2008 Woodie Awards
The White Tree's roots
Who to blame for Jena Six.
Lance Park
Issue date: 9/26/07 Section: Opinion
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Jena six refers to six black students arrested on the charge of second degree attempted murder after assaulting a white student. This would seem to be an open and shut case; however there are serious circumstances that preceded this that makes the ruling especially controversial.
It started out over the shade of a tree, dubbed "the white tree" due to the amount of white people that sat under it. A black student sat underneath the shade and the next day, three nooses were hung on the tree. The three students that were responsible for this were white and were almost expelled as per the proposal of the principal, but the ruling council and superintendent overruled him. Instead, the students had a three-day in-school suspension. The superintendent Roy Breithaupt even went so far as to say "Adolescents play pranks. I don't think it was a threat against anybody."
Following that, there was apparently a peaceful "sit-in" underneath the tree by the black student body. When District Attorney Reed Walters was asked to speak about the goings-on, he chastised the students for overreacting to "an innocent prank" and that he could "end your lives with a stroke of this pen." Policeman patrolled the halls afterwards, and the school was locked down.
Soon after this, several black students tried to address the school board over the escalating tensions, but the board was of the opinion that the matter had been dealt with. Months later, the main building of the school was set on fire and both racial parties blamed each other. This led to several fights, most notably a white guy who, having run into a black man, went to his pickup and produced a pistol-grip shotgun. The black man and a few friends wrestled it away from the man and refused to return it. The black man was then arrested and charged with theft, disturbing the peace, and second degree robbery. The white man was not charged with anything.
Days later, a white student bragged that this black man had been beaten up by a white guy. He was then assaulted by the same black man plus five others. The six black students were charged with aggravated assault, but District Attorney Walters increased it to second degree attempted murder.
It started out over the shade of a tree, dubbed "the white tree" due to the amount of white people that sat under it. A black student sat underneath the shade and the next day, three nooses were hung on the tree. The three students that were responsible for this were white and were almost expelled as per the proposal of the principal, but the ruling council and superintendent overruled him. Instead, the students had a three-day in-school suspension. The superintendent Roy Breithaupt even went so far as to say "Adolescents play pranks. I don't think it was a threat against anybody."
Following that, there was apparently a peaceful "sit-in" underneath the tree by the black student body. When District Attorney Reed Walters was asked to speak about the goings-on, he chastised the students for overreacting to "an innocent prank" and that he could "end your lives with a stroke of this pen." Policeman patrolled the halls afterwards, and the school was locked down.
Soon after this, several black students tried to address the school board over the escalating tensions, but the board was of the opinion that the matter had been dealt with. Months later, the main building of the school was set on fire and both racial parties blamed each other. This led to several fights, most notably a white guy who, having run into a black man, went to his pickup and produced a pistol-grip shotgun. The black man and a few friends wrestled it away from the man and refused to return it. The black man was then arrested and charged with theft, disturbing the peace, and second degree robbery. The white man was not charged with anything.
Days later, a white student bragged that this black man had been beaten up by a white guy. He was then assaulted by the same black man plus five others. The six black students were charged with aggravated assault, but District Attorney Walters increased it to second degree attempted murder.
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