- Published: October 3, 2022
- Updated: October 3, 2022
- University / College: The Australian National University
- Language: English
- Downloads: 5
Jena SixHow could an innocent tree launch more than 10, 000 protesters to the street and make a simple prank into a national issue of racism? It all started when two nooses were seen hanging from the “ White Tree” in Jena High School after a student asked if black students could sit under the said tree which was typically occupied by white students.
That led to the beating of a white student by six black schoolmates. As if arranged by an imaginary rule, the students of Jena High School, populated mostly by whites, assumed that the tree belonged to the white; so when their black schoolmates tried to sit under it, the whites expressed their resentment by hanging two nooses on the tree. It was an act of outright racial discrimination, an attack on the Black race. Recalling the history, the loop became popular when slavery ended after the civil war. It was used to lynch people in America wherein most of the victims were African-Americans. The sinister noose was also connected to Ku Klux Klan and became a hate symbol against Negro people. The justice system also played unfairly. The white students who hung the nooses on the tree, the perpetrators who started all, have not been severely punished.
Their suspension was not enough considering the graveness of the turmoil they started. Their counsel insisted they had not broken any law, thus their penalty was minimal. If that was the case, it was only appropriate to consider that the accused, the Jena Six, would not beat Justin Barker if they were not provoked. Besides, the Jena Six, like Barker, were teens aged 16 to 17 years old. Therefore they should not be charged as adults but as juveniles.
Juvenile justice system was different from that of the adult. Juvenile delinquents were required to undergo rehabilitations while adult criminals awaited outright jail terms. Attempted murder was a harsh charge against the six students since the victim did not suffer life-threatening injuries and contusions. Direct assault was more fitting. Work Cited: Jones, Richard G.
(September 21, 007). Thousands Protests Arrests of 6 Blacks in Jena, La. The New York Times
