There isn’t a simple and accurate way to understand everything that has taken place the past year in Jena, La. In this racially charged environment, where many believe everything to be black and white, the truth now seems a little closer to gray.
That is, of course, unless you accept a dogmatic interpretation of the events – one in which the white hegemony will always shamelessly discriminate against black people or, on the other extreme, that blacks are merely trying to relive the glory days of the Civil Rights Movement. Neither one of these is correct.
What we can be sure of is that something horrible happened – something that we shouldn’t try to justify.
The Jena Six events started when a black student asked the principal if he could sit under the “white tree” where white students traditionally gathered. The principal told him that he could sit wherever he wanted. The student and his friends sat under the tree; the next day there were nooses hanging there.
Civil rights activists have argued that the noose incident and the Justin Barker beating were directly related. This connection is not obvious. In the more than 40 accounts gathered by U.S. Attorney General Donald Washington about the assault and the events surrounding, not one mentioned the noose incident.
The nooses undoubtedly increased racial tensions at Jena High, but it is more likely that subsequent events led to the attack. In the weeks that followed the noose incident, one of Barker’s attackers, Robert Bailey, was attacked by a group of white students at a party. One of the white students broke a beer bottle over his head and was later charged with and convicted of simple battery.
The next Monday, Bailey claims that Barker made fun of him for getting beat up at the party. Though Barker denies saying anything to him, Bailey says that this sparked the beating that knocked Barker unconscious and required his hospital treatment.
The next part, however, is where it got ugly. Five of the Jena Six (the other was charged as a juvenile) were originally charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. The charges were later reduced to aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated second-degree battery, a potential 22 years in prison.
This is where The Daily Universe senses some serious foul play. According to Louisiana state law, a person can only be tried for aggravated second-degree battery, not to mention murder, when a weapon is used. There wasn’t a weapon used in the Jena Six incident. However, the district attorney was so convinced that the Jena Six incident was not simple battery that he claimed that the attackers’ shoes were the weapons. The jury bought it. It shouldn’t have happened.
This, however, was not the first questionable move that LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters made in this case. Walters insisted that the main assailant, Mychal Bell, be tried as an adult even though he was only 16 when the attack happened. The state appeals court eventually threw out Bell’s conviction, ruling that he should have never been tried as an adult.
On the other extreme, civil rights activists such as Jesse Jackson have argued that the cases against the Jena Six should be thrown out completely. One of the attackers recently pleaded on CNN, “Just drop the charges and let us get on with our lives.”
The issue that this side of the argument misses is that some form of justice must be met. There is no way to get around what happened. The Jena Six knocked Barker unconscious and still continued beating him after that. This is violent crime.
Yes, the cases have been seriously mishandled and there should be some repercussions for the district attorney and other members involved. It is sad that we are still dealing with racism in this country, but we are and we must face it. It does not make sense that Bailey’s white assailant is charged with simple battery and the Jena Six are charged with murder. Yes, the cases are different, but not to that large of a degree.
The Daily Universe hopes that justice will be served in this case for the Jena Six and Justin Barker. Most importantly we hope that once this case is settled and the media leaves, those involved in this case and the town of Jena as a whole, will be able heal from the turmoil of this past year.
This editorial represents the opinion of The Daily Universe editorial board. Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of BYU, its administration or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
