The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Issue date: 9/21/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Steve Root Students and a faculty panel gathered Tuesday in Xavier Hall's blackbox theater to discuss the 'Jena Six' controversy.

Media Credit: Steve Root The forum addressed student questions and a film, detailing the Jena Six proceedings, was shown.

Media Credit: Steve Root A candlelight vigil and moment of silence were held afterwards at the Clock Tower on West Pine Mall.

The nation's most divisive racial case in years affected Saint Louis University on Tuesday, Sept. 18, when the fraternity group Alpha Pi Alpha and the Society of African-American Studies hosted a forum to discuss the controversy known as "Jena Six." The discussion was followed by a candelight vigil around the Clock Tower.

Jena Six refers to a group of six black teens charged with attempted second-degree murder following a fight at Jena High School in Jena, La., in December 2006.

The racial tension began when one of the six students sat underneath the "White Tree," where by convention only white students were allowed to congregate, during a school break earlier in the semester. The next day three nooses hung from the tree.

After a series of incidents stemming from this confrontation, the Jena Six allegedly attacked a white student who was taunting them with racial slurs. The six teens were charged with attempted murder and were jailed; the charges have since been lightened to battery and conspiracy. The white students who hung the nooses were suspended, but did not face criminal charges.

Five of the six black students were able to post bail, ranging from $70,000 to $138,000; the sixth defendant, Mychal Bell, could not afford his $90,000 bail, which the judge refused to lower due to Bell's previous criminal history.

Civil rights groups have been infuriated by the handling of the trial. To this point, the proceedings have been completely administered by whites. The Jena 6 testified before a white jury and convicted by a white prosecutor, in a courtroom under the jurisdiction of a white judge.

Thousands of protestors were expected to descend yesterday on Jena, a small town of 3,000 residents, to protest the handling of the trials. In anticipation, town officials closed down businesses and roads, and school administrators canceled classes.

Tuesday night a forum was held at SLU to open dialogue about the developments in Jena. The forum included a faculty panel, featuring Rich Harvey, Ph.D., Angie Beatty, Ph.D., Eric Miller and Norm White, PhD. There was also a short film about the Jena 6 proceedings and a question and answer session.

During the forum, Harvey, a professor in the the Department of Psychology, was quick to stress that racism has not disappeared from today's society; it has simply changed its form. He noted that the Jena 6 have brought racism back to life in the "old school" manner of the 1960s, a time of deep racial divide in America. Harvey also said that it would be "a fundamental failure to ignore the biases" surrounding the Jena case.

Miller, a law professor, commented that the "most shocking thing about [the Jena controversy] was just how non-shocking [the case is]." Miller said that prosecutors are allowed to bring charges at will and without reasoning.

He said that he feared that the prosecution's racism could "only be stopped by the mass media, if [it] can be stopped." Miller also suggested that the Jena 6 may be "the major civil rights issue of [our] lifetime."

Both Beatty, from the Department of Communications, and White, from the Department of Criminal Justice, were concerned with the lack of media attention thus far, especially compared to cases such as the Duke University rape case that occurred last year.

"The media have very prismed views of criminal events," said White. "If this is excused, who's next?"

Beatty reminded the crowd that the "power [to change things] is always in the power of the people."

The group convened at the Clock Tower on the West Pine Mall following the forum, to hold a candlelight vigil and a moment of silence in honor of the six teens.

Sharronda Williams, a junior studying history and business administration, organized the event with cooperation from Alpha Pi Alpha. Williams said the Jena 6 case "needed to be an issue here" at SLU.

"College students must be made more aware," said Williams. "This is an injustice, period-white or black. These men have lost their lives."

She said she hopes to bring the issue of social injustice to the whole campus via the Student Government Association, which she has lobbied for support. Williams said that she believes she can get white students involved in making a change, although only a handful of the students who attended the forum and vigil were white.

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