Brothers

The Town of Jena: One of those little towns is Jena,
Louisiana, a 3,000-strong, 86% white community nested
in central Louisiana's LaSalle Parish. Several hundred
teenagers live in the town, and Jena's only high
school, unsurprisingly named Jena High School, is
public. This means that, under the Brown v. Board of
Education precedent, it's integrated. Well, most
of it, anyway.

Nooses on the Tree: On the campus of Jena High School
is a big, shady tree. According to students and others
from the local community, it was understood
that the tree's shade was for white kids. A black
teenager attempted to sit under it on August 31st,
2006; accounts vary as to whether or not he was
prevented from doing so. The next day, three nooses
were found hanging in its branches. The white students
who admitted to hanging the nooses were
suspended for three days.

Integrating the Shade: Several days after the noose
incident, a group of black students gathered and sat
under the tree in protest. White students' parents
called the police, and LaSalle County's white district
attorney stormed the campus with armed police and gave
an impromptu lecture to the black students who had
gathered under the tree. 'I could end your lives with
the stroke of a pen,' he reportedly told them.

The Jena Six: On December 4th, 2006, a fight broke out
on the campus of Jena High School. During the
struggle, a white student was beaten. He was taken
to the hospital, but was released shortly thereafter
and attended another school function that night. The
six black students were rounded up by police and
charged with attempted second-degree murder and
conspiracy to commit second-degree murder. Each of the
students faced up to 100 years in prison. Jena High's
ordinary penalty for a fight at school is three days'
suspension.

Latest Developments: On June 28th, 2007, Jena Six
defendant Mychal Bell was convicted on charges of
second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit
second-degree battery. He was convicted by an
all-white jury, and his attorney--a public
defender--called no witnesses on his behalf. He will
be
sentenced on September 20th, and faces up to 22 years
in prison for the schoolyard fight.

Please sign the petition and forward to others
<http://www.petitiononline.com/aZ51CqmR/petition.html>

www.petitiononline.com/aZ51CqmR/petition.html
<http://www.petitiononline.com/aZ51CqmR/petition.html>


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