The Jena Six: Looking Back

A few days ago, a friend of mine encouraged me to write about my thoughts on the Nationalist Movement’s decision to put on an elaborate publicity stunt on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in Jena, Louisiana. I told him I wasn’t interested in giving any attention to (literally) a group of twelve narrow-minded racists who exploited both the Town of Jena and the legacy of Dr. King to give attention to their bigoted agenda (weakly guised as a battle for free speech). But the story has been given a fair amount of attention in the local media and the local blogosphere… and now that it’s over, now that the 12 white Nationalists put on their elaborately staged and ultimately futile exercise of inspiring divisiveness about race (a stage that was, by the way, upstaged by the nearly 200 counter-protesters), perhaps it is time for a little reflection:

I think some people, particularly people who only focus on the most reactionary elements of this story, believe that the notion of “freeing” the Jena Six meant, literally, dropping all charges against all six young men and allowing them to never account for the accusations against them. But that’s not what it meant. It meant correcting a prosecutor’s decision to target six young men as attempted murderers when, in fact, they were only guilty of participating in and/or witnessing a violent high school fight that knocked one young man unconscious. One of the six young men may have been the instigator, but according to published eyewitness reports, the fight wasn’t exactly six versus one. Indeed, an eyewitness recalls seeing a white student push and shove an African-American student to the ground during the fight. And most recall quick and sudden pandemonium. The fight didn’t last long at all.

I understand there will be Jena Six-sympathizers who may disagree with those implications, but the protests and the attention toward the cause of the Jena Six did lead to tangible successes: Enough pressure was exerted to dramatically reduce the charges against these six young men, and the attention attracted competent representation for all six, further increasing their chances of receiving a fair trial.

It was never about freeing people of their responsibilities for their own actions. It was about freeing people from charges and from a mentality that seemed unfairly stacked against them. It was about recognizing the collective need of leveling the playing field. I doubt one can explain this to someone whose life is so thoroughly imbued by the rhetoric of racism, but ultimately, in this cause, it was about recognizing and correcting institutionalized racism, in several of its forms.

There is a good reason that nearly 20,000 people marched in support of the Jena Six back in September and only a dozen marched against the Jena Six two days ago. 20,000 people from all corners of the nation represented an incredible sign of solidarity on this issue; 12 people in an elaborate publicity stunt represents nothing but a small group of white racists using their own network as well as the unwitting media to attract attention to the cause of bigotry.

I believe in the First Amendment, but I also believe that the media and blogosphere have given undue attention to the dozen white Nationalists who came to Jena in order to desecrate the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. and promote white supremacy. And to be sure, many will say, “But what about the New Black Panther Party?” There are reactionary people on both sides of this issue, and the Nationalists (and groups like them) stage these events fully anticipating a counter-protest. Don’t be misled into believing that either side represents mainstream thought on this issue.

This is why the Nationalists went to Jena (and this is also why the Nationalists had to “sue” to “win” the right to protest). The Town of Jena required a $10,000 security bond (you can get those back) for public assembly events, and the Nationalists couldn’t afford it. They claim to have made $1,906, yet they’re still somehow down $1,289 last year. They’re in the red. (One wonders how much they had to spend on legal fees).

A bankrupt organization (of 12 people) that promotes racism couldn’t afford a security deposit to stage a protest, sued to have the deposit waived, won the case, attracted a ton of media attention, and then, ultimately, cost taxpayers tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars. That’s what happened. It’s hardly an inspiring victory for free speech.

From their website (yuck):

Jena has set the stage for Nationalists to exemplify how they are patriots, because the Negroes have come off so vividly as subversives. Jena Justice Day will show who is on the side of the honest, hard-working American, as opposed to the minorities and aliens, who line up behind the loafers and criminals. So, while our opponents delight in attacking the innocent and applauding the lawless, we delight in restoring order and securing justice. The Jena-town-attorney has mocked us, calling us “indigent,” because we refused to pay $10,000.00 to hold our parade and rally. Even if we had the money, we would not pay it, because our forefathers have already won us our freedom.

They sued. And they got a lot of media attention. And they won. 12 of them. And when they came to Jena, the media came too, and so did the counter-protesters. And now they’re suing again because these guys, pictured below armed with guns at the protest, claimed they weren’t able to arm themselves with guns at the protest (from the Town Talk):

The caption reads, “David Dupre (with beard) of Tioga and his son, David Dupre Jr., show the weapons they brought to the “Jena Justice Day” rally in Jena today. They said they were armed for their personal protection.”

Here’s their lawsuit. And conveniently, they’re threatening another dismally attended protest.