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THE JENA, LOUISIANA 6: Black Denied Permission To Sit Under "WHITE ONLY" Tree Leads To 3 Nooses As Sign To Black Students, Leads To Fight & 6 "BLACK ONLY" Students Facing 120 Yrs! - RI10
THE JENA,
LOUISIANA 6:
Black Denied
Permission To Sit
Under
“WHITE ONLY” Tree
Leads To 3 Nooses
As Sign To Black
Students, Leads To
Fight &
6 “BLACK ONLY”
Students Facing
120 Yrs! - RI10
http://www.google.com/maps?q=Jena,+LA,+USA&sa=X&oi=map&ct=image
Tabacco: American Injustice for PEOPLE OF COLOR, particularly in the DEEP SOUTH, added another NOTCH to its “Black Belt” in December, 2006. The story only broke just now; I wonder why!
The Case of the Jena Six: Black High
School Students Charged with Attempted
Murder for Schoolyard Fight After
Nooses Are Hung from Tree
Tuesday, July 10th, 2007
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/10/1413220
Six black students at Jena High School in Central Louisiana were arrested last December after a school fight in which a white student was beaten and suffered a concussion and multiple bruises. The six black students were charged with attempted murder and conspiracy. They face up to 100 years in prison without parole. The fight took place amid mounting racial tension after a black student sat under a tree in the schoolyard where only white students sat. The next day three nooses were hanging from the tree. [includes rush transcript]
Jena, Louisiana,
“White Only” Tree
Jena is a small town nestled deep in the heart of Central Louisiana. Until recently, you may well have never heard of it. But this rural town of less than 4,000 people has become a focal point in the debate around issues of race and justice in this country.
Last December, six black students at Jena High School were arrested after a school fight in which a white student was beaten and suffered a concussion and multiple bruises. The six black students were charged with attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy. They face up to 100 years in prison without parole. The Jena Six, as they have come to be known, range in age from 15 to 17 years old.
Just over a week ago, an all-white jury took less than two days to convict 17 year-old Mychal Bell, the first of the Jena Six to go on trial. He was convicted of aggravated battery and conspiracy charges and now faces up to 22 years in prison.
Black residents say that race has always been an issue in Jena, which is 85 percent white, and that the charges against the Jena Six are no exception.
The origins of the story can be traced back to early September when a black high school student requested permission to sit under a tree in the schoolyard where usually only white students sat. The next day three nooses were found hanging from the tree.
Democracy Now! correspondent Jacquie Soohen has more on the story from Jena.
* Report on the Jena Six by Jacquie Soohen, from an upcoming feature documentary by Big Noise Films.
Jena 6 Defense Committee
PO BOX 2798
Jena, LA 71342
RUSH TRANSCRIPT
This transcript is available free of charge. However, donations help us provide closed captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing on our TV broadcast. Thank you for your generous contribution.
Donate - $25, $50, $100, more...
AMY GOODMAN: Jena is a small town nestled deep in the heart of Central Louisiana. Until recently, you may well never have heard of it. But this rural town of less than 4,000 has become a focal point in the debate around issues of race and justice in this country.
Last December, six black students at Jena High School were arrested after a school fight in which a white student was beaten and suffered a concussion and multiple bruises. The six black students were charged with attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy. They face up to 100 years in prison without parole.
The Jena 6, as they have come to be known, range in age from fifteen to seventeen. Just over a week ago, an all-white jury took less than two days to convict seventeen-year-old Mychal Bell, the first of the Jena 6 to go on trial. He was convicted of aggravated battery and conspiracy charges and now faces up to twenty-two years in prison. Black residents say race has always been an issue in Jena, which is 85% white and that the charges against the Jena 6 are no exception.
The origins of the story can be traced back to early September, when a black high school student requested permission to sit under a tree in the schoolyard, where usually only white students sat. The next day, three nooses were found hanging from the tree.
Democracy Now! correspondent Jacquie Soohen has more on the story from Jena.
JESSE BEARD: Black girls over there, black boys right here. Some black people standing right -- a couple. All the band geeks right there. White folks under the tree. And then you might -- it’s like…
JACQUIE SOOHEN: Jesse Beard, a freshman in high school and one of Jena 6, took us to where the nooses were hung.
JESSE BEARD: One day, I just wanted to -- maybe the first, second day, we started riding the bus, me and Robert. And we came through, and I seen something hanging there. I told Robert. He looked at it. He’s like, “Them nooses right there”. He was getting mad. Everybody was getting -- I started getting mad. By the time everybody came, they was trying to cut them down.
JACQUIE SOOHEN: Robert Bailey, seventeen years old and a safety receiver for the school football team, is another of the Jena 6 facing life behind bars. He described his reaction to the nooses.
ROBERT BAILEY: It was in the early morning. I seen them hanging. I’m thinking the KKK, you know, were hanging nooses. They want to hang somebody. Real nooses, the ones you see on TV are the kind of nooses they were, the ones they play in the movies and they were hanging all the people, you know, and the thing dropped, those were the kind of nooses they were. I know it was somebody white that hung the nooses in the tree. You know, I don’t know another way to put it, but, you know, I was disappointed, because, you know, we do little pranks -- you know, toilet paper, that’s a prank, you know what I’m saying? Paper all over the square, all the pranks they used to do, that’s pranks. Nooses hanging there -- nooses ain't no prank.
JACQUIE SOOHEN: The school’s superintendent dismissed the nooses as a prank, and after three days’ suspension, the three white students who hung the nooses were allowed back to school. Caseptla Bailey, Robert's mother, said the school did not inform the parents of the incident.
CASEPTLA BAILEY: The school didn’t tell me. I didn’t know that it happened, so therefore I didn’t call to find out what happened on that particular day.
JACQUIE SOOHEN: To Caseptla Bailey, the meaning of the nooses was clear.
CASEPTLA BAILEY: It meant hatred, to the other race. It meant that “We’re going to kill you, you're going to die.” You know, it sent a message: “This is not the place for you to sit. This is not your damn tree. Do not sit here. You know, you ought to remain in your place, know your place and stay in your place. You’re out of your boundaries”. And the first thing now that the sheriff department or that the chief of police want to say that -- as well as the superintendent -- one had nothing to do with the other. Now, come on now!
JACQUIE SOOHEN: Most people we spoke to in Jena’s white community, however, see no connection between the students’ charges and race. Barbara Murphy, the town librarian, claims there isn’t a race problem in Jena.
BARBARA MURPHY: We don’t have a race problem. It’s not black against white. It’s crime. The nooses? I don’t even know why they were there, what they were supposed to mean. There’s pranks all the time, of one type or another, going on. And it just didn’t seem to be racist to me.
JACQUIE SOOHEN: A few days after the nooses were hung, the entire black student body staged an impromptu demonstration, crowding underneath the tree during lunch hour. Justin Purvis, the student who first asked to sit underneath the tree, described how the protest came about.
JUSTIN PURVIS: It was like, the first beginning, in the courtyard, they said, “Y’all want to go stand under the tree?” We said, “Yeah”. They said, “If you go, I’ll go. If you go, I’ll go”. One person went, the next person went, everybody else just went.
JACQUIE SOOHEN: The school responded to the protest by calling police and the district attorney. At an assembly the same day, the District Attorney Reed Walters, accompanied by armed policeman, addressed the students. Substitute teacher Michelle Rogers, one of the few black teachers at the school, was there. She recalls the DA's words to the assembled high schoolers.
MICHELLE ROGERS: The kids didn't say anything. They were listening. The kids were quiet. And so, District Attorney Reed Walters, you know, proceeded to tell those kids that “I could end your lives with the stroke of a pen”. And the kids were just -- it was like in awe that the district -- you know, Reed Walters would tell these kids that. He held a pen in his hand and told those kids that, “See this pen in my hand? I can end your lives with the stroke of a pen”.
JACQUIE SOOHEN: A series of incidents followed throughout the fall. In October, a black student was beaten for entering a private all-white party. Later that month, a white student pulled a gun on a group of black students at a gas station, claiming self-defense. The black students wrestled the gun away and reported the incident to police. They were charged with assault and robbery of the gun. No charges were ever filed against the white students in either incident. Then, in late November, someone tried to burn down the high school, creating even more tension.
Four days later, a white student was allegedly attacked in a school fight. The victim was taken to hospital and released shortly with a concussion. He attended a school function that evening. Six black students were charged with attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, on charges that leave them facing between twenty and one hundred years in jail. The defendants, ranging in age from fifteen to seventeen, had their bonds set at between $70,000 and $138,000. The attack was written up in the local paper as fact, and DA Reed Walters published a statement in which he said, "When you are convicted, I will seek the maximum penalty allowed by law."
MINISTER: We have come today to stand against what we consider to be a great evil.
JACQUIE SOOHEN: Since their arrest, the defendants’ families have been speaking out and fighting for the release of their sons. Two of the six, including Mychal Bell, who was recently convicted, were unable to make bond and have spent close to seven months in jail to date.
CASEPTLA BAILEY: No justice!
PROTESTERS: No peace!
CASEPTLA BAILEY: No justice!
PROTESTERS: No peace!
CASEPTLA BAILEY: No justice!
PROTESTERS: No peace!
JACQUIE SOOHEN: Caseptla Bailey began writing letters to state and national agencies, including the Department of Justice, immediately after the charges were filed.
CASEPTLA BAILEY: The first thing was devastation. You know, I was down when it first happened. You know, I was very devastated. I was hurt, upset, angry, mad, frustrated. You know, I had so many emotions, crying a lot of nights, you know, trying to figure out where can I go from here. You know, a lot of times when you're backed into a corner or you’re backed into a wall, naturally you're going to come out fighting. You know, you're not going to -- you’re either going to fall and die, or you're going to come out fighting.
You know, I’m just sending out these letters to anyone that would have a listening ear and to anyone that, you know, I thought that might help the situation. That's how I fight back, you know, by putting the pen to the paper.
They want to take these kids -- my son, as well as all these other children -- lock them up, throw away the key. You know, that's a tradition for black males. So they want to keep that tradition going, because they want to keep institutionalized slavery alive and well.
JACQUIE SOOHEN: At a friendly pickup game of football, Caseptla’s son Robert shows off the skills that made him a star player of the high school football team. Robert was in jail for over two months before his mother was able to raise the money for her son's bond using three pieces of property from different family members. Seventeen-year-old Robert Bailey has no criminal record.
ROBERT BAILEY: I ain’t got no criminal record, nothing. I ain’t got no probation, community service or nothing, nothing like that. The DA, he ain’t after finding the truth. That’s what a DA’s for, to after find the truth, you know, of the case. He’s just, you know, trying to put me up in a jail cell, for life. Fifty years, twenty-five to a hundred years, you can just say “forever.” Twenty years is forever, to me.
JACQUIE SOOHEN: Robert wasn’t the only one with a promising future. All of the Jena 6 were athletes, and five of the six were on the high school football team. Marcus Jones, the father of seventeen-year-old Mychal Bell, has a stack of scholarship offers for his son.
MARCUS JONES: LSU, Southern Miss, Ol’ Miss, University of New York…
JACQUIE SOOHEN: Mychal is a star running back and a strong student who is being actively scouted by a number of colleges.
MARCUS JONES: We're not blaming the victim for the charges or none of that. The DA is a racist DA. You know, I’m not calling him out for being a racist. I’m calling him out as being a racist due to his track record. The reason we is taking a stand for our kids for what he’s not doing is right, ’cause, you know, we’re tired of it, you know, ’cause if we, you know, we sat down and lay back and let him railroad our kids, too, he’s going to continue to do that to black people in this town. You know, so we have to take a stand now. Somebody has to take a stand now. If not, he’s going to continue to fill the prisons up with black people more and more.
JACQUIE SOOHEN: Mr. Bell believes that his son is learning a valuable lesson from this experience.
JACQUIE SOOHEN: For Democracy Now!, this is Jacquie Soohen, reporting from Jena, Louisiana.
AMY GOODMAN: That piece is from an upcoming feature documentary by Big Noise Films. Mychal Bell faces up to twenty-two years in prison when he’s sentenced July 31st. The five other students await trial on charges of attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy. They face up to 100 years in jail. When we come back from break, we’ll be joined by parents of three of the Jena 6, as well as the journalist who broke the story nationally.
http://www.democracynow.org/print.pl?sid=07/07/10/1413220
"A Modern-Day Lynching" - Parents of
Jena Six Speak of Injustice, Racism in
Sons' Prosecution
Tuesday, July 10th, 2007
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/10/1413228
Two of Jena 6 Mothers,
who live in Racist America!
We speak with the parents of three of the 'Jena Six' - the black high school students charged with attempted murder for a school fight in which a white student was beaten up. We are joined by Caseptla Bailey, the mother of Robert Bailey and Tina Jones, the mother of Bryant Purvis - both of their sons are awaiting trial on charges of attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy. We also speak with Marcus Jones, his son, Mychal Bell, was the first of the Jena Six to go on trial. He was convicted just over a week ago of aggravated battery and conspiracy. He faces up to 22 years in prison when he is sentenced on July 31st. [includes rush transcript - partial]
We are also joined from Baton Rouge by Catrina Wallace, the secretary of the LaSalle Parish chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. She is also Robert Baily's stepsister. As well as Jordan Flaherty, a journalist and community organizer in New Orleans who broke the story about the Jena Six. He is an editor of Left Turn magazine.
* Marcus Jones, father of Mychal Bell. His son was recently convicted of aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery. He faces up to 22 years in prison.
* Caseptla Bailey, mother of Robert Bailey Jr., one of the Jena 6. Her son is facing charges of attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy.
* Tina Jones, mother of Bryant Purvis, one of the Jena 6. Her son is facing charges of attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy.
* Catrina Wallace, Robert Bailey's stepsister and the secretary of the LaSalle Parish chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
* Jordan Flaherty, journalist and community organizer in New Orleans who broke the story about Jena. He is an editor of Left Turn magazine.
Jena 6 Defense Committee
PO BOX 2798
Jena, LA 71342
RUSH TRANSCRIPT
This transcript is available free of charge. However, donations help us provide closed captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing on our TV broadcast. Thank you for your generous contribution.
Donate - $25, $50, $100, more...
AMY GOODMAN: We turn now to the parents of three of the Jena 6 joining us from Louisiana. Caseptla Bailey is the mother of Robert Bailey. Tina Jones is the mother of Bryant Purvis. Both of their sons are awaiting trial on charges of attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy. They join us from Louisiana Public Broadcasting in Baton Rouge. Joining us on the telephone from Jena is Marcus Jones. His son Mychal Bell was the first of the Jena 6 to go on trial. He was convicted just over a week ago of aggravated battery and conspiracy. He faces up to twenty-two years in prison when he’s sentenced July 31st.
We'll begin with Mychal Bell, because I know that you need to go back to work, talking to us from work. Marcus Jones, thank you very much for being with us.
MARCUS JONES: Thank you.
AMY GOODMAN: Tell us your reaction to the conviction of your son and the time he faces in jail.
MARCUS JONES: I was furious and real mad about the conviction, ’cause I know that it was wrong. I know my son is innocent of the charges that the DA put on him, and it's just wrong. You know, this is just a 2007 modern-day court lynching here.
AMY GOODMAN: In your own words, tell us what you understand took place.
MARCUS JONES: Well, what I understand that took place is wrongdoing. The judge let the DA just really just choose an all-white jury. There was an all-white jury. Relatives of some of the jurors was some of the witnesses, too. One of the boys that testified for Barker was one of the boys that hung up the nooses at the high school.
AMY GOODMAN: Was that brought out in the trial?
MARCUS JONES: No, no, that wasn’t brought out in the trial. See, we had a complication with my son’s court-appointed lawyer, and come to find out that he was working with the DA for to get my son convicted.
AMY GOODMAN: Explain the lead-up to the fight and then how you understand the fight taking place, Marcus Jones.
MARCUS JONES: Well, my understanding of how the fight took place is Barker was telling some of the boys earlier that morning, calling them nigger and telling them about the fight that happened the previous weekend now. So the majority of the creation of the fight was due to Justin Barker's racial remarks. But, see, we’ve got to go back now to understand, see, the DA created this whole racial atmosphere, where he didn't do nothing to the boys that hung up the nooses, so that gave the message to all the black kids, well, the white kids will do what they want to do and get away with it. And that ain’t right. I don't care what town or city you live in, that is not right.
AMY GOODMAN: The court-appointed lawyer, when the jury pool was all white, did he challenge it at all?
MARCUS JONES: No. He did not challenge it. Now, see, remember, before the jury was even selected, the judge had called all the witnesses up front. So he put me and my son’s mother on the witness list, not informing us that he was going to do that. Now, what made him do that? I don't know. But right then and there, we smelled a rat. So the judge had put a gag order on all the witnesses, where they couldn't be present in the courtroom, couldn't talk to the press, couldn’t talk to nobody outside court room about the case. So right then and there, we -- I mean, you know, we smelled a rat then.
AMY GOODMAN: And were you called up to testify?
MARCUS JONES: No, no, no, no.
AMY GOODMAN: So you couldn't speak about the case, and you were kept out of the trial?
MARCUS JONES: Yes, the whole while. We was allowed -- only time we was allowed back in the courtroom, when the verdict came back.
AMY GOODMAN: Did your son's court-appointed attorney call up any witnesses?
MARCUS JONES: No. He did not put up no kind of defense at all. He did not call one witness. There was a coach that had wrote a statement out saying that he didn't -- that Mychal wasn't the one was involved in the fight, that didn't hit Barker --
AMY GOODMAN: Justin Barker.
MARCUS JONES: -- so he didn't even subpoena him. Now, remember, in the school system, a teacher or a coach, any administration word or statement is more credible than any student. So he didn't, I mean, didn't even call, I mean, had the coach subpoenaed for to come testify for Mychal. And he was Mychal's key witness.
AMY GOODMAN: What are your plans now? Are you keeping this attorney? This attorney wanted Mychal to plea bargain?
MARCUS JONES: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: Why did Mychal choose not to plea bargain?
MARCUS JONES: ’Cause he wanted Mychal to take a plea. Well, see, you’ve got to remember, any time a plea bargain be thrown on the table for any man here in LaSalle Parish, that person is innocent. Here in LaSalle Parish, whenever a black man is offered a plea bargain, he is innocent. That’s a dead giveaway here in the South. So he was putting pressure on Mychal, threatening him, you know, about the time he gonna get and, oh, he ain’t going to be able to play no football no more, and his life is over with, you know, just that old Jim Crow intimidation method that he was using for to try to get my son to take a plea bargain. So he lowered the charges down on my son from a lesser charge, but it was still -- all of it was still felonies. But he wanted Mychal to give away information for the plea bargain, give away information about who all else was involved in there. Well, why you gonna try to trick him and lie to him for to do something that he's innocent of? If you have all this hardcore information about who was involved in it, you shouldn't even be trying to manipulate no young man's mind like that. And, I mean, the court-appointed lawyer, I mean, he was just playing right along, right along with the DA.
AMY GOODMAN: Are you able to get another lawyer?
MARCUS JONES: No, not at this moment.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you, Marcus Jones, father of Mychal Bell, the first of the Jena 6 to be convicted. His son on July 31st faces up to twenty-two years at his sentencing.
Joining us, again, at Louisiana Public Broadcasting is Caseptla Bailey and Tina Jones. They’re mothers of two of the other young men who have been charged, who face trial. Caseptla’s son is Robert Bailey. Tina Jones's son is Bryant Purvis.
Caseptla, talk about the upcoming trial of Robert. When do you expect that he will be tried?
CASEPTLA BAILEY: We’re expecting that he will be tried during the September-October timeframe, according to his lawyer, Mr. Samuel Thomas.
AMY GOODMAN: And does your son have a different attorney than Mychal Bell?
CASEPTLA BAILEY: Yes, ma'am.
AMY GOODMAN: The charges exactly that your son faces?
CASEPTLA BAILEY: The charges that Robert L. Bailey, Jr. faces are attempted second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit second-degree murder, theft over $500, aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy.
AMY GOODMAN: Caseptla, can you talk about the fall, how it all took place? We saw part of it in the piece that we played at the beginning of the broadcast, but what you understood was happening from the time that the teenagers challenged the so-called white tree and went to sit under it?
CASEPTLA BAILEY: From my understanding, a student asked if it would be OK for them to sit under the tree, and the principal responded and said, “Sure, you could sit anywhere. This is your campus, as well.” And after the student went and sat under the tree -- as a matter of fact, I think he you wanted to be cool. It was so hot that day. So him and a couple of his friends went and sat under the tree. And the following day, there were three nooses under the tree.
AMY GOODMAN: And then, can you talk about the tensions rising in town?
CASEPTLA BAILEY: Well, the tensions were very high in town. As a matter of fact, on the day of the incident, I hadn’t heard anything about it. I heard it the following Tuesday, which it happened on a Thursday. And the following Tuesday, that’s when the community, African American community, decided to get together and have a meeting at L&A Baptist Church, so we can call in professional leaders and lawyers and leaders of the community to come together and try to solve this issue and find out what is the problem, what is the purpose. And really everybody was really highly upset that this type of thing would happen in the millennium.
AMY GOODMAN: And what happened after that meeting?
CASEPTLA BAILEY: Well, after that meeting, we had spoken with a few lawyers out of Alexandria, Louisiana, and from that meeting they were supposed to meet with the NAACP state president, Mr. Ernest Johnson. And from there, they went on, did several television news stories about the incident. But all of a sudden, it just faded out.
AMY GOODMAN: And can you talk about the fight before the final fight, the fight where a young black man was beaten at a party?
CASEPTLA BAILEY: That young black man was my son Robert Bailey. Him and some friends had gone to a party at the Jena Fair Barn. And to my understanding, it wasn’t an all-white party there. It was a few blacks that was already there in the party, and he asked to enter the party, if would it be OK for them to come in. And he said the lady responded as, “Sure, you know, as long as there be no fighting.”
So once he did enter the building, a gentleman asked him what was his name. He told him, “Robert Bailey” -- no, asked him, “Is your name Robert Bailey?” And my son said yes, and Justin Sloan hit him, as well as his sister Jessie Sloan. And from there, he was attacked by several white men in the Fair Barn. After the incident happened, his other friends came in to assist him. And once the police got there, the police told the black kids that they need to get back to their side of town. So that’s where a lot of racial tension is also coming from: our town cops in Jena, Louisiana.
AMY GOODMAN: And the incident where your son tried to get a gun from a man at a convenience store?
CASEPTLA BAILEY: Well, that incident happened on Saturday, December 2nd, the following day, where Robert and two of his friends, Theo Shaw and Ryan Simmons, were going to Gotta-Go Grocery. And once they got there, they say Matt Windham, who is a man, not a student at Jena High School, and Matt Windham -- I guess they had come upon each other, because Matt Windham was involved the previous night with the white gentlemen that beat my son the previous night at the Fair Barn, where -- rather attacked my son at the Fair Barn. So once they came upon each other, I guess it was on.
You know, Matt ran to his truck, from my understanding, pulled a shotgun, a sawed-off shotgun with a pistol grip, and my son wrestled with him to get the gun from him. And the other two gentlemen proceeded then to fight, and they took the gun from him and left the scene running. You know, I’m sure they were -- I know they were in fear of their lives. They were afraid that this man was going to shoot them, you know, especially in the back, running away from the scene. So they were scared. I’m sure Matt Windham was scared. You know, but he chose to run to the truck and pull the shotgun, not our children.
AMY GOODMAN: Were any authorities intervening at this point? And in the case of your son being attacked, did anyone get charged?
CASEPTLA BAILEY: In the beginning, no one was charged for the first three to four days. And then, thereafter, for the first -- probably the first couple of weeks after that. I don’t know when Justin Sloan was charged, but he was charged with just simple battery. But the other gentleman, as well as his sister, was not charged with any crime. I mean, you know, they talk about conspiracy and they talk about attack of a white student at Jena High School. What about my son, who was attacked at a function within the town city limits?
AMY GOODMAN: In addition to Caseptla Bailey, we’re joined by Tina Jones. She’s mother of Bryant Purvis, another of the Jena 6, the six young men who are now charged -- who were originally charged with attempted second-degree murder for a fight in the schoolyard. Talk about Bryant Purvis. How old is Bryant, Tina?
TINA JONES: Bryant is eighteen. He turned eighteen when he was in jail.
AMY GOODMAN: When did he go to jail?
TINA JONES: December 5th.
AMY GOODMAN: The day after the fight.
TINA JONES: Yeah, he went the day after the fight. Yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: And how long has he remained in jail?
TINA JONES: He was in jail two days -- two nights and three days.
AMY GOODMAN: And then you were able to bail him out?
TINA JONES: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: Talk about what he was saying in the lead-up to the fight, and then your understanding of the December 4th fight.
TINA JONES: Most of the information that I gathered was from just being at work and other parents and kids. Bryant is not the type of kid to just, you know, just come home and tell what’s going on, because when they hung the nooses and everything, I heard about it at work. And when I come home, I asked him about it. He said he didn’t actually see the nooses hung, but he did see the ropes, because by the time that he had come out to the yard, you know, they had cut the noose part of it off. But he was affected by and upset by all of it himself, but he didn’t actually see the noose part hanging on the rope.
AMY GOODMAN: And what about the gatherings that you had to try -- in the community to try to deal with this before the final fight?
TINA JONES: I didn’t attend but one of them, and it seemed to be very productive, but after the meeting it didn’t really go anywhere. But, you know, that night, everybody was on fire and was going to do so much, but in the end nothing really come of it.
AMY GOODMAN: What date do you expect your son to be tried, Tina?
TINA JONES: My son hasn’t even been arraigned, so we don’t have an arraignment date or a court date, so I’m just -- I mean, I don’t know. I just wake up every morning wondering, myself.
AMY GOODMAN: Caseptla, can you tell us a little about your son Robert? How old is he?
CASEPTLA BAILEY: My son Robert is seventeen years old. He was a junior at Jena High School, football, basketball player. And he’s a musician at several of the churches here in Jena, Louisiana. He’s as well a bootleg barber. You know, that’s a barber that’s in the neighborhood that’s not really licensed to cut hair, but he’s a very good barber within the neighborhood.
AMY GOODMAN: After the fight, how long was he in jail -- Robert?
CASEPTLA BAILEY: Robert was in jail approximately about four months, from December 4th, the day of the fight, until April 3rd, 2007.
AMY GOODMAN: How were you able to get him out?
CASEPTLA BAILEY: At the time of his arrest, we weren’t able to get him out, due to the high bail, which was $138,000, without having a previous criminal record or anything. And we had to come together as a family and come up with three different pieces of property in order to get Robert out. Once the bond had been reduced to $84,000, so that’s how we were able to get Robert released from jail on April 3rd.
AMY GOODMAN: How divided has this made Jena, in terms of white and black? The community, 85% white. Do you have any white support?
CASEPTLA BAILEY: The town has been divided pretty much for a long length of time, and it really has been divided even farther apart now since this incident has happened. A lot of people don’t want to take their heads out of the sand and say, you know, we have a problem. They want to walk around with blinders on. They’re afraid of, you know, making a white man mad. They’re upset, because some of the things that we are doing, as the NAACP unit that’s been formed since all these type of things, racial injustice, has happened in Jena -- so there is a divide. Now, we do have white support, but they will not come out to the public. You know, they will do it behind closed doors, but a lot of the whites will not come before the camera and say, “Hey, I don’t support what is happening to your children.”
AMY GOODMAN: We're going to break, and then we’re going to continue this discussion. We're joined at Louisiana Public Broadcasting in Baton Rouge by Caseptla Bailey, mother of Robert Bailey. Tina Jones, thank you for joining us, mother of Bryant Purvis. Marcus Jones was speaking to us on the phone. His son was just tried and convicted. Mychal Bell faces twenty-two years in jail. When we come back, we’ll be joined by the local head, the secretary of the LaSalle Parish NAACP, as well as the journalist who broke the story nationally, Jordan Flaherty. Stay with us.
Tabacco: This is addressed particularly to White people, who think that Racism, Lynching, Discrimination, Double Standards, & American Injustice towards People of Color ended in 1954 or 1863. Think again!
To Blacks in particular but people of all colors everywhere: We need to pay attention, stop accepting the hypocrisies including the hypocrisies of our Mainstream Media (MSM); we need to stop deluding ourselves that this “stuff” will ever disappear.
Ask any Jew! That Jew will tell you that discrimination, racial and religious bigotry, and double standards will only go away when you insist they go away. And they will only stay “gone” so long as you maintain eternal vigilance.
Let me repeat those words:
CC: Al Sharpton via email
Tabacco: I consider myself both a funnel and a filter. I funnel information, not readily available on the Mass Media, which is ignored and/or suppressed. I filter out the irrelevancies and trivialities to save both the time and effort of my Readers and bring consternation to the enemies of Truth & Fairness! When you read Tabacco, if you don’t learn something NEW, I’ve wasted your time.
In 1981's 'Body Heat', Kathleen Turner said, "Knowledge is power".
T.A.B.A.C.C.O. (Truth About Business And Congressional Crimes Organization)
I am infuriated about the situation in Jena,Louisiana. The African American
community is outraged and will no longer tolerate the injustice, prejudice
and disrespect from RACIST White Americans. We will overcome today, we will
not spend the next 20 years waiting to be accepted or given permission to
have what White Americans have. We will fight for our families and we will
fight the racist, unjust so called justice system in Jena, Louisiana. To
the families of the Jena 6 we are praying for you all. Nacy grace ...report
this! Glen Beck....haven't heard from you either! CNN ....we want to hear
from you also. PS.. Michael Baisden, Thank you for reporting this story!
Peace, Vivian in Dallas,TX
Dee:
As Vivian Dudley mentioned above, I would have never even heard anything
about this story if I hadn't randomly tuned in to Michael Baisden's show
the other day. I really can't believe that NO major media outlets are
covering this, as these 6 young kids stand to have their lives ruined over
a schoolyard fight. There has to be a way to increase public awareness of
this case. As I read more on it, I'm going to write something on King
Magazine's site to at least bring this to more people's attention and try
to get a plan of action together. Oh yeah, LOL @ your spam blocker being a
math problem! As long as it's nothing too far past Algebra 1, I'm good! LOL
I live a few mile from Jena, La and I have been watching the chain of
events. You failed to mention between the noose hanging and the fight at
school, the black students staged aprotest under that white only tree
which resulted in the district attorney holding an assembly at the school
and told the black students if they "didn't stop this,' and while holding
up a pen, "he could end their lives with the stroke of his pen." And also
that friday night before the fight at school, a group of white boys or men
beat up one of the Jena 6 because he entered a party without there
permission. the following saturday three of the black kids saw one of the
white boy from the friday night fight. The white boy pull his rifle out
attempting to shoot the three they took the gun from him, but guess what
they were arrested for aggravated theft. There is still alot of injustice
thatis not know to the public, I mean there is a lot of stuff happening
right now that I know the defense attorney's don't know, I want to get this
info to them but I don't know how.
Thank you, Concerned Americans!
ListenToLeon:
Today's racism is an atrocity in the United States of America. It defies
what the documents of this country's foundation is written about...'We the
people...' it destroys families and make this country appears to be
hypocrites. Why, because we go to other countries to fight for democracy
when we as --- Colored Folks, Blacks, and African Amercans have to
consistently fight for democracy in America, in which, we initially built
by the skin of our teeth, the sweat of our brow and the blood of our life.
America the free and the land of the brave, apparently, in the eyes of
'them' do not apply to all. However, by the grace of Almighty God,
We--Colored Folks, Blacks and African Americans will not lay down on this
one just like we did not and will not lay down on attacks of our people or
persons. This is our country and we will overcome. Remember there was a
time when 'they' said we were 'Negros' (which meant, what I was taught,
that we would never rise above the knee of them). HA! HA! HA! We have
risen, we are rising and we will continue to rise above and beyond farther
then 'their' eyes can see. Why? Because our success, personal developement
or achievement is not up to them. It is up to our Father, who art in
Heaven. Hallowed will be thy Name. He will just like He has always done,
guided us to VICTORY! HALLELUJAH!!! Nevertheless, we must pray for those
that allow satan to use them in such an awful way. God will get the Glory
in this event. One thing that I have learned over the years is that when a
person or people hate, it begins with the hatred of themself. When they
can't hate themselves enough or have hated so long, it spills out into the
lives of others. Now, they use us, my people as a way to hate. I pray that
God touch their heart so they can repent of the errors of their ways before
it is to late. Remember Paul, he hated Christians and look what God did.
My prayers go out to the Black young men and their families that are going
through this journey in their life. This will certainly mold and shape them
in a way that would have never occurred until this. I look at this
situation as a way to stand and say it loud...I AM BLACK AND I AM PROUD.
omg that is the biggest fucken bullshit ive ever heard of ..........that
many years for beating up a kid......i fight in high school is like 5 days
suspension not prison......racist white pieces of shit need to rot in hell
and i knw that they will
we dont need to bother our already plugged justice sys. with this . we
should let the boys out drop all charges and let 6 white boys show those 6
black bastards a thing or 2.... make it a fair fight.
why do blacks always play the race card when they get into trouble?????????
To White anonymous Bigot, today calling himself "bruceinit". I know the
email address is a fraud!