Jena Six Resolution (10-07)

Jan 22, 2008 1:06 PM

Whereas, in the summer of 2006, in Jena, Louisiana, African-American students attending the town’s high school asked permission from the Vice President to sit beneath the established “whites only tree,” and on the next day three nooses were found hanging from that tree; and

Whereas, on a Friday night, Robert Bailey, a 17-year-old African-American student and football player was invited to a dance hall considered to be for “whites only,” and without warning or provocation was punched in the face, knocked on the ground and attacked by a group of white youths, where only one white youth was arrested, given probation and asked to apologize; and

Whereas, the night after, a 22-year-old white man with two of his friends pulled a gun on Bailey and two of his friends; and having wrestled the gun away from him to prevent it from being used, were arrested and charged with theft, and the white man went free; and

Whereas, when the student returned to school, in the midst of a confrontation between a white student, Justin Barker, and an African-American student, Robert Bailey – where Bailey was taunted for having been beaten up that weekend - a chaotic fray ensued; and Barker was knocked down and kicked by a number of African-American students, taken to a hospital for a few hours and was seen out socializing later that evening; and

Whereas, six African-American students – Robert Bailey, Theo Shaw, Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis, Mychal Bell, and a still unidentified minor, allegedly the attackers of Justin Barker, were arrested, charged with attempted second degree manslaughter and expelled from school; and

Whereas, after the schoolyard fight, District Attorney Waiters came to the school, spoke to the students in the auditorium where they always sat African-Americans on one side and whites on the other, and encouraged the students to “work it out on their own,” leaving tensions to simmer throughout the fall semester; and

Whereas, an African-American student, Mychal Bell, a 16-year-old sophomore football star at Jena High School, was convicted on June 28, 2007, of charges that can bring up to 22 years in prison, with having one witness called on his behalf; and

Whereas, one of the charges against Bell was thrown out of court in September 2007, he still faces a potential sentence of 15 years on the remaining charges; and

Whereas, two of the remaining students - Jones and Shaw - face similar charges and sentences as Bell, and the last two students still face the much more serious charges of attempted murder; and

Whereas, the JENA SIX are being supported by many diverse people and organizations, including the NAACP, the Louisiana ACLU, the Friends of Justice, and the Jena Six Defense Fund (created by a group of family members); be it therefore

Resolved, that the UFT reaffirm its long-standing commitment to speak out against injustice, racial segregation and the remnants of Jim Crow laws; be it further

Resolved, that the UFT support the Jena Six, including a donation to the legal defense fund.

Passed at the Oct. 17, 2007 Delegate Assembly.