I guess you can find ticks in the smallest places. Racist garbage, embarasses the good people in Louisiana.

JENA, La. - Thousands of chanting demonstrators filled the streets of this little Louisiana town Thursday in support of six black teenagers initially charged with attempted murder in the beating of a white classmate.

The crowd broke into chants of "Free the Jena Six" as the Rev. Al Sharpton arrived at the local courthouse with family members of the jailed teens.

Martin Luther King III, son of the slain civil rights leader, said the scene was reminiscent of earlier civil rights struggles. He said punishment of some sort may be in order for the six defendants, but "the justice system isn't applied the same to all crimes and all people."

The six teens were charged about three months after three white teens hung nooses in a tree on their high school grounds. Five of the black teens were initially charged with attempted murder, but that charge was reduced to battery for all but one, who has yet to be arraigned; the sixth was charged as a juvenile. The white teens were suspended from school but weren't prosecuted.

"This is the most blatant example of disparity in the justice system that we've seen," Sharpton told CBS's "The Early Show" before arriving in Jena. "You can't have two standards of justice."

"We didn't bring race into it," he said. "Those that hung the nooses brought the race into it."

Sharpton, who helped organized the rally, said this could be the beginning of the 21st century's civil rights movement, one that would challenge disparities in the justice system.

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.

"It is not and never has been about race," Walters said. "It is about finding justice for an innocent victim and holding people accountable for their actions."

The beating victim, Justin Barker, was knocked unconscious, his face badly swollen and bloodied, though he was able to attend a school function later that night.

Bell, 16 at the time of the December attack, is the only one of the "Jena Six" to be tried so far. He was convicted on an aggravated second-degree battery count that could have sent him to prison for 15 years, but the conviction was overturned last week when a state appeals court said he should not have been tried as an adult.

Thursday's protest had been planned to coincide with Bell's sentencing, but organizers decided to press ahead even after the conviction was thrown out. Bell remains jailed while prosecutors prepare an appeal. He has been unable to meet the $90,000 bond.

"We all have family members about the age of these guys. We said it could have been one of them. We wanted to try to do something," said Angela Merrick, 36, who drove with three friends from Atlanta to protest the treatment of the teens.

The rally was heavily promoted on black Web sites, blogs, radio and publications.

Thursday morning, thousands of demonstrators clad in black converged on the local courthouse and a nearby park, while thousands more marched along city streets in what at times took on the atmosphere of a giant festival — with people setting up tables of food and some dancing to the beat of a drum. State police declined to give official estimates of the numbers.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke to one crowd. Dennis Courtland Hayes, interim president and CEO of the NAACP, compared the outcry over the arrests in Jena to the controversy that followed racial remarks by radio personality Don Imus.

"People are saying, `That's enough, and we're not taking it any more,'" Hayes said.

Sharpton admonished the demonstrators to remain peaceful, and there were no reports of trouble as of midmorning. White residents in the predominantly white town of 3,000 have largely been reluctant to comment, saying privately that the town was being unfairly portrayed.

"I believe in people standing up for what's right," said resident Ricky Coleman, 46, who is white. "What bothers me is this town being labeled racist. I'm not racist."

A group of about a dozen white residents and black demonstrators engaged in an animated but not angry exchange during the march. Whites asked blacks if they were aware of Bell's criminal record, blacks replied that Jena High School administrators mishandled the incidents.

Another white resident, Bill Williamson, 59, said he tried to convince visitors that the town was being treated unfairly and that Mychal Bell belonged in jail.

"I think we changed one man's mind," he said. "But most of these people don't want to hear."

The demonstrators included large numbers of civil rights movement veterans and college students from across the region who weren't alive in the 1960s.

Elizabeth Redding, 63, of Willinboro, N.J., said she marched at Selma when she was in her 20s.

"This is worse, because we didn't get the job done," she said as she walked up a hill leading to the park rally. "I never believed that this would be going on in 2007."

Tina Cheatham, 24, had no intention of missing a brush with history. "I wasn't around for the civil rights movement. This is kind of the 21st century version of it," she said.

Red Cross officials manned first aid stations near the local courthouse and had water and snacks available. Portable toilets and flashing street signs to aid in traffic direction were in place. At the courthouse, troopers chatted amiably with each other and with demonstrators who began showing up well before dawn.

Sharpton said Bell, whom he spoke with Wednesday, was heartened by the show of support.

"He doesn't want anything done that would disparage his name — no violence, not even a negative word," Sharpton said.

thank you it does embarass the people of louisiana...i am about an hour from jena.........and there are rallys here in alexandria for this thing...took some of my friends an hour and a half to drive a 30 min drive

If this were a group of 6 WHITE boys who beat one BLACK boy they would all say it was a hate crime. This was an act of racism and these boys need to face the consequences....I Hope they get what they deserve.

i think the supposed "jena six" should have consequences for their actions no doubt...i think some of them were harsh, but what the media isn't telling you is that mychal bell, the one still being held in jail, this is his 4th or 5th probation violation and apparently has been causing trouble in jena for quite awhile... that is why he is still being held for this crime..he is a REPEAT OFFENDER, and the people involved with this march want them to drop ALL charges....so they are basically saying that they did NOTHING wrong

lets not forget that their is a victim here, who was beaten, and he deserves justice for what happened to him

i dont think it was right for the students to hang nooses in the tree at school, but that was no way involved with justin barker...so the boys weren't retaliating from that.

people can say all they want, but today this turned into a racist matter, i don't care who you are, white or black, this is all about race on both sides!!!! if it were reversed it would be a hate crime and there would be a march for the white kids to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law..just my opinion...sorry if it offends you

jena and louisiana is being portrayed as racist now, just because we are in the south..i am not a racist, but i do believe in having consequences for your actions.

I'll play the devil's advocate. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and the like are bigger racists than those white teenagers. They are always stirring up something, playing the racecard. I'm not defending the actions of those young men, but all those two do is stir up hate. They were "rallying" at Duke University, until it was found that the white boys were innocent. Then they left, not caring about the lives of the boys that were falsely accused. I cannot stand Jesse Jackson. When James Brown was arrested he made a statement that Elvis Presley was never arrested. He also said Elvis did not deserve to sing "In The Ghetto."
These guys will never help make harmony between the races. If that were ever to happen, they would be out of a job.

quote:

Originally posted by Unique Dog:
If this were a group of 6 WHITE boys who beat one BLACK boy they would all say it was a hate crime. This was an act of racism and these boys need to face the consequences....I Hope they get what they deserve.

What is that UD? Lynched? Go ahead say it. Shoulda known

i totally agree with you quinn....sharpton and jackson seem to do nothing but stir the pot and get stuff started..

I agree with quinn too.

HA! Thought so. You think they deserve attempted murder charges while the white ones get off with a slap on the wrist by momma huh? Hide the your sheet UD, it's showing.

I don't believe it was right for the white kids to have a so called white tree and they did go overboard on the nooses. They should have been in trouble for that.

However, I don't think six people should ever jump on one person. It doesn't matter which race, six on one in my book is proof of intentional harm.

The tree incident was in August and the fight occurred in December. I just wonder what happened in between this time frame. Does anyone know??? I haven't been able to find anything on that.

I don't know all the details on this topic, so I won't speak about the actual case. But it is sad to think in the year 2007 how much racism still exists in this country.

Totally agree Besty...And I have no clue Q...I posted here before I really knew what was up and had to delete.

Looks like the kid that was charged as an adult was set free on bail. I agree...6 on one is no match for anyone....But to be charged as an adult is a bit different. Again, I dont have all the details, it just sounds odd to me.


I just dont get it...Too much hate!

The only details I know of this in what I read is the tree was chopped down, and David Duke and his KKK was voted for in that town by the white majority. I have also read that most blacks do get harsher sentances. That one girl that got prison time for pushing the teacher, this after being suspended for filling her paint cup too full in art class. After a legal fight , she was released, but hundreds are still in juvenile prison for such small offences, makes ya wonder huh?

I can see everyone's position on this matter. I can't believe that there is still so much rascism alive today.
Here is the funny part.....when we moved to the south my son was in middle school, we are white, the white boys called him a Yankee and he had lots of fights....and then black kids called him a cracker ????????? sheesh Holy Smokes, he gets it from all directions. It begins in the homes and in our lives. I am proud to say my sons look at a person for what is inside, that is one of the pillars of character I have raised them with. Another facet I have tried to stress to them is respect and tolerance. When applied can change the world.

I know what your son went through. I moved to the south from Ohio when I was a freshman in high school. I was called "yankee" all the time. They would say it like it was a curse word. Needless to say my four years of high school were terrible.