Revolution #100, September 9, 2007
Revolution Readers Speak Out on the Jena 6
“These young men gotta be freed!”
There has been a marked increase in the volume and intensity of letters we are getting from people expressing deep outrage about the government's attempts to jail the Jena 6. And many people continue to ask,“what can I do” to stop this great injustice. We encourage people to widely distribute and take up the editorial All Out! Support National Days of Protest To Free the Jena 6 wherever they are—to organize mass expressions of support for the Jena 6 on September 12 and mobilize people to come to Jena on September 20 when Mychal Bell (one of the Jena 6) is scheduled to be sentenced. The following are excerpts from these letters. (Earlier comments on the Jena 6 can be found in Revolution #98, August 19, 2007, as well as our response, available at revcom.us.)
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What are the details of the September 20 protest in Jena, LA? We want to be there. Can we just drive down and setup a tent?
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Where can the "Free the Jena 6" t-shirts be purchased? These should be available with the proceeds going to the donation/fundraising effort.
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I guess that it is about time that Amerikkka stops and once again look at the issues that face Black people in this country. The use of the courts and imprisonment are nothing new in regards to subduing the Black masses. The U.S. is warehousing hundreds of young Black men and women and we have too long stood silently by while it happens; all in the name of "get tough on crime." They are using the same tactics used in Nazi Germany where the people sat quietly by while the genocide took place. This is no different. Stop the genocide of our children!
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I think that this whole situation stinks!!! I am African American and proud of it. I really never thought about race until I encountered it in my home town where a privately owned grocery store owner made a racist statement about my students when I was asking local merchants for donations for my math team to compete statewide. There had never been a problem until this moment after racial tension between blacks and whites became obvious after some black politicians rallied to keep the local high school open and close the military institute also located in my home town. The military institute is operated by whites and the schools are now operated by blacks. I now work for a mostly white school system after relocating. I have found that things have not changed.
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I just can't believe that this still is going on in america. I want to help stop this madness. Everyone is the same. I'm a 22-year-old woman and I just can't read this any longer.
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This is just evidence that racial profiling still exists and is not just a Louisiana issue, it's a United States of America issue. Instead of the media wasting air time showing Mr. Vick and some dead dogs, they should have this incident blaring all over the U.S. and Canada too. This should be brought up every time one of our fellow countrymen say that the world has changed for the better. This should be thrown up every time our so-called president speaks publicly about unity. This should make the headlines for the U.S.'s most ignorant and retro state. I am highly pissed off because it's plain to see that justice only works for one race…. whites only!
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This country the United States is supposed to be the land of the free and the home of the brave. What is the world doing? Are we shifting backwards instead of forward? And where is the justice? Justice depends on how much money you got, what color you are, and what car you drive. I think that the Jena 6 is the most ridiculous case I have ever heard of. It saddens me to think about that we are still living in the past and we should be thinking about living in the future. I feel like the justice system needs an overhaul or they need to learn what the word justice means. I do not feel that one race is superior over another. We were all put here for a reason and we should learn how to get along with each other. God doesn't have to destroy the human race, we are doing that all by ourselves. So many of my brothers and sisters have died just because the color of their skin and it pains me to see that in this great country that we are still living in the past.
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I had to wait about 30 minutes after reading the article, before I sent a response. Contumelious*… this is the only word that was long enough to describe what I read. How in 2006 is this still happening?
[*insolently abusive and humiliating, rudeness or contempt arising from arrogance]
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I think this whole situation is absolutely ridiculous. We should all be outraged that this is still going on in America. We must all understand that this type of outrage is not limited to Jena and if we stand by and do nothing it will only proliferate. We must take a stand and let our voice be heard! Every time I think about it I get angrier and angrier. I pray for the young men, their families and their community. I pray for justice.
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This is an outrage. How can something like this still be happening this day in time? I am getting sick and tired of discrimination and racism. I do not believe it will ever end. It is just as strong now as it was before the Civil Rights movement. I feel it is more hidden now than back in the day. However, it certainly exists. I don't care who tries to deny it. It never went away!!! Every upright person in the nation should be standing behind these young men. It is obvious that they were discriminated against. The justice system stinks. I certainly smell a rat; a big stinking RAT!
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Coming from a white 17-year-old girl, I think this whole thing is a load of bullshit. The white guy once again got away with something that they shouldn’t have. Those boys should not be sitting in jail for defending their rights. The white kids that hung those nooses in that tree should have been expelled, not suspended. A hate crime was committed because of black kids sitting under a "white tree”? Who is anyone to say that a tree belongs to whites or blacks. If those black kids are sitting in jail for beating up a kid, then why isn’t the white kids who beat up the black kid in jail? A simple "I’m sorry" should have been made to the white kids instead of putting them in jail. This is all injustice. Take those kids out of jail. They do not belong there. And they should not have been expelled either. They were defending themselves. The white kids started all of this when they hung the nooses in that tree. They should be the ones sitting in a jail. All these black kids were trying to do was stand up for themselves because they were racially harassed in a school yard. Why are they in jail? Because the white man says so? FREE THE JENA 6!
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I'm a 52-year-old white woman living in the South and I think what happened in Jena, LA is outrageous and a travesty of justice. The D.A. needs to be voted out of office, the Public Defender needs to go back to law school and read the part about "everyone is entitled to the best defense"…or maybe in this case, it's the best defense money could buy because maybe the families of these young men aren't well off? Has anyone contacted Southern Poverty Law Center? Where can I buy a tee shirt????
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As a black man this upsets me to know that shit like this still goes on. It's not like these young men weren't in school trying to better themselves. It's bad enough those of us Black men who made mistakes are marked and positioned in the system to fail, but don't mess with those of us who are trying to move above the bar. It seems as though slave masters traded in the farms and slaves for government jobs to do more harm. RACISM IS STILL HERE - HOW CAN WE DESTROY IT!!!!!!!!!!
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I grew up in Jena, La and I am truthfully heartbroken at what has become of the town I used to love. Jena claims it is a great town to raise a family, and that is true if you want to raise them in a racist town. Jena had covert and not so covert racist issues when I was in school there. I graduated Jena High School in 1989 and the same problems existed then. Nothing has been done in the last 18 years to change anything.
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This is some bullshit and y’all know it is. You know damn well that the fuckin “white” kids started it. All you mutha fuckers are racist and y’all know it. If it was the other way around my race would have been died all of them. But nooooooo since it’s the white kids it’s a fucking warnin’, talking about apologize to the Black student. Naw fuck that shit, send they ass to jail right along with the blacks. You send one race, send both make it fair on everybody please cause that’s some bullshit. I thought racism wasn’t here no more but shit y’all whites sho is bringin’ it back into the world. Is that really how you want your kids to grow up and be like? It might be but I don’t want my kids around that shit so you and your buddy’s need to change y’all ugly ways and change that crap now.
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I am outraged as an ex white South African at the treatment of the 6 accused. Can this be real in the USA today? These corrupt officials and town folk should be the ones on trial and jailed for their corrupting of justice and bias toward the black community of Jena. Where are the so called leaders of America… where is the big mouth Hillary Clinton….!!!
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I am the mother of 2nd Lt. Emily Perez who was killed in Iraq on September 12, 2006. It is this type of injustice, inequality, and racism that infuriates me when I think of so many of our African American military service members giving their lives for the home of the free and brave. To sit idly by and allow this to happen is not only an injustice to the Jena 6 but it is a direct slap in the face of my daughter and all the fallen black soldiers. It is far past the time that we stand together as a people and not only reclaim but save the lives of our children.
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I am outraged by the nerves of some people. As a mother of two, and a wife who has a husband who did two tours in Iraq. To save lives no matter what color or sex they are. It is a crying out shame. I will do what ever I need to do, to let everyone I know hear about this. What ever happened to justice for all?
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I was devastated by the hyper-segregation and racism I witnessed visiting Louisiana pre-Hurricane Katrina. Clearly, I thought, Louisiana has a big problem. Unfortunately, the problem is a really old one. And you know whatever is old is deep. Whatever is deep is strong. And strength is irrefutable so the problem persists for hundreds of years on every continent. The problem helped build the United States of America. The problem helped shift the global balance of power over to Europe and America. When will the problem be recognized on the television, in the news; when will our presidents' speeches include honest and contrite dissections of the problem? When will the problem be rectified, redressed, or repaired goddamit? I don't have the answer and I'm afraid. I'm mad at the numbers of it. The problem cannot be repainted so it must be destroyed and the truth of it forgotten behind bars. But I don't think the world will keep blithely turning when all black and brown people are in prison, poor or dead.
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This is incredible! Please keep me updated on the Jena 6 case and any ways I can get involved to help my peers. Even though I live in California I want to do what I can to get people aware of the re-appearance of Jim Crow. This is so unbelievable because I never thought that slavery other than prison could happen again but we see that history may repeat itself once again.
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I'm deeply devastated upon reading of this catastrophe! These young men gotta be freed! The Justice system is way too bias. Free these young black kids!
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I am against everything that is represented in those nooses hanging in that tree. This needs to be on the news and people need to get involved. People have gotten too used to dismissing racism as something of the past, but it is clearly going on in many ways today and it needs to stop. I live in Southern California, is there anything that me and my friends could do to make people more aware of what is going on in Jena?
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I was having a conversation with a group of blacks and we where talking about the plight of African Americans and blacks throughout the world. Needless to say no one had anything good to say. From the justice system to education to employment. Just to name a few issues facing African Americans today. I questioned why can't we come together like the Mexicans and have a day where we just shut this country down like they did. Not only did they shut it down but they got support from businesses and other people from around the world. It was said that we can't come together, we won't march we don't care. We are a primitive people. I was disgusted to say the least. That is why I am calling for a worldwide boycott of Christmas. I am asking all black people around the world especially African Americans to boycott Christmas. Let's show the world that we are tired of being treated like third class citizens. We are tired of police brutality, we are tired of unequal education we are tired of being locked up at alarming rates. We can come together and we will. I am not asking for any donations. I am asking that this Christmas we simply keep our money in our pockets and show that we have the power to make a statement. To show ourselves that we can unite and come together. Times have never been this bad for us. Let's tell the world, no more. Boycott This Christmas. If you are not African American we ask that you show your support by boycotting Christmas as well.
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BLESS Y'ALL for 'taking on' the horrendous untenable issue of “The Jena 6!” One of the things folk can do who still use “snailmail” like I do - put FREE THE JENA 6! on each envelope! Did you HEAR that the idiot school Administration had CUT DOWN THE TREE!!! as though the problem was the TREE and not the inherited untreated racism/colorism extant in them all! SHEESH!
First Black U.S.A. Flight Attendant
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This is ridiculous!!! What happen to equality? As African Americans we need to stand up for each other, and realize there are forms of modern day slavery. They will continue to treat us like this unless we do something about it. We will make a difference, every voice counts. Please let’s join together and help these young men live life. No one deserves this treatment. NOBODY! We are all human beings. So whateva anyone can do to help, PLEASE HELP.
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