Friday, September 21, 2007
Radford students organize, get involved in Jena Six protest
Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times
Radford High School students Emily Reed (left) age 17 Emma Kirby (center) age 16 and Sam Athanas (right) age 17 solicit signatures on letters calling for justice in racially charged Jena Louisiana while manning a table in the schools cafeteria.
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RADFORD -- Nooses. A shotgun. Local law perceived by some as anything but colorblind.
The drama in Jena, La., is like a flashback to a distant, troubling time.
"When I first read the paper I couldn't believe what was going on," said Henry Kirby, a senior at Radford High School. "It sounded like I was reading something from history class about, like, the '50s. It was crazy."
Thursday, while tens of thousands of protesters converged on Jena, a much smaller protest was taking place nearly 900 miles away.
At least 85 of the 480 students who attend Radford High School wore T-shirts supporting the Jena Six. They signed letters they plan to send to LaSalle Parish, La., prosecutor Reed Walters and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco.
"I was thinking, 'How could our school make a difference to show these people aren't alone?' " junior Emma Kirby said.
The Jena story, according to what's been reported so far, began in August 2006 when a black student asked during a Jena High School assembly if it was all right for black students to sit under the oak tree where white students gathered for lunch. The next morning, nooses were dangling from that tree.
Jena High's principal wanted to expel the three white students who put up the nooses. The school board and superintendent disagreed. The students were suspended. There was an investigation, but no charges were filed.
A white student allegedly pulled a shotgun on a group of black students. The black kids took the gun away. The black student who took the gun home was charged with theft. The white student wasn't charged.
A black student was beaten by white students. No charges were filed.
Six black students -- the Jena Six -- beat a white student. They were charged with attempted murder. One of them, 16 years old at the time of the attack, was tried as an adult. An all-white jury convicted him of battery and conspiracy. An appeals court overturned that conviction, saying the student shouldn't have been tried as an adult.
There were other altercations, arguments and demonstrations in the town of 3,000. Jena officials cut down the noose tree. Someone set fire to the high school.
The Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have taken up the cause. Singer David Bowie contributed to the Jena Six defense fund. Even Al Jazeera has covered the controversy.
In Radford, Kirby found T-shirts on the Internet, but they were expensive. Some people bought them, some made their own. Kirby's mother worked out a deal with a local T-shirt shop and bought 80 shirts with "Justice for the Jena 6" on their fronts. Kirby and others passed the shirts out to any student who would sign a letter.
"Even after all the T-shirts were gone, students wanted to sign the petition," junior Emily Reed said.
At lunchtime Thursday, they had more than 200 letters signed, not counting some Reed collected at Radford University. Other students are saying their piece into a video camera. Reed plans to produce a DVD for Blanco and Walters.
The students praised school administrators for their support. Principal Mark Lineburg praised the students for getting involved. The Black Awareness Club and the Diversity Club have been particularly involved in the Jena Six effort. "A lot of our clubs are taking stands and giving back to the community," Lineburg said. "And I think that's better than just raising funds and taking trips."
"Our students have gotten into it and they think we can make an impact," Reed added.
They want all the charges against the Jena Six to be dropped.
"Everyone knows it's wrong," Henry Kirby said. "We're trying to make things right again."
