Students gathered on Borchuck Plaza Thursday to spread awareness about the Jena Six case in Louisiana where six African-American students are being charged with the beating of a white student after incidents of racism were prevalent at Jena High School.
The issue began last September when a black student at the high school sat under a tree nicknamed the “white tree” by students because white students were the only ones who ever sat there. The next day, three nooses hung from the tree in Jena High School’s colors. The white students who were responsible for hanging the nooses received three days suspension after it was deemed a “prank.”
A few days later, black students got together under the tree in protest. The district attorney, Reed Walters, is reported to have waved a pen in the air and said, “I could end your lives with the stroke of a pen.”
There were more incidents of racism that led to the beating of the white student by the Jena Six. The white student had been a vocal supporter of the students who hung the nooses and had taunted black students earlier that day. The student was taken to the hospital but was allegedly released in time to attend a class ring event that evening.
While some do not condone the actions of the Jena Six, there are concerns that justice justice seems to be lacking in the case.
Five of the six teens were initially charged with attempted second-degree murder. Charges for four of those have been reduced, and a sixth teen has been charged as a juvenile.
Mychal Bell, the only teen to have been tried so far, was convicted of aggravated second-degree battery, but a state appeals court has overturned the conviction, saying he could not be tried as an adult. He remains in jail.
Members of the NAACP and Black Affairs Association at ETSU had been discussing their concerns about the case. They all seemed to agree that far away from Louisiana, here in Tennessee, nobody really seemed to know much about it. That is why students gathered on campus to let ETSU know that racism is still an issue our country is facing. Ash-Lee Henderson, ETSU student, said the gathering was “a community of like-minded people who wanted to make a difference.”
The students, all wearing black to support the Jena Six, were handing out fliers with information about what is going on in Louisiana. The vast majority of students who received the fliers were hearing about the issue for the first time, even though this began last fall. Freshman Alan Prigmore said, “This is happening and we should not ignore it.”
As more and more students around campus learned of the Jena Six, people started asking questions. Before long, a simple gathering turned into a rally. “I went to class and then the next thing I know I’m speaking at a rally,” Henderson said.
“I think we opened their eyes to see that they should look into it,” Prigmore said. “Everybody who I handed a flier to seemed interested in becoming more educated about it or even doing something about it.” Prigmore was concerned that people are hearing about the beating of a white student but not hearing about all of the incidents of racism that lead the Jena Six to do what they did.
Henderson also seemed concerned that students were only hearing half of the story. “A friend of mine was in class and her professor was like, ‘Did you guys hear about those six black kids that beat up that white kid?’ and my friend said, ‘No that’s not how it happened, I have this flier right here’.”
Henderson also discussed race problems at ETSU. She said that X’s have been drawn over NAACP, and that racist comments were left on the residence hall door of an African-American student. The Black Affairs group at ETSU has meetings every Wednesday in room 6 of the Culp Center at 7 p.m. Students of any color are invited to attend these meetings and learn more about issues African-American students at ETSU are facing.
For more information about the Jena Six, or to sign a petition go to http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/

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