Talk:Jena Six/Nooses

nooses

I think it should be in there that the children that hung the nooses where not charged because---

"The district attorney who is prosecution the teens, Reed Walters, denied on Wednesday that racism was involved in the charges.

He said he didn't charge the white students accused of hanging the nooses because he could find no Louisiana law under which they could be charged. In the beating case, he said, four of the defendants were of adult age under Louisiana law and the only juvenile charged as an adult, Mychal Bell, had a prior criminal record."

Anybody know what is previous charges were??

I don't feel Professor Anita L. Allen's qoute (who I've seen lecture and is really good)"the 'full horror and terror' of the noose's significance may remain unclear to a 16-year-old who would see it as merely an 'intimidating or cheeky' act."[19] should be here. I don't want to just go ahead and pull it off but i would like some discusion about. I am fine with discusing reactions but i dont see the the releveance. That should be on the noose page not on the Jena Six page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.32.41.183 (talk) 19:59, 4 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

more on nooses

with regard to the nooses: I do not think the claim by Walters that `he could find no law under which to charge the noose hangers' should be allowed to stand in the article without noting that he could have charged them under the Louisiana Hate Crimes statute. This law makes it "unlawful for any person to select the victim of [the offense of "terrorizing"] because of actual or percieved race..." (Federal Hate crimes law adds that this vioaltion especially protects people engaged in activities that are a basic civil right, like going to school). Lynching is typically described by scholars as an act of terrorism, and given the history of Louisiana (at least 471 lynchings between 1878-1946) the hanging of nooses in a tree after black students sit under it can quite logically be construed as "terrorizing." Indeed, that is what alot of the hoopla is about in this case: the failure of authorities to respond appropriately to an act of terrorism, which precipitated a series of violent incidents.

Please add your comments to the BOTTOM of the talk page! If you can find an article which discusses what criminal charges could have been brought, and states that Walters is wrong, then it certainly should be included. However, for us editors to leaf through the Penal Code and do it ourselves is original research.--Wehwalt 02:02, 23 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6936337,00.html

"Three months prior to that attack, Bell committed two violent crimes while on probation for a Christmas Day battery in 2005, according to testimony. Later that same week, he led the Jena Giants to a shutout victory in a football game against the Buckeye Panthers. Bell was adjudicated -- the juvenile equivalent to a conviction -- of battery on Sept. 2 and criminal damage to property on Sept. 3, said Cynthia Bradford, LaSalle Parish deputy clerk. A few days later, on Sept. 8, Bell rushed 12 times for 108 yards and scored three touchdowns -- one of the best performances of the year for the standout athlete." http://thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070825/NEWS01/708250317 216.83.230.132 18:34, 20 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, but his criminal past is already in the article.Ophois 19:43, 20 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Were the previous "attacks" on white students also? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.115.251.210 (talk) 16:39, 21 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I just watched the ESPN Jena 6 special aired at 8:30 Eastern time 9/23/07. They mentioned one of Bell's prior battery charges having something to do with him punching a girl in the face. I have read everything I can find about this case, and can't find anything about this, though someone did mention Bell allegedly beating his girlfriend on this discussion page. Has anyone found an article or source to verify this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.16.103.159 (talk) 14:12, 23 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I looked before about the punching the girlfriend thing, but I couldn't find anything. Ophois 16:04, 23 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

In the ESPN special the interviewer presented the punching of the girl in the face by Mychal Bell as fact, not something that was disputed. Bell's new Atty. responded not by contradicting the woman beating incident, but rather stated that juvenile discretions shouldn't be brought up in cases where the defendant is being tried as an adult, or something like that. I will find a link to a transcript and get paste it here later today. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.206.31.167 (talk) 13:03, 24 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Noose incident?

Should the Noose incident (CNN Link]) be added to this page? --Shark face 217 01:36, 22 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for posting that, but we decided earlier not to add that in because it didn't occur in Jena and wasn't really connected to the Jena Six story.Ophois 01:44, 22 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Morning. I'm just leaving a note for later use instead of making a detailed addition to the article because I'm procrastinating right now, but it bears mentioning that the matter of other nooses has gotten bigger after the decision. News sources speak of nooses at the University of Maryland [1], T.W. Andrews High School, N.C. Agricultural and Technical State University [2] (this one as protest, that particular article says) and at the Coast Guard Academy [3]. Oh dear. This mess as a whole is much more significant and definitely connected. --Kizor 22:44, 27 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yup. --Kizor 17:11, 28 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It would be nice if they stopped now. --Kizor 17:20, 30 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Right, that's it, this definitely needs to go in. --Kizor 19:22, 10 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

incorrect number of nooses and incorrect relation of punishment of students responsible for hanging nooses ?

I'm trying to track down more information, but I came across this AP wire article on yahoo ( http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070922/ap_on_re_us/a_place_called_jena ) in which the reporter, Todd Lewan, states that there were actually 2 nooses, not three, and that the three white boys responsib-le were not merely given a three day suspension but were "isolated at an alternative school for about a month, and then given an in-school suspension for two weeks." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.240.18.3 (talk) 19:03, 22 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

There's a fair amount of info from that AP article that should be incorporated.--Wehwalt 22:18, 22 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Dates of Assembly and Noose Incident

The Jena Times claims that the first assembly occurred on August 30, 2006, with the Noose incident occuring on August 31, 2006. This article indicates that they were on the 31st and 1st respectively. Could someone please verify this? Thanks. --cut copy 05:29, 21 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

That's interesting. I googled it,and that site seems to be he only place that has those dates.Ophois 13:38, 21 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

New Information about the nooses

It turns out that the nooses were placed there because of a high school sports match. The school the team was to play in an upcoming game's mascot was a cowboy. Several students made the nooses in order to demonstrate that the Jena team would "hang 'em high". Race probably had nothing to do with it. I got the information from a local Louisiana newspaper. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.231.235.2 (talk) 17:44, 20 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Do you have a source? Ophois 17:48, 20 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It has been quoted several places, like here : http://www.retrieverweekly.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=2427&format=html that the nooses were in school colors. The nooses where hung on Friday Sept 1, 2006. Friday is of course high school football time. I have worked as a teacher in various high schools for 7 years, and Fridays are always crazy during football season. There is always some motto for the opponent of the week. eg: "Lock up Lexington". On Friday Sep 1 2006 Jena High School played the Avoyelles Mustangs from Moreauville, LA. [Info from Maxpreps.com] As a prior service member in the US Army 1st Cavalry Division, we saw plenty of Cavalry equipment. One such piece is the 'Neck Rope' like so: Image The properly tied neck rope does look a lot like a noose. It could be debated what a proper noose looks like. Traditional hang mans nooses have 13 coils. A horse neck lead has more like 6 coils. Yes this is splitting hairs, but the fact remains that a neck lead is a reasonable symbol for the Jena Giants to use prior to a football game against a 'Mustang' opponent. Some type of lasso seems more than appropriate. I believe I read the nooses in the White Tree were removed by custodians before the police arrived; we may never know the truth. In this age of political correctness, the noose has more evil connotations, but a lasso is just a cowboy tool. 64.234.45.87 13:23, 21 September 2007 (UTC)TJ Tx[reply]

You have a good point. However, the article you gave only says that they were painted in school colors. It makes no reference to a football game or anything else. For us to suggest that it was football-related without providing a source would be speculation. However, if you find a source that covers what you said above, please post it. Ophois 13:30, 21 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]