2006, Six African-American Youth Brutally Essay

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Reactions to the Jena 6 incident were riotous. African-Americans in Jena and the civil rights activists that supported them cried foul, claiming that the charges brought against the six teenagers were so excessive and racially motivated. The victim was knocked unconscious. Instead of focusing on the victim's pain and suffering, media sources point out that the 17-year-old, Justin Barker, was not even hospitalized after being treated in the emergency room for his injuries. For two and a half years Barker's family suffered emotionally due to the aftermath of the incident but all the media could focus on were the perceived civil rights of his assailants.

Even after the charges were dropped or reduced, defense lawyers still claimed that the district attorney was "overreaching" by charging one suspect with aggravated second-degree battery because no weapon was involved (Witt). One of the African-American student's father claimed that the charges were "ridiculous," (Witt).

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A long history of racial tension in Louisiana fueled the fiery reactions and led to a series of aftershocks. On the other side of the case, white observers and community members rallied to the cause of Barker. The case raised poignant questions not just about race relations in the American South, but also about legal issues surrounding hate crimes and freedom of expression. Even if white students at Jena High School hung nooses from a tree, no actual lynching took place in Jena during the time in question. The white students acted within their constitutional rights of free expression. Those students may not have even intended the hangman's noose to be a symbol of racism. The hangman's noose is a symbol, whereas the beating was an act. Overreacting to the nooses undermines genuine hate crimes.

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