect you to believe what I am telling you but everyone here knows the truth. I believe if i wanted to make up lies I could make up some that would be more interesting than the truth. LOL but the I would be just like the media.I have sen where you have argued with several people on here who were tell the real deal and you seem to have a hard time wanting to believe it. Thats ok though because in the end nothing you or I say is going to change things. I do know racial tensions are 1000% more now than before it happened. Oh , I also never saw the barber interview and I wonder which one it was there are several in town. I doubt any of them have cut a black persons hair but I also doubt there have been any to ask. I have had my hair cut by a blackman who is a friend of mine several times while we were at work. He would tell you it is a lot different cutting black hair and white hair. I doubt any of these barbers would know how to do anything with it but shave it. Back to the real deal here, I had never known of the tree being calledthe white tree before this. We always refered to it as the square. That tree was very small when I went there. I do know there wera a group of boys who sat there all the time and had memorialized it to a friend of theirs who had bee killed a little over a year ago. I will do a little researc on that and ask some students if it was known as the white tree by all or just by the black kids. I did talk to one of Bell former teachers today from junior high and she told me he was the worst kid she has ever taught. I hadnt realized his behavior had went back that for. I also talked to the owner of the store today and he didnt want to talk about the issue . He said he had already lost buisness, because of him being a witness and he couldnt afford to loose any more. I never did know what part of Louisiana you were from. Sorry I havent took time to look at any of your site here but normally I am pretty busy.
LOL, no, I’m a lowly web developer. It was Doughty’s Westside Barber Shop:
More from Mr. Doughty, in a Newsweek article:
I have never been in that barber shop if you can even call it that. It is only a portable building maybe 8′ x 20′. The Billy Doughty I know who is a barber is in his 40s and I can promise you would not have got those comments from him. That must be his father but I wasnt aware he still cut hair. As I sit here and read these blogs and think back on the past. In my short 40 years I can recall times when there was a lot of racism in this area as in all parts of the country. There were times in school when there were some racial problems but they were short lived. There were places in this parish blacks just didnt go as was the case in many parishes. Then I think about today and I dont see how young people today can even start to compare to the racism their grandparents and some parents faced. There are times in everyones life when you will have feelings that you normally dont have and try to avoid. I myself had an instance yesterday that could have turned ugly and some may have saw as racist. I was picking up a lawn mower at Lowes in Alexandria. A young black man was loading the mower, he proceeded to run the mower into the back of the cab of my 1 week old truck bending the front of the bed. I was furious, I didnt say a word to him but he knew what he had done. I didnt turn him in or chew him out but I would have liked aan apoligy. After all I am sure I worked as hard for my knew truck as he did for his avalanche I saw him get into. You know todays youth need to be held responsible for what they do. I wonder if I should have made a report just to teach him a lesson. The thing is if he had been white I would have chewed him up oneside and down another.
Thank you, Laura, for looking at the truth. When I first saw the videos done on YouTube from Democracy Now, I was totally outraged. When, I read more, I was absolutely livid. But when I read your report, I was able to reflect.
I lived in a small town in MT in the early ’80s. Small towns are interesting places – and where extremely strange things can and do happen. I have an interesting ouija board story I can tell as well as a one girl smear campaign. When I returned in the mid-80s, a drunk coming out of one of the town of 300’s two bars fired a gun at my [black] boyfriend (now husband).
I now live in the Seattle area and am sometimes flabbergasted by the racist statements I hear. Since Seattle itself prides itself as being fairly liberal, it is surprising. Unfortunately, I can’t say that it isn’t shocking. I’ve even had my own boys be blamed for things simply due to their race. At one time, one of my boys was told that a program for “at risk” youth was reserved for Asians only.
In any case, I am so sorry to learn that you know what it’s like to be beaten. However, knowing what it’s like to be beaten, it is very apparent that you also know that six to fifteen guys, of which at least five are athletes, that the injuries are most definitely not consistent with the descriptions of the attack. The fact that none of those who responded dealt with this truth is bothersome to say the least.
Again, I agree that no one should have attacked anyone. But to charge six young men with attempted murder or aggravated assault is just too much. And, sorry, but something’s fishy in the State of Louisiana.
God bless you, Laura.
Did any of you see the assault a couple of months back of a young black man stealing the car of a 80 something year old man. If you didnt the old man was hung between the door of his car and another car. The attacker punched the old man in the face until he was unconscious and slumped over. I am not sure if he was charged with attempted murder or assault. It was one or the other but it should have been the attempted murder. Again if there was a video all of you would have a different opinion. How is it so hard to believe 40 witnesses. Once a person is knocked unconscious and anyone continues doing anything to that person they are trying fact that he went to a ring ceremony that he had worked for his whole life just shows he was determined to not let his attackes take something else from him. He should have stayed in the hospital for observations. The human body is very resiliant and can take quite a bit of abuse it still doesnt change the fact that they were trying to injure him and had planned to do so. I dont know how it is in other parts of the country but school fights with one on one happed fairly often. I have never in my life heard of 6 people jumping on one person in school. That is nothing more than a gang beating. I know you have that in most parts of the country and especially large citys. If these thugs recieved more severe sentences maybe it would stop. Down here we have no tolerance for such behavior regardless of color or who you are.
James Black, cite the video, and I’ll watch it and give my opinion of it; but I still don’t see how it is relevant to this case.
Show me something that indicates Justin Barker’s beating was planned.
Show me something that says your opinion is more valuable than the doctors who sent Barker home after 2.5 hours in the ER.
As to the 40 witnesses, their testimonies were conflicting, so you’re going to have to break it down if you want to prove something by it, and by the way, the coach said outright that Bell was not involved in the attack. Bell’s attorney didn’t call him to testify about it.
Bell’s attorney apparently doesn’t know what he’s doing. Why didn’t he apply for a change in venue? Why didn’t he find witnesses to testify for Mychal Bell (if there were any)?
I’m very surprised that the NAACP or ACLU didn’t send him somebody to defend him.
The NAACP and the ACLU knew about the case but chose not to get involved until after Bell’s conviction. My opinion is that they wanted to wait until the case had sufficient drama and publicity.
Laura which coach were you refering to, maybe the one who was holding the gym door so no one could get out and help him and the same coach who told them to run so they wouldnt know who they were. As for being premeditated it wasnt necessarily for Justin but they were going to beat some white person that day. Just minutes earlier in the gym one of them tried to start a fight with another white boy. The boy said I am not going to fight you man. Another black student stepped in and told “Bell” we arent going to do this in here. They then proceeded out of the gym and attacked Barker.
On another note I went to the first football game of the year friday, guess what no violence, no racism. blacks and whites together as usual. Also get this they were actually able to win without the thug squad. Heres a little more news for you a just learned a white man was beaten at a storage unit as he got out of his truck sometime this week. He now has a broken back and several other injurys. He said the blacks were not from Jena. This is what has bothered me with this whole case people with problems from other places coming here to act out for thier on selfish benefit. If I was Sharpton or any of the others I would be worried about someone from elsewhere using this as a perfedt oppurtunity to retallliate against them. Innocent people maybe in danger of getting hurt or killed.
The above incident hasnt hit the news yet and is under investigation. I did confirm the allegation with a deputy today. The reason it hasnt made news yet is because opposite of popular belief they dont arrest people here for no reason.
Okay, this posting began with, I doubt anyone kid in a high school fight had felony charges brought against him/her before December 2006. Actually, there was Demetrius Oglesby, who was charged with a felony offense for starting a food fight that led to numerous injuries of other students, and that is one case of many. You are so biased in your reporting and opions that it actually becomes hilarious.
(and Walters KNEW that, because the ER head nurse told him so, which is why Walters relied on photos to sway the three members of the jury who were not connected to the prosecution
I’ve seen these photos. not a pretty site.
Why didn’t he find witnesses to testify for Mychal Bell (if there were any)?
16 people said it was Bell.
Show me something that indicates Justin Barker’s beating was planned.
There is a witness report in the courthouse from a black female who wishes to remain anonymous who says she overheard Bell and the others planning this in the lunch line.
From Jena 2 – I’m not interested in photos. I know how bad a beating can *look* – and I know that two weeks later it’s a whole other story, unless there has been a serious injury. Qualified medical testimony of serious injuries would have put me firmly on the side of putting the Jena 6 in jail. But Walters didn’t have that.
I’ve read several newspaper accounts where the coach said it wasn’t Bell and wondered why Williams didn’t call him to testify, and those newspaper accounts raised questions about whether that testimony by the kids was influenced by the teacher who had made the list of names. (I forget her name.)
As to the witness report, I would have no way of knowing these things. Is it publicly available? Can I get a copy? (I don’t mind paying.) I’ll come out to Jena if that’s what it takes; it looks like it may have to. If this is another media malfeasance I’ll enjoying publishing that more than you can possibly know. But I’m not willing to just go by your word on it. I can’t even verify you by your IP address since you’re using Bellsouth.
Chris: In order to be considered “aggravated” under law, a weapon had to be used in the assualt. No one has proved that Bell kicked Justin and his tennis shoe was the lethal weapon that was used to authorize the charges.
Kicking, if it was done, is not stomping. When the kids beat Bailey up, were they attempting to murder him? Why are that gang not in jail on the same charges? Why were the boys not charged with conspiracy to commit murder when they threatened to lynch black teens for sitting under a tree on school property? If Bell and the other 5 are in jail, the white boys need to be sitting there right alongside of them getting equal justice.
alyce-
While the act of hanging the nooses was undoubtedly disgusting and the boys responsible should have been expelled, to go so far as to say that they should be charged with conspiracy to commit murder is ridiculous. Pulling a twisted, racially charged prank is something they are guilty of. But there is no evidence to suggest that they were actually planning to murder anyone with those nooses.
To everyone in regards to Jena 6
The reality of Jena 6 is that people of color will be treated unfairly and justified by a political incorrect judicial system, until “we” stop living in the past. I don’t condone “beatings” nor “racism.” Its obvious that racism is playing a more vital role in Jena 6 than the “beating.”
Its ashame and sad to hear and observe what “humans” think and feel in regards to this matter. Regardless of race these are human beings who deserve to be treated with dignity. I don’t care about their past because “all” persons involved in this situation have a past which could be more revealing on why this happened in the beginning.
The problem is that 6 African American Men have already been found guilty not only by Jena, Louisiana but by those of us that are bias and judgemental. We don’t know these children. Words are powerful and growing up in an community where the “n” word is used daily; You are reminded of slavery; and Racism and discrimination is the norm: Well to be honest young “black” men today don’t want to be reminded of their generational past. Just like White American don’t want to be reminded or relive Pearl Habor, World War I & II, Scalping, etc.
White America how would you feel if you were forced to relive these situations? How would you feel being the individual or persons working in “cotton fields,” “sold into slavery,” “beaten”, “prejudged by your color,” or “forbidden to eat in public restaurants?” Put this on the mind.
No wonder why other parts of the world despise us. No wonder why Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, etc. would rather fight/die for their countries freedom than to convert to the United States way of life. The United States is making more enemies than friends. Treating African Americans like trash. White America accept and respect “dogs” more than they do other human beings. What does that say!
Anytime, M.V. is fighting for redemption due to fighting dogs. What! I know white people that fight chickens (roosters), hogs, and dogs. Just another suggestion for the mind.
If you are a Christian and you do read the bible – this shall all come to pass. There is only one authority and power that reigns over all dominican and its not the white man.
Lekeytha, Is that the dominican republic you speak of. I assume you mean dominion. It would be nice if everyone one was equal. It would be nice if you were not taught that the white man is here to keep you down. It would be nice if you didnt throw the race card every time something is not the way you like it. Just think if it wasnt for affirimative action alot of you would not even have a job or at least not a decent job. If we all were equal a black man wouldnt get the same prefered rating as a veteran, this is what happens if you are applying for a state or goverment job. It would be nice if you were only hired for your ability not because you are forced to hire people to have a proper racial mixture. So do you really want to be equal? I dont think so, then you would have nothing to complain about. Blacks have far more oppurtunitys in our society than any other race, You can go to college with very little or no expense. You can get into college with a lower score. Heck you cant harly even be fired because you will cry racism. Sounds like you have it made to me.
Laura, there was a article in satudays Alexandria daily town talk about Bell explaining why he didnt recieve a bell low enough to get out of jail. I missed the issue as I was in Shreveport. I was told it saidt the judge set the bail high because he had 4 pending violent offenses and that he felt he was a threat to the community. I assume the actual offenses were not publicized due to him being a juvenile at the time.
I almost forget, I just left walmat a short time ago.(in Jena) I saw a young black man walk half way across the parking lot to shake the hand of the school superintendent. Just another example of how out of people of all races get along and interact together in Jena. When this is all over and the truth is finally published alot of you are going to feel really ignorant. I will fully expect a public apoligy from each and every one of you for putting down our community and society in general.
>
Actually, most of the public doesn’t realize how much Williams was protecting Bell by not bringing up Bell’s past. The DA can’t by law bring up someone’s past in court unless the defense makes a reference to it.
Lekeytha-
“Its obvious that racism is playing a more vital role in Jena than the “beating”"
That quote, much like your dreadful writing style, is wrong for so many reasons. Firstly, you are assuming that racism is playing a more vital role than the beating with little to no knowledge of the situation. Do you live in Jena? Were the prosecuting or defending attorney in this case? Were you on the jury? Did you sit in on the trial? Do you personally know all parties involved? I strongly doubt you answered yes to any of those questions.
Beyond that, writing “beatings” using the quotations works to imply that it was not really a beating. You are downplaying the fact that 6 boys attacked another boy. Whether or not he was beaten as badly as some claim is left to be seen, but I, unlike you, will refrain from expressing my opinions regarding the beating because I do not know all the facts.
Please do not take liberties like these in the future. They paint you as an ignorant individual when you may in fact be intelligent and receptive.
Laura ,I appreciate you printing Bells priors. As I know the judge and DA, I also know how prosecute and how they normally sentence. I expect the other 5 to get a supended sentence and 5 years probation. I expect Bell to get 5 years and serve one. I dont feel this is extreme for any of the six. Earlier I had refered to a video of a old man beating beaten. You can find this on Utube by searching for 91 year old man beaten.
Let me start off by saying that I appreciate the many different points of view that are expressed on this blog. While one cant help but to form an opinion after reading all the facts pertaining to this case, we must all be careful to express our feelings respectfully without taking a personal swipe at one another. The fact remains that in every city in America there are all kinds of racist things happening and the truth is it is up to the government to improve race relations in our communites. The fact that things that were created in this country to protect the rights of minorities are always looked down upon is disturbing. It is disturbing because the foundation of this country was not built upon the notion that there would be equal opportunites for all who dwell here. In fact history has shown that all sorts of individuals founded this country on land that was already settled by a group of called the Indians. Hundreds of Tribes were pushed out to make way for the Europeans to come and inhabit this country. So Mr. Black you are incorrect in posting that it is unfair that affiramative action is what allows us to obtain jobs and schooling. I am the proud mother of a 22 year old boy who is in his 4th year at Northeastern University in Massachusetts. Northeastern is one of the MOST prestigious universities in this country. My son played football and maintained strait a’s all four years in high school. This is what allowed my son to go to school, not at a reduced tuition, but FREE!!!! on an all academic scholorship. and while he does not play football anymore he maintains strait a’s and b’s and has a gpa of 3.8. and excuse me Mr. Black it had nothing to do with the color of his skin, and everything to do with his determintion to succeed in life. Please check your facts before you label an entire race of youth. it is disgusting and disrespectful. My sons best friends are of all races and thankfully he did not have to grow up dealing with the trials of racism. He is very aware of his ability and knows right from wrong. Moving forward this will be a case where everyone involved will have a chance to reflect and make a conscious effort to end this idiocy we call racism.
Everything about this situation is extreme that is understood…. but what sickens me the most is that for the life of me I cannot understand why anyone would consider the hanging of nooses a “prank” a “joke” or how a teen is getting charged attempted murder for a school fight? How is this justified? Are we teaching our children that it is fine to send the message of racism? I am a mother of two. As a parent I will raise my children not to embrace hatred ~ rather to love one another. How do we really think these teens learned of nooses? Who in this day and age allows such a thing?
My concern is that all teens involved be treated equally regardless of the color of their skin. I do feel that the charges of attempted murder and conspiracy is outrageous, to me it seems as it was a case of battery. I feel for all parties involved as well for the generation that we are raising. If the school board, the teachers would have intervened earlier on maybe just maybe the situation would not have escalated.
Intelligent minded
These comments you refer to aply to all blacks but mainly to the ones on here so righteously state all whites are racist and evil. I got tire of reading their crap. It is good your son will be a positive role model. there are intelligent people in every race theres no denying that. For you to just jump in here without knowing the facts on this issue is just plain rude. You are to quick to make assumptions. The media made this event as trivial as the national enquirer. I havent been any where close to as rude as some people on here. I apoligize if you take it personally. You dont live here, you dont know, just as 75% of the others in here dont know. I have just as much right to defend my community as others do to try to condem it. Hopefully intelligent people as yourself will look at the facts before making judgements. By the way my great grandmother was 100% choctaw and you dont here me complaining about what happened hundreds of years ago.
Disgusted:
The charges were dropped to aggravated battery.
this whole thing is ridiculous and is being blown way out of proportion. If the black kids are going to be charged for beating Barker, the white kids should recieve the same charges for assaulting (Bailey i believe) at the Fair Barn. And the incident at Gotta Go is c0mpletely ridiculous, ridiculous doesnt even come close to describing the insanity of the charges the black men face. And to Mr. James Black, for someone who allegedly knows everything there is to know about the case, knows everyone involved in the case, knows the District Attorney, as well as the workings of the legal system, it amazes me to see just how horrible your spelling and typing skills are. honestly, its obsurd.
Anthony Stafford:
Some of us not just live in Jena, but have also read the eye witness statements. If you read those too, you would have a different stance on the whole issue.
“James Black
August 28th, 2007 at 7:30 pm
35
Lekeytha, Is that the dominican republic you speak of. I assume you mean dominion. (one should not point out another’s mistakes unless they are willing to note their own, I’ve bolded them below) It would be nice if everyone one was equal. It would be nice if you were not taught that the white man is here to keep you down. It would be nice if you didnt throw the race card every time something is not the way you like it. Just think if it wasnt for affirimative action alot of you would not even have a job or at least not a decent job. If we all were equal a black man wouldnt get the same prefered rating as a veteran, this is what happens if you are applying for a state or goverment job. It would be nice if you were only hired for your ability not because you are forced to hire people to have a proper racial mixture. So do you really want to be equal? I dont think so, then you would have nothing to complain about. Blacks have far more oppurtunitys in our society than any other race, You can go to college with very little or no expense. You can get into college with a lower score. Heck you cant harly even be fired because you will cry racism. Sounds like you have it made to me.
Laura, there was a article in satudays Alexandria daily town talk about Bell explaining why he didnt recieve a bell low enough to get out of jail. I missed the issue as I was in Shreveport. I was told it saidt the judge set the bail high because he had 4 pending violent offenses and that he felt he was a threat to the community. I assume the actual offenses were not publicized due to him being a juvenile at the time.”
Now for my response:
As for affirmative action….if things had been fair from the beginning and applicants weren’t intentionally overlooked for jobs simply because of their race…there would be no need for special ratings, affirmative action, or any other work related considerations. Women have had the same problems, over looked for certain jobs, advancement, etc. Imagine being a black woman, you’re doubly screwed. This country was founded BY white men FOR white men. Being a white man, you can never understand the plight of someone of any other race, or another sex.
These young black men may be guilty of many things. I’m sure the young white men involved may be guilty of many things as well. The issue here is severity. Slap on the wrist for some vs prison for others. Expulsion from school vs 3 day suspension. Prank vs premeditation. A hate crime is a hate crime no matter how you cut it. The nooses were dyed to match the school’s colors and hung the night before (deductive reasoning used here) so that they were seen first thing the next day. Tell me how that isn’t “premeditated”. Rope is generally one color, so for there to be 3 nooses hung to match the schools colors…that would indicate premeditation. But yet it was “just a prank” according to the Superintendent. The principle “supposedly” felt differently when he recommended the expulsion, and who would know the students in his care better?
There was a lot going on here and it unfortunately escalated to where it is now. Doesn’t make it ok, doesn’t make it right, and it sure doesn’t make it excusable for any of them. The focus needs to be on equal distribution of the law. We are supposed to be a country of equality, not of one-upsmanship. “poke me I’ll punch you, punch me I’ll kick you, kick me I’ll kill you” That gets nothing but sore hands, black eyes and full cemeteries.
Lok back at your own post before you poke at mine. I never said i was a gramatical genius. Most of these post I hurry through and dont even pay attention to my spelling or proper typing skills as you call them. I can point out 6 typos in your last post without even much thought. Yes I could take time and use spell check but that is not the point here. You will find out everything I said was true. Absolutely nothing you think happened is true. As long as I get that point across I could care less if you criticize me. At least I do capitalize the first word. If you would like to know the real story of the Gotta Go incident or the fairbarn incident just read back where I posted them and you will see what actually happened and was witnessed. There are a few people in here who know what happened, most of them have JENA in their name.
Karol
Nicely done. I guess I should pay a little more attention to my spelling. I have to admit I have typed many more words in these post than I have in the past 20 years since I graduated high school. In my line of work I rarely have to type anything other than the occasional spread sheet and the occasional accident report.I suppose I have been in a supervisory position for to many years. I normally leave the letters and reports to the secretarys. No matter how many times people keep mentioning the nooses, that still is not a crime. No matter how bad it hurt anyones feelings it still not a crime. Ignorant yes but not a crime. Not to be a smart A** but rope comes in many different colors and the color of the ropes have no meaning here. The students that done this would have been better off if they had been expelled. You probably arent aware that all three quit school because of life threats, harassment, and extortion. Yes extortion Bell threatened one of the three and told him the only way they would leave him alone was if he brought him a dollar a day. You would have thought he would have asked for more. So the school board may not have did much but they recieved far more punishment than they bargained for. Their familys also got constant death threats. I could go through each event and explain to you what really happened. This isnt hear say or he said she said. I dont blame people who read or hear about this to think “oh my god” but they are misinformed. You know alot of people blam this on the school board and the school for not expelling those boys and its true they should have been. I still doubt it would have changed anything. If fact Bell should have been expelled from school and arrested when he urinated in the corner of his spanish class. Yes he did ask to go to the restroom and the teacher told him that class was almost over, to just wait. Bell was in detention almost every weekend for disrupting class or being out in the halls wondering around during class. (After he asked to go to the restroom.) Now if they had did what they should have and expelled him then I doubt any of Barker incident would have every happened. I dont think that coach Fowler would have took kindly to one of his star running backs being kicked out of school. After all he never punished Bell or Jones when each was arrested for battery during football season. So I guess someone did recieve special treatment other than the noose hangers. Also Fowler (football coach) didnt allow 3 white players to play in a game because the toilet papered the school. I would have loved to see Bell play in last nights football game but I couldnt, you couldnt andthe school system couldnt make his choices for him. I hope having ones feelings hurt for any reason doesnt justify retaliation by violence. If it does then this country is in big trouble. I am sure some will think I made this up, but I assure you I dont have that knid of imagination. I doubt there will ever be complete rest between races. Whether it is black and white. white and tan , black and yellow or any combination of the bunch, there will always be differences. There will always be somebody who is getting the short end of the stick. On another note ,speaking of different standards. I was recently on a drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico and I noticed a little tension in the air. I started asking around to see what was up. I had been on this particular rig many times and everyone got along well. Basically what had happened was a couple of guys from Mississippi came to work on the rig and their state flag was on a patch on their coveralls. With their state flag being the confederate flag ,a black man complained and they were made to rip the flag off. Naturally they didnt like it or understand why. A day later the same black man wore a sweater into the galley that said the blacker the college the sweeter the knowledge. They two white man complained to the rig manager that that offened them. He then replied he couldnt do nothing about it and didnt want to hear any more of it. This is one thing I fail to understand a black person can call a person of any other race any thing they want. It doesnt matter if being called a redneck, cracker, white trash or anything else offends me ,they can say it with no consequences. I hear them call Mexicans wetbacks, asians chinks, and call each other N***** all the time and couldnt care less. So why do they think other races should refrain from saying or doing anything that might hurt their feelings.Recently I was called a fat white craker MF because I parked in a spot apparently he wanted. I thought to myself I wonder what his reaction would have been if I had came back with the first thing that popped into my mind. It would have probably been a fight. Anyway enough rambling but hopefully you see my pont.
Well Said…Justice is not done with a sledgehammer, but the conscience of man!
I think that we should not forget that this kid wanted to portray a lynching which in my personal opinion he deserved everything he got and then some, these boys have a hard road ahead of them I would like to say that life is not harder for them being black but the cold hard truth is that their life is going to be harder than your average white kid is this right NO but it is TRUE. We can not forget the fact that this one white child set back his community 80 years and the Family Values that were instilled that he would think that this is an exceptable thing to do. We need to do something about it not just sit at our computers and blog on it but get out and start a petition to call this community to the 21st century where the law states that were all equal this child Justin needs to be charged with commiting a Hate Crime and this is the truth. If these were gay kids who would be in court?
The reason the government forced integration is so THAT black students would brutalize white students.
It’s amazing how the media is against the white kid. They really wanted the white kid to die. They will rot in hell!
ChristynD:
The victim who was beaten by the Jena 6 had nothing to do with the noose hangings. He hung out in the same group they did, that’s about it. He was also involved in a verbal altercation with Robert Bailey beforehand. Some claim he called one the “n” word, but I’ve heard there are no eye witness statements to support that claim. I haven’t received all of the eye witness statements yet but plan to.
Either way, nothing gives ANYONE a right to do what they did. Do you know the details? Here’s a rundown.
White kid walks past several black kids with his girlfriend. When he passes one up, he punches white kid from behind. White kid hits concrete and is knocked unconscious before he even hits the ground. While he is unconscious on the ground, these 6 guys kicked him repeatedly. One eye witness says one of the Jena 6 leaned down and started punching him, too. MULTIPLE witnesses say they were kicking him in the head.
Keep in mind that, medically speaking, brain injuries are alot likelier to occur when someone has been knocked unconscious.
So you tell me, does he deserve this?
And do we have laws that are supposed to shelter people who conduct this kind of behavior in our school system?
Two of the other 6 charges were dropped to the same as Bells as expected. they havent said anything about Bells appeal to not be tried as an adult yet. Also there are no protest outside from all the people who said they would be there. Everything sure seems to be as normal as long as the people from elsewhere stay out of it.
Opal-
I hope both of those last two comments were jokes (albeit unfunny jokes)
We will have to accept that there are things in America, that will not really change. We will
only have improvements and gains between the different cultures when the cultures and races go through similar experiences that affect both equally. As a person who occasionally visits America, I have been fortunate enough to observe different aspects of the culture and I am always amazed at how some communities are able to work out their differences and how others find it very difficult. If there is a problem that will not be reconciled it is usually fostered by persons who live for causing discord and damage, it makes no difference if they are Black, White, Asian or Hispanic. These persons are so weak that they are easily manipulated by demons within and without, and they often refuse to keep the rules that they have set for others. We can call it racism, violence, gangbeating, whatever.
He said, Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, this encompasses the first four commandments, and then He said, Love your neighbour as yourself, the latter, encompass the commandments five to six. It may not be apparent, but if we cannot keep the first four we will not be able to keep the other six, and since the same guys who you look to for justice are the same guys that removed the commandments from public view, it looks we are between a rock and a hard place, I would have to include myself because the rules apply to me also whenver I travel to America.
If changes are not forthcoming the only retribution we will see is a pound of flesh
Bell’s problem is that he had three prior convictions on battery – this is probably why he is also being tried as an adult. Sorry but at some point you ahve to learn a lesson and that obviously was not working in his case. He should taken a plea.
I agree that the charges and sentencing are way over the top for this type of crime in this particular case. However, I would like to see fighting taken far more seriously in schools. Kids should not have to go to school in fear of being assaulted. I do believe it should be investigated and treated as a crime – and if the person committing the assault is found guilty and is 16 or older they should spend some time during the summer in a detention center for the first offense. Second offense would be jail time and expulsion. Too many kids keep coming through the system thinking violence is the answer and we need to put an end to it. Fight videos on the web are everywhere – it’s a sick contest to see who can be the least civilized.
The problem with this whole charade is – it should have been handled at the school level. The DA should be prosecuted for abuse of power.
In response to Christyn D:
I cease to be amazed at the lack of equality in the world. For some reason, people think it is OK to hate another Race of people. Not just one person, but an entire race. Christyn D thinks the white kid who was beaten should be prosecuted for a hate crime. The kid who was beaten? He didn’t hang a noose. He didn’t do anything except taunt another kid for getting his “a$$ whipped” in a previous fight. Where does that fall into the category of a Hate Crime. AND, if you are prosecuting kids for hate crimes, then shouldn’t it be the black kids who beat the white kid? Afterall, their defense is that they beat the white kid in retaliation, because he happened to be friends with the 3 kids who did hang the nooses. In other words, they beat him BECAUSE HE WAS WHITE. Black kids beat another kid because he’s white and that’s OK because they have a “tough road ahead of them”. Christyn went on to say, “if these kids were white, who would be in court?”. Fact is, if these kids were white and had jumped a black student, you would not only see all 6 kids expelled from school, you would probably see some pretty stiff criminal charges regarding hate crimes. You see Christyn, in this world it is OK for a group of black kids to jump one white kid and beat him senseless because of the color of his skin. IT IS NOT ok for a group of white kids to jump one black kid and beat him senseless. That is called racism in America, where it is OK for blacks to say anything deragatory they want about whites because they feel they have earned the right to be racist. I, for one, am not going to raise my boys to believe that because slavery existed, they have the right to be prejudice against all white people. Fact is, life is hard for whites and blacks. As a College professor, I can attest that it is much more difficult for a poor white student to make it in this world, than a poor black student. It is up to all African American PARENTS to instill pride and a sense of logic and morality in our children in order to abolish ALL racism, not just racism against blacks. I truly feel sorry for you if you have a grudge or hatred for any group of people based on their skin. If you haven’t opened your heart and your eyes to INDIVIDUAL freedom in this country, then I suggest you take the time to get to know someone who is different from you.
Let me start this by saying I was born and raised in Jena, and pround of the town and people, black and white.
I graudated JHS in 72, we intergrated our schools when I was a sophmore, very little problems with the change,
just some white and blacks being thuggs, the same white boys causing trouble in our all white school, and the same black boys causing trouble in their all black school, trouble comes in all colors.
When we intergrated our school we played sports together, very few problems, but as for the school “hang out places’, the nerds had one place, the cowboys had thier place, the jocks had their place, the popular kids, had thier place the thuggs had their place, black or white, and if you was in the wrong “place’ your were probaly not accepted there, white or black, the “tree” probaly was one of those hangouts, maybe not sure. As for the shotgun incident, my mother used to work at the store and are good friends with the owner who saw the incident, a simple case of thuggs being thuggs, The people from Jena, black or white, will defend themselves,
whatever way they can. From my understanding by people present, the fair barn incident was a private party that some kids tried to crash, and were removed by force, after mouthing from both parties a fight insued.
and I believe the person who told me. the fight at the school I know no first hand details, but in texas where I live now, any school fight the city police are called and charge are filed. Do theese kids deserve 22 years in jail. of course not, do they need to be held accoutable for their actions, of course they do, all, black or white do.
The reason that the DA has not mentioned their past crimminal history is because he cannot, because of pending cases.
Before I am crucified in this blog let me tell you about me, I am 54 yo white guy, born and raised in Jena, moved to TX in 78, was not born in a racist home, my family stills lives there, and I visit often, I still remember the “black only” windows at the restuarants, and I did not understand, my Dad said it was just ignorant people being ignorant, where I live now is a small town about the same size as Jena, and we are about racially even, blacks, hispanics, white, and we have thuggs of all colors, just like Jena. I teach sunday school at the Baptist Church, 1/3 of my class if black, great kids black and white, my son played football at our high school, only white boy on the team, started for 3 years, freinds with the whole team, most are at our house all the time, great kids, black and white, but we also have our thuggs back and white.
I guess what really bothers me about all of this, the DA messed up, the school board messed up, the boys that put the noose in the tree should have been expelled, but the thing that really bothers me is people black or
white, is painting a picture of innocence of all involved, thuggs , black or white will be thuggs, also great kids,black or white, are great kids. The thing has really got out of hand by people that does not know the town, the out of town and even country press to sell their coverage, the other people, white or black, that wants to further their own agenda.
Off my soap box, side note, this is a good blog, open minded, the people are respectable even though opinions differ at times
Gary……………still proud to be from Jena
Gary S:
It makes me really happy to hear Jena voices in here, people that KNOW that the situation (in most cases) isn’t as it is being portrayed.
I think the town does have its racial issues, the media has made sure and pulled out a microscope to find anything they can possibly find. They’ve been roaming through all parts of the town trying to find white-on-black racism to make their story juicier. The sad thing is, I have many friends who people would definitely call “rednecks” who would actually surprise people. They would seem to be the “textbook racist” but they have very close black friends who they work with. It just saddens me that people don’t understand how Jena really is. And you are so right about the thugs being in all races. This story is mainly about a group of individuals (white & black) who just don’t get along with each other. The justice system is in question, and I feel an investigation should prove if what the justice system as a whole did here was fair and legal.
Maybe the truth will finally come out once the media frenzy subsides?
What the Hell! The DA and courts along with the media made it the real Racial issue it is. Yes the nooses where racists and that was stupid judgement. The fights and beatings were fights and beatings. I don’t know when the gang mentality startd in fights, but when I was in High School there was some honor to a fight, even if it was a serious issue like race. If a white kid called a black kid the N word, the black buddies picked one of their guys to kick the white guys ass and when the white dude got the point he cried uncle and it was honered and the fight stopped, and vice versa with white on black. The point to a fight ‘Watch ultimate fighting’ isn’t to kill your opponent it’s to defeat him. I know we still have race issues in this country, especially in the deep south, but this damn gang mentality, no matter what the color or problem, does not do anyone any good to solving things. The purpose is to get the point across, and the point here is stop racism, stop hating because of color, that can be done by good old communication and an a one on one ass kicking once in awhile, no need for the gang mentality. Besides there are so many perfectly good reasons to hate some people without using something like race!
They are not allowed to bring up any prior juvenile convictions in an adult court, so anything the young men did prior is off limits.
A middle-aged woman is going to sustain injuries in a fight that a 16 yo would not. In the ER, I’ve seen young people that have only minor injuries who would have probably been dead if they were 40 yrs older.
My dad was involoved in a major accident (his wife died) and he was not kept in the hospital. Docs just don’t do that anymore.
If Mr. Bailey can not handle “taunting” from another student, life outside of high school in the real world is going to be very tough.
james black,
what a breath of fresh air! you took the words right out of my mouth. black folks are still scared today to become friends with the white race. why? i’ll quote a high school black girl, “they ask us why we talked to whites, we wanna be white or something?
I have to say I found the contrasting comments in here quite interesting. A few were really dumb and offensive, while a few quite intelligent and informed/informative. One point I’d like to make is to Dantrell Jackson. That is exactly what this world needs.
Laura, thank you so much for bringing up a lot of statements that, many who are from Jena seem to keep conveniently leaving out. No one wants to face the facts that the injuries just do not mesh with the kind of beating we were originally lead to believe. From all of the things I read, I really had thought this boy was beaten to a pulp. 6 large football players stomping and kicking this guy in the head, surly he would have major injuries. As more statements, reports, and definitely the pictures came out I was like, thats it. I am sure when it first happened at the scene it look severe. I stepped on a piece of glass and had blood running down my foot all over the place, I thought for sure I would need stitches, but when I cleaned up I discovered the cut was not bad at all. I think that of course if you show the initial pictures to a jury they would be like “how awful” but I saw the picture of him the same day after the blood was cleaned up and I was shocked that any sane person would call these injuries near death.
The so call witness statements are extremely conflicting and the only adult to witness the attack said that the first punch was not from Bell but one of the other boys, also not one of the witnesses except for one female teacher could point out more than 3 of the attackers. The female teacher got a list of names that the coach had written down for rowdy behavior in the gym and said these were the boys, she was later forced to admit that she never saw anyone hit Barker.
This case has holes all in it. First there were 50 black jurors summoned and suddenly the truth that only 10 were summoned and of that 10 some had moved, or had left the state altogether or were deceased. So many never got the summons. 10 compared to the number of whites summoned far less than even the racial make up would suggest. Links between witnesses and jurors as well as the victim and DA. This was not a fair trial. I think the DA over stepped boundaries, these boys did deserve punishment but the charges are crazy.
I am also glad you pointed out that the randomly attacked white kid, was a load of crap, there was provocation, that does not make it right but it sure causes one to wonder why would the DA knowingly mislead the jury. He knew why this boy was attacked. Thank you for telling what no one else is willing to tell.
hello all,
I have been reading these post daily and appreciate the history on jena and the incidents that took place in jena. In my opinion I feel that this issue should have been resolved in the school system. I firmly believe that all students involved black or white should suffer the consequences of all incidents not just the blacks.
here is some food for thought: i was watching the news about 2 weeks ago give or take, and came by a story where 6 white adults in west va kidnapped, tortured and sexually assulted a black woman. Held this woman captive for over a week, making her do things i really dont want to repeat.
What bothers me, is these 6 whites are not hardly getting the treatment as the jena 6 kids are.
I do not know what happened in Jena that day. Nor, do I pretend to know. However, I have read several post that states the Jena six deserve exactly what they get.As far as stating that justice needs to be served, okay I agree. As you go to bed tonight, I want you to think about Emmett Till, remember how he was brutally killed by two white men. Face cut up by a saw, tongue and genital area cut off. Then his body was wrapped in barbed wire, and thrown in a river. Men openly admitted that they killed him, but no justice. Remember Martin Lee Anderson, The young florida boy that was killed by guards at his detention center. This was caught on tape. Or taking it way back, the people in Rosewood, Fl that were killed beacaue a white woman claimed she was raped by a black man. She later told the truth that it was a white man that did it. The two tallahassee boys that were sent to prison about 30 yrs ago. Witnesses said they saw them kill a white man. A white man on his death bed, admitted to the killings. I stated the following stories because white people always demand justice to be served when something happens with someone in their race. I tell you if the justice system really worked for me and my people, white america would be in trouble. GOD is the only judge. Just something for the people demanding that justice be served in the jena 6.
Sorry, Jimmie Hicks, but you’re wrong here. You’d be okay with the school handling the kids that beat your child while he was defenseless? I’m sure there is a policy that if an ambulance is called to a school, a call is automatically made to the Police Station. Sorry but you know what, these kids need to just own it and the parents of these children need to accept some of the responsibility. You decide to join in the game of 6-on-1, beating a kid while he’s down – you face the consequences. What’s wrong with you people? Do you not see how insane it is that this kid was jumped by NOT 1, NOT 2, BUT 6 kids? I don’t care what was said, racial or otherwise. NO WORDS……….. will ever justify physical harm. EVER! And for anyone to give even one breath of sympathy to these kids, well, you are part of the problem. What are we teaching our kids? That if you make a conscious choice, even though you know right from wrong, and you go and beat a kid with 5 of your friends, not to worry – we’ll march for your freedom?
No wonder America is so F’d up!
To Dantrell Jackson — AMEN! This is exactly what I’m talking about. Physcial harm is never justifiable unless it is self-defense and obviously this wasn’t the case.
I’m tired of all this thinking after the action. How about these kids thinking BEFORE they act. The wrong message is being sent to these 6 kids and it makes me physically ill. I don’t care what color anyone is, the point is not color, it’s paying for a crime. Attempted murder? Why not? 6 kids on 1, what are you trying to accomplish? If Justin Baker had gone into a coma and died, what would they want? Accidental Death? Manslaughter? Pathetic!
Justice, do you also support Justin Barker going to jail for having a rifle and bullets on campus, and that the noose-hangers should go to federal prison for a hate crime? If you believe in the maximum charges for crime and in charging minors as adults, you can’t be selective about it.On a personal note, I congratulate your parents on you. Obviously they raised you to be the ideal teenager, never acting foolishly or impulsively, never making a mistake or suffering from poor judgment. I’m sure you have had a wonderful life and I’m very happy for you and for them.
Laura – I think you have some deep-rooted issue here that have nothing to do with this situation. You are trying to justify what these 6 kids did by calling out Justin Barker having a rifle or nooses hanging. YOU CAN’T JUSTIFY BEATING A KID. Sorry. Your points are moot. Does a lady who gets a slap on the writst for drinking & driving deserve to be raped? You are trying to justify physical harm here and it’s wrong? You realize that, right? I don’t support guns and I don’t support hate crimes and I also don’t support kids that team up and beat down 1 kid. Yes, I have acted foolishly but NO I NEVER BEAT UP ANYONE. NO, I never joined 5 of my friends and beat up 1 person. NO, I didn’t. That is not being foolish or impulsive, Laura. That is not just making a mistake. That is called violence and there are too many people making excuses for it when the truth is there is no excuse for it. ANd if you haven’t seen the news, more times than not, violence ends in death. This isn’t about color, it’s about society making excuses for viscious acts.
justice, evidently you’re new here. The choices are not “put him under the jail” or “set him free.” I have not said the Jena 6 should go unpunished – go read the archives. I think they should be punished – appropriately and fairly.
Added – remember, YOU said, ” I don’t care what color anyone is, the point is not color, it’s paying for a crime.” The DOJ said that the nooses met the criteria for a hate crime – never mind that hate crimes are BS anyway, the point is it legally met the criteria – and yet the perps went totally unpunished for it. My point is you’re being inconsistent. You want a slap on the wrist for some, and the book thrown at others. Why is that? What’s YOUR deep-rooted issue? Or will you admit that it’s possible to have an opinion based on the facts at hand?
Where did I say I wanted a slap on the wrist for some and the book thrown at others? Please don’t put words in my mouth. Each crime is it’s own entity. You are trying to compare crimes and you can’t. I said I don’t support guns or hate crimes. They should be punished. You can’t compare crimes because no matter what crime it is, all circumstances are different. So, apparently, since these dumb kids that hung the nooses didn’t get punished then the kids that beat up Justin Barker shouldn’t be punished. You are putting way too much emphasis on the wrong thing. One crime not being punished has nothing to with another crime being punished. So let me ask you this, if one of those kids that hung the nooses was beaten to death, would that be justifice for you? OR if those kids that hung the nooses were prosecuted and put in jail – would you still be trying to discredit the Justin Barker case and defend these 6 kids?
[Let me be clear, justice - I have always said that there's no excuse for beating Barker, and I've repeatedly said they should be punished for it. So we agree on that, if not the extent of the punishment. But your original comment stated that you want kids to think before they act and implied that you want them to be held accountable for what they do. Fair enough - now apply it to EVERYBODY. - Laura]
i have to say i think any mother that teaches their kids that it is okay to stomp or beat another kid just because they don’t like what someone else says well then they should not prosecute mychal bell they should prosecute his parents for teaching him so much hate. after all we act the way we are taught to act.
i would like to know when did our justice system start asking the people in the world how to prosecute criminals. after all there is one justice system for all people no matter what race. this was a gang fight any way you look at it and probably was planned. a school yard fight would be one on one not six on one. i think everyone needs to stop feeling sorry for the ones who did the beating and stomping and start feeling sorry for the one person who was beaten. i mean who the hell is standing up for him or protesting for him. i don’t see thousands of people gathering around for him hell i haven’t even heard one person say they are sorry for what happened to him. and people wander why the country will never change, well what do you expect its kinda one sided if you watch the news. jen1groomer
Laura ,
Do six black males beating 1 white male not constitute a hate crime? I am not racist but if I hang a noose in a tree that is freedom of speech. If I tell you I am going to put you in it that is assault with a deadly weapon but if you happened to be black it is a hate crime? All CRIME stems from hatred. Usually of ones self!!
I do not condone violence but I do believe in justice. Justice is suppose to be served on a continuum for both sides, that’s the entire purpose of the judical process. No one deserves to be beaten or hurt in such a way it results to a trip to the emergency room. But can you really send young men to jail for all of their adult life for fighting in a high school fight. No, that is unwarranted. Yes, they should be punished for their crime, but they should not be abused by a system that advertises Justice for all.
No I don’t think that 6 black males on 1 white man is a hate crime to the the truth for it to have been all them they didn’t do to much damage for real. You can see by the pictures of that man he didn’t get a true beat down……..I’ve seen worse. THAT PROSECUTER MUST BE UP FOR ELECTIONS OR SOMETHING CAUSE HE TOOK THIS WAY TO PERSONAL OR HE IS HEAD OF SOME TYPE OF kkk ORGANAZATION. THAT MAN JUST GOT BEAT UP AND THOSE BOYS DID NO MORE THEN OTHER KIDS DO IN SCHOOL FIGHTS. YA’LL KNOW ITS KLAN OUT THERE
OK ABOUT THE JENA 6 IVE BEEN TO HUNDREDS OF WEBSITES TO READ ABOUT THESE YOUNG MEN…EVERY WEBSITE SAYS SOMETHING DIFFERENT…THE ONLY THING I WANT TO COMMENT IS IF IT WAS THE OTHER WAY AROUND THAT THE WHITE TEENS WOULD HAVE BEATEN ONE BLACK TEEN WOULD THE CHARGES BE THE SAME…I THINK THATS THE MAIN QUESTION THE JUDGES SHOULD BE THINKING ABOUT…
6 black students? Barker told the police he was jumped by 15 boys….or maybe it was just one, after being taunted for being beat up the weekend before, and being called the “N” word.
I find it amazing that the root cause of the the incident has been totally lost on the the sympathizers for Barker, wasn’t his friend who insigated this attack on Mr. Bell. why are we not punishing him or his parents for the cowardly attack him and his friends engaged in. As for black people being racist (posted by someone else on the site), we cannot be racist because racism has to do with he unequal balance of power. Black people do not control the wealth, the government or any other resources that can be utilized to keep another race down. so PLEASE STOP sayin that blacks are racist.
burrkester,
A hate crime is defined as “A hate crime (bias crime), loosely defined, is a crime committed because of the perpetrator’s prejudices. This is a controversial political issue within the US. The US Congress (HR 4797 – 1992) defined a hate crime as: “[a crime in which] the defendant’s conduct was motivated by hatred, bias, or prejudice, based on the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity of another individual or group of individuals. …” which means that the crime must be motivated solely by race. An example would be if a white kid smacked a random black kid on the street or vice versa, simply because of race.
Just because one party is black and the other is white does not make something an automatic hate crime. It is difficult to explain the Jena 6 as being or not being a hate crime because of all the other incidents that happened leading up to the Justin Barker beating. It has also been reported that Barker was taunting the black students before this. That would mean that this crime was motivated by the taunting, however racial it may have been. If Justin Barker was black and taunted the Jena 6, he may still have been beaten; the situation probably wouldn’t be such a big issue.
Hanging nooses from a tree is a hate crime. It is solely motivated by race.
And justcause, anyone could be racist. While racism has caused some people in power to oppress others (like the Apartheid), anyone has the capacity to discriminate based on race.
Perhaps this case gives all of us a chance to see how the justice system really works. I don’t like the fact that you can be under 18 and still be charged as an adult; it’s just dumb. Either you are an adult (18) or you’re not. When it’s convenient for prosecutors, or “heinous” enough (ie, this “beating”), then you’re a grown-up. When it’s not such an easy case to prosecute(ie, bringing a gun to school), it’s a juvenile case. I’m tired of prosecutors being given “discretion” with this type of stuff, and judges going along with it. What is the point of having a juvenile system if we’re going to abandon it when our emotions are running too high?
You’re old enough to go to war and kill a complete stranger for whatever cause at 18, yet you’re not allowed to drink alcohol because you’re not old enough to understand the responsibility of consuming alcohol (or, can’t handle your liquor as most folks would say), unless you’re at home with mommy and daddy. I don’t get it.
And no, jen1groomer, I won’t be protesting on Justin Barker’s behalf. Not that I condone what happened to him, but in this particular case, he doesn’t need thousands, or even hundreds to support him; he has the Jena justice system, plus the incompetent DOJ (particularly Donald Washington) in his corner. Most folks aren’t protesting because because the Jena 6 are “innocent”, but because these are agregious charges. I’d feel a lot better when everyone comes to their senses and recognize this.
I guess I could go about leaving my comment as a black person, but I’d really like to do it as a person, an American.
I think it is ridicules the white students weren’t charged for the things they did. With that said, this is evidence that violence begets violence. As much as the white students were wrong, other black students were as well. As I have read various articles over the Jena 6, I have noticed with both groups, it seems to be the same names over and over again, continously reacting to the last the other did.
I do think petitions and other actions should be taken to make sure others are charged as they should be. I think the charges for the Jena 6 needed to be reduced. With that said, these six young men did attack another. This debate over the extent of the victim’s injuries is irrelevant. I assure none of the young men who were doing the beating were doing so with the thoughts in their minds they would only hurt him a little bit. Even if the victim was calling them racially charged names a minute before the beating, it is illegal to attack another person. And, trust me, six people beatinga another person could kill them.
I grew up in a small town in Oklahoma with about the same racial percentages as Jena. Not only did I like most of the white students, I love them. I mean, I started kindergarten with them. When we were in the 8th grade, two boys, one black kid named Wes and one white named Eddie, got into a fist fight in basketball over a cookie. I know this sounds ridicules, but it happened. They also happened to be talking to the same girl. None the less, the white student wont the fight and both students were suspended. A week later when the suspension was over, 8 black other students who weren’t even friends with Wes jumped Eddie. I remember it being one of the scariest things I have ever seen. I was totally pissed! He fell onto a concrete bench, his head was busted open and several of us, including Wes, pulled them off. Wes and Eddie had talked the week of their suspension and patched up their friendship. But, these other 8 guys took it upon themselves to take up this fight and make it bigger than it was. However, charges were never filed against them, but should have been. I think the principal and the police thought if they had been charged, the problem just would have passed on to more people who had no idea what had originally happened between Wes and Eddie. The 8 were expelled for the year.
My point is it seems to me that this thing in Jena is comprised mostly have the same people, black and white. As a black person who grew up in a very similar community to Jena, I have to say I did come across some racists, but I also came to know far more great people. This makes me sad for the people of Jena who have been friends for so many years, but are now being torn apart by an incident of angry people of both races and now nationwide attention.
The kids who started this at the least should be suspended from school. Hangings and lynchings have obviously been a form of TERRORISM towards black people through the history of this country, particularily in the South. Since 9/11, there have been many new laws that address terrorism and terroristic threats, although they are mostly only applied to Americans with a Middle Eastern background. This was a means to envoke terror. I would be willing to beat there are many white people in Jena who agree with this, if for no other reason than these punks have turned their town into a national laughing stock. With that said, the Jena 6 should also be charged and punished. Even if you hate the person in question, in America, you and five of your friends just can’t attack them. I know most of you would feel the same if it were 6 white kids and one black boy. And, I know this has happened many times and gone unpunished, but justifying the current attack based on past injustices only continues this racial divide. In fact, I have a suggestion. Lets bundle up all these Jena kids, black and white, and dump them off in Iraq. I promise, they’ll come back in love with each other.
I live in Jena, La. It seems like there have been nooses hung on trees before footballs games for as long as I can remember, it has never been a racial thing. The Jena 6 boys at least 2 of them have told my son he was going to be next to get beat down. My son is not a racist at all. The nooses was just an excuse for them to get out of trouble for what they did. Two of these boys in school would hit some of the white boys or push them down and tell them to say the N word and if they did they would knock the heck out of them. That’s not right. I have heard that Mychal Bells neighborhood say that the crime has been down since he has been in jail. It must be nice all the money coming into the household to go buy new cars, and new rims for their cars they have bought. The money being sent is for the children….. I just hope when he gets out he doesn’t commit a bad crime. When you are a repeat offender you usually don’t get bail.. it doesn’t matter what color you are a crime is a crime. You need to come to our town and judge for yourself don’t believe everything you hear about us. I bet when you leave you will have a different outlook on us I promise for the best…
Living in La. and not to far from Jena, La I have been following this since the hanging of the noose. It was hard for me to even comprehend what is really going on in Jena and now that I have been to many sites, and visited Jena, racism is still alive and strong. The issue should not be 6 black boys beat up one white boy. Why is race even mentioned? If hanging a noose is freedom of speak, then I guess call a person of african amerian decent the “N” word is freedom as speech as well.
Susan, I have been to Jena. And just the thought of Jena makes me say thank God I don’t live there. If race is not an issue there, are there any minorities working in any of the banks in Jena? What about the barber shop there that “blacks” are not allowed to enter? You said, “I heard taht Mychal Bell’s neighborhood say that the crime has been down since he has been in jail.” has to be a lie, you mean to tell me that an entire community is afraid of a 16yr old, be for real! What did your DA mean when he started his speech in the auditorium with “I can change your life with the stroke of a pen”? Now with you being a mother and your son came home and told you that two boys regardless of race said they were going to beat him down next and you sit in your home and do nothing then you are less than a mother, we protect our own!
Now back to the beating you are not going to make me understand if 6 high school football players attacked one person, the one person who was attack did not have serious injuries, but I guess God was on his side, but if he was such a holy than thou person he would not have mistakenly brought a gun and ammunition to school either.
susan,
nooses being hung before footballs?!?!?!?!?! are you kidding me? that in itself is not and should not be a normally occurring event… and in this particular case, it was a racial thing… also, have you ever heard of a high school fight being taken to court? i’m pretty sure that answer is NO! this is absolutely ridiculous… if this was in reverse— barker black and the “jena 6″ white… there would be no courts involved at all…. this is definitely racism— furthermore, i’m sure you know this by now… but let me refresh your memory: “The same day as the impromptu protest, an assembly was called. White students sat on one side of the auditorium, black students on the other. LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters dropped what he was doing and, accompanied by the police, came out to threaten the black students. He faced their side of the auditorium and told them, “See this pen in my hand? I can end your lives with the stroke of a pen.” It was not an idle threat.” If this is what the majority of the people in Jena believe is “normal”… you guys definitely need to get out more and see the world outside of your racist Jena— the world has moved on. yes, our justice system does not always work with the utmost fairness, but something that reaches such a magnitude where the white students who beat the black kid weren’t given anything in comparison to the “jena 6″
lastly, i liked to say that i’m not condoning any of the “jena 6″ acts, but only trying to figure out why the charges were so different for students involved in the same type of event (beating up another). if this isn’t racism then i really don’t know what is.
time always repeats it self, the wilmington 10 come to mind .. black men standing up for the rights the white man wants to take away..every white person in jena saw it the white way and not the right way if the roles were different would they still feel the same would they say 15 whites jump micheal bell and that just us white folk barker was wrong be real rigth is rigth no matter the color i seee thier mad because the black family are getting something thier not jena is the racist place in the world every some one wrote the noose was a excuse for them to get out of trouble see thaat was before the figth white folks……….
Does not matter if noose was hung as long as no one was hung by then , when the actual act of violence takes place then justices needs to be put in place , does not matter how long Justin Barker was only at the hospital 2 1/2 hours he should not have been to any hospital due to being beaten especially by 6 guys . If anyone does not like the degree of the punishment then they should consider the crime of assault that was taken place , supose Justin Barker had been alone when this beating had taken place go dknows where he could have been today. For a parent of the Jena6 to say justice is not being served what will it take for Justin Barker to be placed in a grave then you open your eyes , this is not just a school fight when 6 guys attack 1 guy it is wrong there is no self defense on and especially when 1 of the guys already been involved in crimes and put on probation and then act in towards violence again what that tells me is thet he never learned form his previous crimes and he needs stiffer sentencing to pay for his crime or the next thing there will be someone being put to a grave .So mother of Jena your sons comitted a crime and they have to pay the price , or next thing you may be crying over their graves for a crime gone wrong . It is time to move forward to the future and forget all this racist thing , you are given your freedom so bring your children up in the proper way as to violence is not the answer and if any white person presses on it walk away be the better man, not show justice with your feet and hands but with your hearts . Some of those guys should be thanking that nothing more serious did not come out of this Justin Barker could have been died today and they all would spend a life in prison or would you parents say it was a misunderstanding ..or he deserved it
syncere1 it is people like you that keep the violence act alive , it does not matter the amount of damage it is the fact that it was a out numbered fight that could have result in death , if this is a normal school fight then i am afraid someone is no tdoing their job in keeping peace and making it a safe environment It does not matter where the crime was comitted that fact that a person was seriously hurt and could have been worse what are you waiting for for someone to be killed then jena6 would say it could have been prevented if we known , no you would not say that because when it comes to the final blow you hold your kids high for their actions and this is white they become repeated offenders . The same for white kids does not matter colour if u commit a crime you pay the time , When you commit the crime you know the results is serious so the punishment should be serious
Susan:
You can’t tell many these people or convince them that this MAY have been a prank in preparations for the football game. I don’t know what was going through the guys’ heads, but we can say with 100% certainty that there WAS a football game and I can vouch with 100% certainty that that tree has OFTEN been used in the past to show Giant pride. And yes, I have spoken to people from other parts of Central Louisiana and a few of them have told me THEY had nooses hung in trees on more than one occasion in preparations for football games in high school. If these guys hung these nooses EVEN “as a prank” directed towards the black students, I think EXPULSION isn’t enough. I think harsher punishment should have been given. But we can’t say with 100% certainty that’s what these guys were up to. Yes, they are rednecks. That makes it very questionable, but it does not PROVE their intent. Additionally, I’ve heard that THREE black students sat under the tree, yet only TWO nooses were hung. If this symbol was aimed at the black students, wouldn’t they have made one for each? So I think you have to factor that in as well. I’m on the fenceline regarding their motives. I don’t know what they meant to do, but they definitely should have addressed the issue afterwards and stated publicly what their intentions were. A public apology would have helped, too. It’s still not too late to do this. Their voice would help the situation alot. If only there was a media outlet that cared to present an unbiased, non-agenda driven story.
Davinedesigns:
I think most of us are probably glad you don’t live here either. It’s actually a great place to live. The black and white community here have some issues (a few bad seeds), but for the most part get along great. Yes, sports is usually the common bond, but definitely NOT always. It bothers me to no end when some of the racial activists say that Bell and co. were just being used for their abilities. It bothers me when they say that, since our white & black communities unite much more during sporting events, that the “white” system is using the black students to win sports games. The problem is, the black community NORMALLY has a much stronger emphasis on sports. It seems that education and club-oriented activities take backstage to sports. This is likely the reason why the white & black communities here come together more during sporting events. This is NOT the “white” system’s fault. If you want to complain about how the black athletes are being “used” by the white system, work on emphasizing other activities! I apologize if I come off as a racist for pointing out one of the perceived problems in the black community, but it angers me when racial activists are ever-so willing to dump all of the problems in their community in the white person’s lap. Racism has to change, but so does the “victim mentality”. Both are valid issues that we need to move forward with.
About the barber shop. I have one question to you: What would a black barber have said if asked the same question? This barber NEVER said a black person could not enter his establishment. You are twisting the words around to make it sound worse.
And YES, she is telling you that the neighborhood has changed because this 16 year old was in prison. I fully back what she says, and I’ve heard the SAME THING from two or three of my black friends in the community.
And regarding the pen speech. It is SO easy to throw in there that he was looking at the black students when he said this. NO way to verify it, NO way to prove it wrong. I have heard that when he actually said those words, he WAS looking at a few of the black students in the front of the auditorium because they were acting up and not listening to him. I believe this is what Reed Walters said.
Justin Barker is not a holier than thou person. I’ve yet to see anyone who has portrayed him that way. I don’t know him so I can’t vouch for his personality, but I don’t care if he is a devil-worshipper, what happened to him was extremely wrong. Arguing with someone and flipping them the middle finger doesn’t give that person a right to get 5-8 of their friends and kick you in the head while you lay on the ground unconscious. This violence in our school system should not be tolerated. If Barker WAS indeed the starter of the altercation (which I believe ample evidence in the eye witness statements suggest otherwise), what happened to letting bygones be bygones? It’s very apparent that these guys use violence to solve all of their problems. Not just violence, violence with a gang-like mentality. They ganged up on several male white students before they attacked Barker.
khushbu:
You ask if we have ever heard of a “high school fight” being taken to court? No, but I have several comments I’d like to respond about this one question:
1.) Someone gets punched in the head from behind, gets knocked unconscious, and is savagely beaten by 6-9 students. You call that a fight? Again, anytime someone uses the word “fight” to describe what happens to Justin Barker, their intentions to me are obvious. This was not a fight, it was a beating. Even Alan Bean agrees with me on that.
2.) Most of us don’t keep up with minor court cases to even accurately GAUGE if high school “fights” are taken to court. So few of us are in the position to accurately reflect on that. Ask a lawyer!
3.) The severity of this crime, which TRANSCENDS a school fight in every sense of the word, requires strict punishment. I think the punishment should be STIFFER than usual since it was in a high school where learning should be taking place. I also feel it should be stiffer if the others records resemble Bell’s.
“barker black and the “jena 6″ white… there would be no courts involved at all…. ”
This statement makes me laugh every time. Wow!! So you are honestly telling me if the races were reversed, these charges wouldn’t have been brought. So Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton wouldn’t want those 6 guys hung up on crosses and crucified? You honestly feel that way? WOW! I can’t help but to VEHEMENTLY disagree with you on that one.
“something that reaches such a magnitude where the white students who beat the black kid weren’t given anything in comparison to the “jena 6″”
The white students who beat the black kid…that situation was VASTLY different than the Justin Barker beating. Go http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/003979.html there and click on the “Convenience Store Incident”. Thumb down to Robert Bailey’s eye witness statement. He is the only one who filled one out. Even according to HIS statement, as you can clearly see, it was not a beating. He says one guy attacked him, another stepped in, then the fight was broken up. Then later one attacked him and “several” attacked his FRIENDS. So EVEN ONE OF THE GUYS YOU SUPPORT contradict what you are trying to say. Get your facts straight, please.
I’ll respond to more of this later.
I don’t buy it – it just doesn’t pass the logic test. If that were true, Reed Walters would not (as he described in his NYT op-ed) have tried so hard to find a way to charge the noose-hangers, nor would the principal have recommended expulsion instead of just saying, “Look, it’s common knowledge that we hang nooses before football games around here, and it’s happened before plenty of times so why are you getting worked up about it now?” Nor did the school board use that argument back when it would have mattered.
MY TAKE:
All I can say is GIVE ME A FREAKING BREAK. I have never been to Jena, never even heard of the place but I can honestly say that I am appalled to levels unknown to man. I can’t believe some of these comments I have read on this web page. I hear people speaking of “justice” in supportive regard to Barker’s beating. Honestly, since when is 20+ years in prison for a teenager appropriate justice for a high school “ass wooping”? I am from Chicago, born and raised and maybe it’s just me but I don’t see crap like this. I have seen soooooo many high school fights. I have seen people get their heads, lips, eyes and everything else busted up but NO ONE GOES TO JAIL and certainly not for years at a time. YOU PEOPLE [Jena residents] CANNOT POSSIBLY BE SERIOUS.
That is not
justice people.
When those idiots hung those nooses on that tree, they knew exactly what they were doing. I don’t even see how other schools in the area are allowed to do it for football games, if that’s even true. But again, I am from Chicago and I bet my life you would never see any bullcrap like that anywhere. Do you have any idea what a noose represents? OMG, that is a d*mn murderous weapon which perpetuates hate and disrespect, to name a few, and I just can’t believe that it is taken so lightly in this town. Using a noose to indicate school spirit?
GIVE ME A FREAKING
BREAK! That could NEVER fly where I’m from. I suggest that from here on out the school establish some sort of Racial Sensitivity program because trust me, this crap sounds unreal. Of course there is racial tension, hell, I can think of 400 years worth of reasons for it; especially involving a noose. I am not justifying anything, but I understand. Some of these comments on this website just further support the idea that without a doubt Jena has some racial problems. The sooner people start to realize this, the better. I pray for those little boys (including Justin) and I hope some real justice comes of this bullcrap.
I want everyone to
stop jumping on racial bandwagons and pay attention what is actually at stake here. There are 6 teenage boys who are about to loose their adulthoods to the prison system and the only thing we can think about is how somebody got beat up. He is a BOY for crying out loud! That probably won’t be his last butt-whooping if you want to know the truth of the matter. FYI, I am sure that the reason people are looking at Barker’s injuries as “minor” is obviously because the people who are responsible are being sentenced to PRISON for it. Come on now, the crime doesn’t warrant the time, it just doesn’t. There have been murderers and rapists who have gotten lesser sentences. So he got his butt whooped for talking sh*t, it happens all the time. It’s a part of growing up, kids fight. He is not dead or even anywhere close. He also found it quite easy to get up out of the ER hospital bed and march straight to a ring ceremony that same day. He must have been really fighting for his life! What a miracle! Sorry guys but the injuries that he sustained DO NOT WARRANT PRISON TIME. PERIOD. This whole case has bullsh*t written all over it. I JUST WISH I COULD DO MORE.
ms_vaughn01@yahoo.com
Ms. Vaughn:
My take on your take:
“Honestly, since when is 20+ years in prison for a teenager appropriate justice for a high school “*** wooping”?”
I don’t know, who got twenty years? Did you not read all of these articles?
“I have seen soooooo many high school fights. I have seen people get their heads, lips, eyes and everything else busted up but NO ONE GOES TO JAIL and certainly not for years at a time. YOU PEOPLE [Jena residents] CANNOT POSSIBLY BE SERIOUS.”
You live in Chicago, where crimes are committed repeatedly every day. For “fights” to happen in YOUR school is common, the shock factor isn’t there. IT IS HERE!! Just because YOU live in a large city where crimes are punished less, and I live in a small town where crimes are punished more harshly don’t make YOUR judicial system more right than ours. Maybe Chicago should crack down on it’s high schoolers who exhibit gang-like behavior and violently kick and stomp someone while they lay unconscious on the ground. Maybe if you DID what we did, you’d have relatively little violence problems in your schools like we have.
And yes, I’m serious.
“When those idiots hung those nooses on that tree, they knew exactly what they were doing. I don’t even see how other schools in the area are allowed to do it for football games, if that’s even true. But again, I am from Chicago and I bet my life you would never see any bullcrap like that anywhere. Do you have any idea what a noose represents? OMG, that is a d*mn murderous weapon which perpetuates hate and disrespect, to name a few, and I just can’t believe that it is taken so lightly in this town. Using a noose to indicate school spirit? GIVE ME A FREAKING BREAK! “
I don’t know what those guys knew, but I DO know that two nooses were hung and three black students sat under the tree. I also know that, this IS NOT the “white tree”, as the media has pegged it. Me and a few of my friends have found photos of BLACK STUDENTS sitting under this tree and we plan to send them to media organizations when we collude our efforts. I also know that there was a football game that night against the Mustangs. I know that this tree is OFTEN used to put things up in preparations for football games. I also know that nooses have been hung in trees before at Jena High School, and many of my friends who went to schools around Alexandria said the same thing! So there is ample reason to DOUBT that these guys were not making a racist statement. There is also evidence to suggest maybe they were; but I’m not convinced.
“I want everyone to stop jumping on racial bandwagons and pay attention what is actually at stake here. There are 6 teenage boys who are about to loose their adulthoods to the prison system and the only thing we can think about is how somebody got beat up.”
I try to see this case as objectively as possible, and being from Jena has allowed me to understand this case much better than most. I try to remove my emotions from how I feel but it’s hard when people jump to assumptions about my home town and everyone who lives here. These teenage boys are not about to lose their adulthoods. No one has been sentenced, 4 have not even went to TRIAL yet. Two are being tried in the juvenile justice system, including one who plays on the football team as we speak. And your last comment saying that “the only thing we can think about is how somebody got beat up.” I can’t help but take offense to this. You see, when this case first evolved (ask Laura, I’ve just about been here from the get-go), it was Jena 6 this, and Jena 6 that…FREE THE JENA 6!! Everyone focused on the horrible treatment of 6 guys who beat and stomped someone while unconscious. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE VICTIM? There is no 100% cut-&-dry antagonist and protagonist in this situation, but the VICTIM of the crime was all but forgotten because he was white. That angers some people, I’m sorry. No one said “These guys should be tried fairly, but Justin Barker’s family deserves justice”. NO. Everyone was just saying “FREE THE JENA 6!”. So pardon me if I feel like maybe it’s time the victim is finally treated as such, not someone who had everything coming to him because he MAY have said a racial slur (if you’ll read the eye witness statements, there’s ample room for doubt in that theory).
Wow! You worked really hard at putting this reply together “FROM JENA.” You have responded passionately and contrary to your opinion of yourself, you are extremely emotionally driven in your objectivity. “MY TAKE ON YOUR TAKE”??? CUTE! YOU EVEN INCLUDED GIMMICKS, LOL. But seriously, when I speak of a 20+ year sentence, I am talking about what Mychal Bell is FACING. He is FACING up to 22 years for the charges and at the looks of it, he may get it and that’s inconceivable. Yes, people from Chicago do read; quite well as a matter of fact. You people [Jena dwellers] are still unreal to me in your views. How on earth are the Blacks there even allowing nooses to hang anywhere but in a freaking museum? I should come to Jena for like a week, you guys need to get a load of me. Don’t get it twisted, Chicago’s judicial system, has MANY flaws honey which has made me something like a pro at being able to spot others which are just as flawed. There are glitches in this case. PERIOD. Maybe it is because race is a key factor; maybe it’s because racial tension exists in Jena. Who the heII knows! But you can’t possibly honestly sit here and expect for this type of case not to draw public attention, ridicule and criticism. You can’t expect Black people to be okay with nooses hanging from trees. Unless of course you are an idiot. I totally agree with you about Justin Barker being pushed to the side. When I first heard of “The Jena 6″ I didn’t know what the heck was going on. It’s like everyone was pissed for no reason and wearing Black and saying “Free Jena 6.” No one acknowleged “the White kid in the hospital.” That’s true. No one can see him as a “victim” that’s why. It’s hard. He appears to most as a loud mouth who’s “mouth wrote a check that his azz couldn’t cash” (a little South-Side, Chicago slang for you). We’re not buying the idea that he was victimized, we’re just not. We see him as the aggressor who, unfortunately, got whooped. I think those Black boys should definitely get punished, just not that harshly. All races of people from Chicago are outraged.
Anyone who visits Chi-Town knows that we have one of the most racially segregated cities in North America. Most of the races that we have- Indian, Asian, Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, all live in separate communities with little to no mixing in our neighborhoods. Social Psychology suggests that similarities attract. I believe this. However, when we do mix, i.e. at school, work, cultural events, etc. we have learned to enjoy one anothers company and we “get along.” We have a hard time swallowing a pill like this [Jena 6 situation]. I guess you can say that the people in CHICAGO “know better” for lack of a better term. About 75% of the world who hates the “N” word are people from Chicago and they are White (this is a bogus statistic that I made up but it feels so dam true). We are extremely culture-conscious and racially sensitive. We are just so past this whole “prejudice” thing, it’s so ancient! Diversity is taught in our schools, most households, at work and we practice it day to day. You know some companies have DIVERSITY PROGRAMS and SENSITIVITY PROGRAMS. You guys have lost that, or never had it. If you did, the noose crap wouldn’t be going on, regardless of school spirit (I AM STILL TRYING REALLY HARD TO PICTURE A NOOSE AT A FOOTBALL GAME. WOW!). So you may think that you have set me straight with your reply up there but you will never change my opinions of this whole ordeal. You may have reached 1 but you have 1.3 million to go sweetie. GOOD LUCK!
WE HAVE GOT TO DO BETTER.
ms_vaughn01@yahoo.com
Tmoore:
I hate to be rude here, but I read the first 4 sentences of your post and I won’t read anymore. IF YOU DO NOT KNOW that MYCHAL BELL’S CASE HAS BEEN THROWN IT, then we have nothing to talk about.
We actually might, what does “THROWN IT” mean?