The Jena 6 myths
Sunday morning I was preparing lunch and tuned in a local church program. The black preacher had a good sermon going about St. Paul, when all of a sudden he was off and running with the Jena 6, repeating every preposterous story that could be concocted. Where's he get his news, I wondered; the local barbershop? So I changed channels. That much ignorance is a shame for a man of the cloth. Even so, the story written up in the Chronicle of Higher Education added a few bits I didn't know about, and it makes you wonder how this story got legs that led all the way to DC, even with Jesse and Al whipping the horses. Truly, there are Americans who want racial hatred to never die, or they'd be out of work.- 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.
Posts
3 comments:
My Big Sis has a good friend who lives in Jena, and wrote this letter to John Mellencamp:
Mr. Mellencamp,
I have struggled for months to not openly discuss my feelings about the unfortunate situation surrounding the small, quiet, town that I have always known simply as home. However, with the release of your song, "Jena", I must voice my opinion.
I have been a fan of yours for many years, since I was just a child. My reverence for your has now changed solely due to your choice to write a song about something you are obviously poorly educated on at best. Before you write a song to draw a picture of a town and its citizens, shouldn't you rely on more than google.com and Fox News in order to gain knowledge about said events? This recommendation should have been carefully considered; if for no other reason that to prevent yourself from minimizing and undermining your own professionalism.
This leads me to a few questions that you should answer to clarify for all individuals involved, how you reached your conclusion about Jena, Louisiana, and the people who live there:
a) Have you been to Jena, Louisiana?
b) Have you met with anyone involved to openly discuss the matter at hand?
c) Are you personally vested in this matter, outside of monetary gain?
I am assuming that the answer to question a) is NO, the answer to question b) is likely NO, and of course the answer to c) is NO. I have no doubt that you will reap benefits of fame and wealth from the release of this song; however, it was not your place, and you need to step back and realize that. You are but a simple songwriter, not a practitioner of law, nor have you penned a civil rights act that I am aware of.
What would you do and how would you feel if another singer/songwriter released a song about you and your family, your wife and children, and made scathing remarks and promoted the viral spreading of misinformation about your loved ones? What if a well-known author published a book about you, having never met you, and stated things that weren't true about you that could lead to defamation of your personal character and livelihood? Surely, others would have more concern and overall couth for the just than you have shown to the citizens of Jena.
The truth of the matter is, this town is not what you and others in the media have portrayed it as. And why is that... Because the truth here would not SELL. There is no story. Jena is by no means the site of the Civil Rights movement for this generation in the 21st century.
The video in itself is repulsive for the images of the Klan and a man hanging from a tree, along with several other disturbing images. And no Mr. Mellencamp, nowhere in the town of Jena, or anywhere in LaSalle Parish for that matter, is there any "Colored" and "Whites" markers on ANYTHING. In mentioning that, I must also state that there was no "white tree" at the high school. I graduated from that high school just a few short years ago, and couldn't even recall what tree they were mentioning in the media.
In closing, I challenge you to visit Jena, Louisiana. Talk to the people here, eat in the locally owned restaurants, visit the quaint country stores, hear a sermon at one of the churches; and then establish your opinion of the place we all call home.
(I'm taking her name out)
Jena, Louisiana
Note that she mentions the infamous "white tree" and had no idea what people were talking about.
Great letter. Thanks for sharing.
I have spent many hours googling the various accounts related to Jena 6. I am struck by the failure of so many writers to give credibilty to primary sources of information such as school administrators, police, sheriff's department, Department of Justice officials and court records. I know that in the beginning of the story, most of those sources were silent because of the privacy laws protecting student records and the actions of Juvenile Court. But when those primary sources became active and made their information available, they were ignored. Jena 6 represents a failure for the black community as they allowed black racists to use them shamefully and it represents a failure of the mainstream media as they continued to publish rumors and falsehoods even after the U.S. Department of Justice had held a forum in Jena, La. to correct the misinformation that was being disseminated.
The contrast in attitudes of the black and white communities lead me to suspect that our so-called black history courses are teaching hate and intolerance rather that tolerance. The pictures of the young girl with the noose around her neck at Grambling State University showed the looks of concern on her face and those of her classmates as they obviously wondered what was happening to her.
Post a Comment