CHARLOTTE, N.C. – To the Rev. Dwayne Walker, pastor of Charlotte’s Little Rock AME Zion Church, the case of the Jena 6 sounded like a story buried deep in the past.

A year ago, black students at Jena High School in north-central Louisiana say they asked for permission to sit under a shady oak where white students traditionally congregated at lunch.

They were told they could sit anywhere. So a few black students tried to sit under the tree with whites.

The next morning, three hangman’s nooses dangled from the tree, inflaming racial tensions in the rural town of 3,000.

Now, six black students – dubbed the Jena 6 – face years in prison on charges of beating up a white student.

One, Mychal Bell, was convicted in July by an all-white jury of aggravated second-degree battery. He was scheduled to be sentenced next week, but on Friday a Louisiana appeals court overturned the conviction. It said Bell shouldn’t have been tried as an adult, and sent the case to juvenile court.

A rally had been scheduled to protest Bell’s sentencing. A march is still on for Thursday – and Walker will converge with thousands from the Carolinas and around the country on Jena to show support for the six teenagers and bring attention to what they call “unequal justice.”

The case has drawn national attention and outrage from civil rights leaders, clergy, politicians and radio personalities.

“It is so incredible that in 2007, this kind of blatant racism still exists,” Walker said. “If it happens in Jena, Louisiana, it can very well happen in Charlotte. We still need to go to Jena and put a spotlight on what is happening in that town and, really, around the country.”

The case has drawn national attention and outrage from civil rights leaders, clergy, politicians and radio personalities.

Details of what happened is disputed in Jena. According to published news reports, here’s how the incident unfolded:

After the nooses were found Sept. 1, 2006, Jena High’s principal tried to expel three white students who admitted hanging them. He was overruled by the superintendent and school board, which called the incident a prank. The students were suspended for two days.

A tumultuous year followed. Arsonists burned the school’s academic wing. Fights broke out. One of the Jena 6, Robert Bailey, was punched and beaten with beer bottles when he tried to enter a mostly white party. A white student was later charged with simple battery and given probation.

At school, a white student allegedly taunted Bailey. The Jena 6 are accused of ganging up on the white student and kicking and stomping on him in a schoolyard fight.

They were initially charged with aggravated second-degree battery. But the district attorney upgraded the charges to attempted second-degree murder. Most charges have since been reduced back to aggravated second-degree battery.

Mychal Bell is the only one to be tried and has spent months in prison. Like his co-defendants – Robert Bailey, Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis, Theodore Shaw and Jesse Beard – Bell had no prior criminal record.


“That all this started with a question – “Can I sit under a tree?’ – is amazing to me,” Walker said Friday in Charlotte. “It says a lot about the culture and social condition of that town. I contend that Jena is not the only place like that.

“That is why we must go in big numbers to show support.”


Before Friday’s appeals court ruling, organizers of next week’s rally estimated that up to 40,000 demonstrators would converge on Jena.

Some whites there say the media hasn’t correctly reported the incident.

“It’s been blown out of proportion,” one resident told the Charlotte Observer Friday. She asked not to be named. “Our town has never had anything like this. I’ve never experienced any racial tension.”

Yet for months, the cause of the Jena 6 has been fueled by Internet blogs, and national black radio show hosts such as Michael Baisden and Steve Harvey.

Hundreds of buses from around the country were set to go. Walker believes they still will.

“We feel that Jena needs to feel the impact of what they’ve done and are doing,” he said. “The country needs to know that these acts won’t go unnoticed any longer.”


His church, Little Rock AME, is helping charter one bus that will take 50 people to Jena, leaving Wednesday for the 12-hour ride.

Students at Davidson College and UNC Charlotte have chartered buses.

Anita Nesbit and Larry Brown of Charlotte have filled two buses that will leave from the University area Wednesday.

“All those boys are still up on charges and they shouldn’t be,” Nesbit said. “Now, hopefully Mychal Bell will join us Thursday.”

Tamara Allen, 27, has arranged for three buses. Two are full, the third is nearly full.

“When I described it to people, they thought I was talking about something in the “60s,” Allen said. “But this is 2007. I have two small daughters and this could happen to them.

“Racism isn’t dead. We need to still go and take action.”

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JENA 6 TIMELINE:

Sept. 1, 2006: Students arrive at Jena High School to find three nooses hanging from a tree on campus. Earlier in the week, black students had asked whether they could sit under the tree beside white students.

Sept. 7: Jena High’s principal recommends three white students be expelled after the admit to hanging the nooses.

Sept. 8: Schools Supt. Roy Breithaupt overrules the expulsion and suspends the students for two days

Nov. 30: Fire destroys the main academic building at Jena High School. Later that night, a fight is reported at a mostly white party. A black student, one of the Jena 6, is reportedly beaten with beer bottles.

Dec. 4: Jena High reopens four days after the fire. Robert Bailey, one of the Jena 6, is taunted by a white student. According to court documents, the white student is attacked by several black students. He’s knocked unconscious.

Dec. 5: Four black students are arrested in connection with the Dec. 4 fight, and charged with aggravated second-degree battery. Another black student is charged in connection with a Dec. 2 fight.

Deputies also arrest a white student in connection with the Nov. 30 fight.

Dec. 6: A sixth black student is arrested.

Dec. 7: The district attorney upgrades charges against the six students to attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder. Bail is set ranging from $70,000 to $138,000. A week later, the DA announces that Mychal Bell, 16, will be tried as an adult and his bail is set at $90,000.

June 25: Bell’s trial begins before an all-white jury. His charges are reduced to aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit the same.

June 28: Jury convicts Bell of the two charges.

Sept. 4: A judge drops the conspiracy conviction.

Sept. 14: A state appeals court overturns Bell’s remaining conviction, ruling he shouldn’t have been tried as an adult. His case will go back to a juvenile court.

SOURCE: Daily Town Talk (Alexandria, La.)

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(c) 2007, The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.).

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