Jena Six

The Jena Six were six black teenagers arrested in 2006 for beating Justin Barker, a white classmate who spent three hours in an emergency room and was released. All six teenagers as well as Barker attended Jena (pronounced GEE-na) High School in Jena, Louisiana. The Jena Six were initially charged with attempted second-degree murder, a charge that seemed excessive and racially motivated. Because of the case, thousands of people flocked to the small town of Jena and held protests in other US cities as well. Protestors noted that white youths in similar incidents faced lesser charges.

Background

Several events prior to the assault sparked racial tensions in Jena High School, where only 10 percent of the school’s population was black. According to some reports, black and white students in the school rarely interacted. For example, when outside of the school, black students sat in bleachers while white students sat under a large tree, dubbed the “white tree.” During a school assembly in August 2006, a black student asked the principal if he and some friends could sit under the white tree. The principal said that they could sit wherever they wanted to, so the boys sat under the tree.

The next morning, students and staff discovered several nooses hanging from the tree, a clear reminder of the South’s history of lynching blacks. When the principal learned that three white male students were responsible for the nooses, he wanted to expel them. However, the school’s superintendent, who was white, thought this punishment was too harsh and instead suspended the boys for three days. The superintendent also casually remarked that the nooses were nothing more than a harmless adolescent prank. In response to his comment, black students in the school held a peaceful sit-in under the white tree to protest the leniency shown to the three white teens. The La Salle district attorney noted that the boys did not face criminal charges because Louisiana did not have a state law for hate crimes.

Racial tensions in the school continued to escalate. Justin Barker, a white student, made racist comments and openly supported the boys who had hung the nooses. During a fight at school with the Jena Six, Barker was punched and kicked. After the fight, his eye was swollen shut, his jaw was fractured, and he had suffered a concussion. He was treated in a local emergency room for three hours and released. Barker attended a high school ring ceremony that evening.

Overview

The six black youths, who were between the ages of fourteen and eighteen, were arrested. Five were charged as adults for attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy. The sixth was charged as a juvenile. All six were expelled from school. They were Carwin Jones (then eighteen), Robert Bailey Junior (then seventeen), Bryant Purvis (then seventeen), Mychal Bell (then sixteen), Theo Shaw (then seventeen), and Jesse Ray Beard (then fourteen). Bail was set for each boy, which ranged from $70,000 to $138,000. Except for Bell, none of the teens had a juvenile record.

Of the six, Bell—the running back on the high school football team—was the only one to go to trial. On the morning of the trial, the district attorney reduced the charges for the six teens to aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy. In Louisiana, a charge of aggravated second-degree battery requires the use of a dangerous weapon during the assault. Bell did not have a weapon, but the prosecution convinced the jury that Bell’s tennis shoes, which were used to kick Barker, could be considered a weapon. Bell’s public defense attorney did not call any witnesses or present any evidence on his behalf. The six white jurors deliberated for three hours before finding Bell guilty of aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy. For these charges, he could spend up to twenty-two years in prison.

Many felt that the arrests and conviction of Bell were the result of racial discrimination. On September 20, 2007, more than twenty thousand people traveled to Jena to march through the streets in protest—the black students were treated as criminals while the white students responsible for the nooses were given a few days off from school. Similar protests were held on the same day in other places. The protesters’ message was spread throughout the country by newspapers, radio stations, and blogs. People donated thousands of dollars for better defense attorneys for the Jena Six and pressured the Louisiana legal system to treat them fairly. Bell was released on bail on September 26.

Bell’s new legal team had his conviction overturned after a judge ruled that he should have been tried as a juvenile. Bell ultimately pleaded guilty to second-degree battery and received an eighteen-month sentence in a juvenile facility. The other five teens accepted a plea deal requiring them to serve seven days of probation and pay a $500 fine and court costs.

Despite some conflicts and setbacks, the members of the Jena Six tried to put the experience behind them. All six eventually left Jena to live elsewhere.

• In 2009, Mychal Bell attempted to take his own life because of the pressure he felt to live up to the expectations of those who had helped him. By 2014, however, he had graduated from Southern University in Louisiana with a degree in education.
• During his time at the University of Louisiana, Theo Shaw interned at the Innocence Project in New Orleans. After graduating, he attended law school at the University of Washington on a full scholarship as a Gates Public Services Law Scholar.
• Bryant Purvis was arrested again in 2008 for an assault causing bodily injury. He attended Grambling State University, and in 2015 published a book about his experience, My Story of the Jena 6.
• Jesse Ray Beard was arrested again in 2007 and charged with simple battery and assault. He attended Hofstra University in New York and planned to go to law school.
• Robert Baily earned an undergraduate degree in marketing and a master’s degree in sports management from Grambling State University. As of 2019, he worked as a football coach at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
• Carwin Jones was arrested again 2008 for misdemeanor simple battery and trespass. Reporters noted that he did not respond to their messages or return their calls.

Bibliography

“Background: Jena 6.” ACLU, www.aclu.org/other/background-jena-6. Accessed 29 Apr. 2019.

“The Case of the Jena Six: Black High School Students Charged with Attempted Murder for Schoolyard Fight after Nooses Are Hung from Tree.” Democracy Now!, www.democracynow.org/2007/7/10/the‗case‗of‗the‗jena‗six. Accessed 29 Apr. 2019.

“5 Years Later, Jena 6 Move On.” NewsOne, 25 Aug. 2011, newsone.com/1485935/jena-6-anniversary/. Accessed 29 Apr. 2019.

Purvis, Bryant. My Story as a Jena 6. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015.

“Race, Violence…Justice? Looking Back At Jena 6” National Public Radio, 30 Aug. 2011, www.npr.org/2011/08/30/140058680/race-violence-justice-looking-back-at-jena-6. Accessed 29 Apr. 2019.

Santana, Rebecca. “Accused of brutal beating, insisting on his innocence, Jena 6 defendant now defends others.” Clarion Ledger, 9 Dec. 2018, www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/12/09/jena-6-defendant-finds-purpose-back-courtroom/2242150002/. Accessed 29 Apr. 2019.

Talamo, Lex. “’My Story as a Jena 6’: Racism and justice in a small Louisiana Town.” Shreveport News, 18 July, 2017, www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/crime/2017/07/05/my-story-jena-6-racism-and-justice-small-louisiana-town/441313001/. Accessed 29 Apr. 2019.

Waldman, Amy. “The Truth About the Jena.” The Atlantic, 20 Aug. 2011, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/01/the-truth-about-jena/306580/. Accessed 29 Apr. 2019.