The spin is on in Jena, Louisiana; officials/Jena Times editor look to rewrite history
Categories: African-American, Education, Jena 6, Justice/Law Enforcement, Media
Written By: Shawn Williams
It seems like some of the good folks of Jena have gathered behind the woodshed and come up with some revisionist history regarding the racial unrest that has happened in their town over the last year.
The Christian Scientist Monitor has allowed Craig Franklin, co-editor of the Jena Times, to retell the accounts of Jena's twisted saga at their site. The story is titled Media Myths About the Jena 6.
I'll let everyone read the story for themselves, but here are two examples of what Franklin wants us to believe.
Myth 1: The Whites-Only Tree. There has never been a "whites-only" tree at Jena High School. Students of all races sat underneath this tree. When a student asked during an assembly at the start of school last year if anyone could sit under the tree, it evoked laughter from everyone present – blacks and whites. As reported by students in the assembly, the question was asked to make a joke and to drag out the assembly and avoid class.
Myth 2: Nooses a Signal to Black Students. An investigation by school officials, police, and an FBI agent revealed the true motivation behind the placing of two nooses in the tree the day after the assembly. According to the expulsion committee, the crudely constructed nooses were not aimed at black students. Instead, they were understood to be a prank by three white students aimed at their fellow white friends, members of the school rodeo team. (The students apparently got the idea from watching episodes of "Lonesome Dove.")
The committee further concluded that the three young teens had no knowledge that nooses symbolize the terrible legacy of the lynchings of countless blacks in American history. When informed of this history by school officials, they became visibly remorseful because they had many black friends. Another myth concerns their punishment, which was not a three-day suspension, but rather nine days at an alternative facility followed by two weeks of in-school suspension, Saturday detentions, attendance at Discipline Court, and evaluation by licensed mental-health professionals. The students who hung the nooses have not publicly come forward to give their version of events.
Town citizens, at least some of the townspeople, are now coalescing around Franklin's story in hopes of projecting the racist truths of this story on the black townfolk and the media. Alan Bean, head of Friends of Justice , has already posted a point by point rebuff of Franklin's article.
Bean's post is titled The story you haven't heard (unless you've been paying attention). Here are his answers to myths 1 & 2.
#1
The “lazy Negro theory” was invented to address an obvious question: “If the Jena high school courtyard is as integrated as Mr. Franklin claims, why did Kenneth Purvis ask if he could sit under the tree? I do not know if Mr. Purvis was laughing nervously as he asked the question, and I don’t see that it matters. Initially, Jena High students, black and white, freely admitted that the courtyard has always been segregated–the sidewalk serving as the line of demarcation. While it is true that black students occasionally wandered to the white side of the courtyard, this was not typical behavior.
Hence the question. It should also be noted that Kenneth and a few friends tested out their new freedom by sitting under the tree after school.
#2
The Lonesome Dove theory was initially freestanding: the kids watched the Western on television and were so impressed with the hanging scene, they decided to hang a few nooses of their own. But no one could explain why they chose this particular tree, or why the nooses appeared the day after Kenneth’s question and the Principal’s answer.
Now we learn that the nooses were a poke at white members of the rodeo team. We are to believe that some white kids on the rodeo team were playfully suggesting that they were going to string up other white members of the team because . . .
You see the problem. What could possibly follow the “because”? Mr. Franklins’ desperation is painfully evident at this point. He’s doing the best with what he’s got–but what he ain’t got much. You can hardly blame the mainstream media (or any sensible person) for preferring the original explanation. It has the advantage of making sense.
Finally, Franklin’s theory can’t explain why then-principal Scott Windham was so horrified by the noose incident that he recommended expulsion for the school year. If this was simply a white-on-white practical joke, Windham’s response can only be seen as a bizarre over-reaction.
The logical conclusion is that Windham was never exposed to the theory Mr. Franklin is selling. Is it just a coincidence that Mr. Windham was quickly shuffled to a less controversial position within the school administration. Perhaps, but the timing raises questions. The mainstream media, for better or worse, has given very little attention to this issue.
Looks like 2-0 Bean to me after two rounds. I'd advise everyone to go check out both posts and report back with your take. The lying and justifying has been going on for 400 years, I guess it just won't stop.
October 26th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
The three white students hung their nooses from the tree because hanging stuff from the tree was a tradition, especially during football season.
Everbody, it seems, thinks the Lonesome Dove excuse is rediculous except the FBI agents and local authories who investigated the incident. They think the three are telling the truth.
Another myth not included in the Franklin article is assertiond that the Jena Six, who are charged with aggravated battery, are being over-charged simply because they are black. However, in a 2005 case similar to the Jena Six beating, five white South Carolina teenagers who beat up a black teenager were charged and convicted of “second-degree lynching and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature.” (There was no actual lynching involved. Second-degree lynching is defined by South Carolina law as any act of violence on another person by a mob when death does not occur. A mob is considered two or more people whose purpose and intent is committing an act of violence on another person.) Like the Jena Six, the white teenagers kicked the victim, 16-year-old Isaiah Clyburn, as he lay on the ground. The attack left the black youth “on the roadside bruised and bloodied from the attack.”
The white teenagers received the following sentences: One, who prosecutors said was the person most responsible for the attack, was sentenced to 18 years suspended to six years and 400 hours of public service. Two were sentenced to 15 years suspended to three years and 300 hours of public service. And one was sentenced to 15 years suspended to 30 months and 300 hours of community service. A sixth co-defendant, Amy Woody, 17, was also charged with 2nd-degree lynching even though she did not take part in the beating.
The South Carolina incident was an obvious hate crime. The white teenagers, who used racial slurs, singled out Clyburn simply because he was black. However, the white youths were not charged with a hate crime, probably because South Carolina has no applicable hate laws. Like the Jena Six, they were charged only for the physical assault. The Jena Six beating also has obvious racial elements. According to witness statements, members of the Jena Six used racial slurs. According to witness statements, at the onset of the attack, “There’s that that white [expletive deleted] who’s been running his mouth.” If Jena Six had been white and had said, “There’s that that black (expletive deleted] who’s been running his mouth,” the federal government probably would have filed hate crime charges. The Justice Department considered filing hate crime charges against the white teenagers who hung the nooses even though no violence was involved.
The Gaffney Ledger reports on the sentencing at http://www.gaffneyledger.com/news/2006/0111/front_page/001.html
October 26th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
Reply to Assistant Editor of Jena Times:
His attempt at delivering the facts only poses more questions. If as he insinuates all students sat under the tree, did the Jena School District over react when they cut the tree down? He does not give the school boards reasons for doing so. Could their reasons have been to minimize or eliminate future racial problems? This assistant editor reminds me of C. Powell trying to convince the U.N. that Iraq had WMD!
October 26th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
Blacks killed more blacks in 2005 alone than all the blacks killed by all the white lynch mobs in US history - FACT. The real threat to black people is not from racist whites or lynch mobs, but from black people themselves.
January 10th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
What is needed in this case if for the state to send an assistant state attorney to town, to tell both sides, strongly, to stop this shut! (never could get vowels right) There are still too many ‘whites’ with the racist tinge in their brains; there are still too many ‘blacks’ who excuse and justify their racism based on the former. Both can’t be tolerated in America. This situation is one of overreaction by too many people on both sides. There are no sides, except one, the American side, the justice side. The school board should have backed the principal, except for suggesting shorter suspension and probation with the requirement that they study the history of ‘black’ folk in America. Those kids knew the symbolic content of the nooses. You know it. I know it. Commonsense knowledge. An adequate suspension, parents with their children called in for a conference with the principal, a state attorney, and a law enforcement official to discuss the initial incident, to explain the dangers of such acts, would have been a better approach. Lack of rational thinking by the adults, almost all the adults, allowed this to get out of control.
We are all racist, sexist, agist, and other ISTs to a degree, but the authorities, be they school, law enforcement, or elected officials have to think beyond such atavistic acts and attitudes.
Folk, clean this up now!