Thousands Protest in Jena, Bush "Saddened" But Refuses Comment

A massive rally in the small town of Jena, Louisiana takes a surrealistic turn as Martin Luther King III is thrust onto the spotlight. The son of the slain civil rights icon is seen here speaking to CNN reporter Kyra Phillips as thousands of protesters march—including Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson—in support of the six black teenagers initially charged with attempted murder in the beating of a white classmate.

King says some type of punishment should be in order for the six defendants but "the justice system isn't applied the same to all crimes and all people." The six teens were initially charged with attempted murder for a schoolyard fight with white students. This followed an ugly and escalating series of racially motivated incidents that started when three white hung nooses from a tree on high school grounds. Their suspensions were later overturned by the school district.

None of the majority white town's politicians, civic leaders or ministers have spoken against the noose—an offensive symbol reminiscent of lynchings—or the exclusion of black students from certain areas on the school grounds. Yesterday the "prosecutor ran out to television cameras flanked by a cadre of white men to argue that his decision to pursue the case was not based on race."

This morning and for the very first time, President George W. Bush spoke on the situation in the small Louisiana town and says he is "saddened" by the events but refuses comment because "this is an ongoing trial, and litigation is taking place." Compare this to the President's intervention in the Scooter Libby case during "an ongoing trial" where "litigation" and prosecution was taking place.

The situation in Jena has attracted a broad coalition of support from across the progressive community. The National Black Justice Coalition is in Jena and the Human Rights Campaign live blogs events in here. HRC President Joe Solmonese notes "injustice against one of us, is a cold, hard reminder that injustice in America still exists for a lot of us."

Thousands Rally in Jena [AP]
President's on March in Jena [Shreveport Times]
Jena 6 an American Justice [Keith Boykin]
Jena Live Blog [HRC Back Story]

Comments

[Luther]

Bush comment on racial injustice and tick off the core voters of he GOP, white Southerners, this is hardly a surprise. He's too busy making sure Iraq and its people get freedoms that blacks are still fighting for and especially a fair and open judicial system. Such a hypocrite its not even funny. He'll defer to Con-do-leeza, who will say the system works and we should all just learn to get along and race is no longer an issue in the USA.

I have to add, I was shocked and pleasantly surprised to see the HRC take a stand on this issue, slowly but, surely, times really do change.

[tony d..]

So Papa Bush finally has something to say about this? Bless his lil heart.

[earl w.]

Very encouraging to see the HRC take a strong position on this one.

[Serp]

Thanks Rod for this info. I'd been wondering when and if you were going to ever create a post about one of the most important stories affecting the black community in a long time.

[rod mccullom]

Serp, you're right, I haven't posted on this, but, many others have and done an excellent job. There's been lots of coverage.

[derrick]

The Jena story is truly very sad but in all fairness, Rod 2.0 isn't the only news outlet.

Jasmyne has written extensively about it, keith has mentioned it, and, lets not forget its been all over mainstream media. Quite often it's just the reverse, Rod often covers stories that Jasmyne, Keith and others ignore.

[ca]

We can go off the mark about who reported what or when but the fact remains this is a very important story and many people are moved by it.

[Erich H]

As someone living in France, I have to weigh in.

The Jena story is an example of a horrible miscarriage of justice, but, it focuses attention to the story. Much of the process is beyond the control of the protesters, its a legal case, and, most of the more serious charges were dropped. But yes, it does seem like a classic example of race determing legal outcome.

[greg g]

I don't want to go off track but someone raised a very good point earlier. No, Rod hasn't discussed this case but he discusses plenty of other stories that people ignore. Personally, it gets tiring to read the black gay blogs and they are on the same page every day, it's just like the regular black press or reading EUR or Ebony.

[timothy]

The problem is that this case and other causes in the black community (or gay community) become litmus tests. There is tremendous pressure to march lock in step and if you have a different opinion, a nuance or don't weigh in with the appropriate emotion, then your "blackness" is questioned.

[anon]

I'm very glad that these boys received so much support.