Let us clarify something: The year is 2007. So why in the hell would white students in Jena, La. (or anywhere in the world for that matter) declare, let alone tolerate, a “white tree”?
You’d be hard pressed to find someone who believes racial discrimination was buried in the late ’60s and early ’70s with the Civil Rights Movement. Americans of all ethnic backgrounds will admit that we still have a long way to go. Civil Rights struggles are far from over. Regardless, the thought of nooses hanging from a tree in this day and age is nauseating.
It’s like we’ve been drugged with acid and we’re tripping out in the 1960s. Didn’t our parents and grandparents fight this fight years ago so we could live in a better society? A society where black, white, red and even purple people could get along without taking up issue with their skin color. Was that really too much to ask for? We think not.
The Jim Crow laws have been extinct for decades. Believe it or not, Jena, blacks and whites can drink out of the same fountains. They can eat together, play together, dance together, hell, they can even get married.
So why is this happening? Why in 2007?
The publicity surrounding the Jena 6 is a wake up call for the world. Not only is the biased treatment of these six boys wrong, but it is happening everywhere. This is not an isolated problem. Black American leaders are calling the Jena 6 the beginning of the 21st century civil rights movement.
What is most sickening is the fact that the culture of the town permits such behavior. We hesitate to say these people are backwards, but how else can we put it? The America we know allows anyone to sit under any tree, anywhere they please.
The tiny town of Jena received its own wake up call Thursday when tens of thousands of people jammed their way into town in support of the Jena 6. Busloads of Dallasites traveled six hours to Jena to make their presence known. Clearly the world sympathizes with these young men.
Students at SMU made their voices heard as well. Students protested the mistreatment of the Jena 6; their goal was to spread awareness on the SMU campus so that we as a community can help stomp out racism.
We applaud these students for their efforts.
