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The Jena 6 case reaffirms what those who grew up in the South have known all along: racial tensions are an ever present reality even in the year 2007. Growing up white in the South during the 80's was confusing. In school we learned about the civil rights movement, the inequality of the races in times past, and race relations today where, no matter what the race, people are supposed to have all of the same rights. But throughout my childhood, I realized that the South was subject to a type of schizophrenia when it came to race relations. Blacks and whites often lived in the same neighborhoods, worked the same jobs, and enjoyed doing the same things for fun. Schools were segregated but at the home of many white and black families the other race was discussed as if they were not a different race but a different species. Much of the discussion wasn't out of hate but out of ignorance. The schools I attended were about a half mixture of whites and half blacks but the two groups often segregated themselves, whether in the schoolyard or in class. The Jena 6 situation brings to the forefront what those who grew up in the South knew existed all along: racial tensions. The past is still with us in the South. Not to excuse anyones behavior but it is always easier to practice injustice and hate when your government and those around you tell you it is justified. This is the case of race relations in the South, and indeed throughout the United States. Our government condoned slavery and racism in the past and, while they claim not to in our current times, sometimes you have to wonder. The Jena 6 situation is one such event that makes you wonder.

The Jena 6 situation arose after a black student asked a school administrator in Jena, Louisiana if he could sit under a shade tree that white students sat under. He was told that he could. The next day there were three nooses hanging from the very tree. The nooses brought back a lot of the painful history of the African-American people who lived not only through slavery but afterwards when they still had virtually no rights and were treated as third class citizens. Lynchings were not unheard of then and neither were hangings. Of course the nooses stirred up the racial tensions that have existed in the South for the last few hundred years and, after a few incidents directly related to the nooses incident, a white student was badly beaten after a party. The individuals involved were tried by an all white jury and found guilty of such charges as attempted second-degree manslaughter. Since then, these charges have been lowered to assault but they point out a very important fact: racisms and racial tensions are alive and well in the American South.
This is not surprising considering the inhumane, humiliating, and unjust treatment of African-Americans both during and after slavery. That and the fact that many families have had direct experience with racism and violence over race related issues makes it hard for whites and blacks in the South even to be friends sometimes. And yet friendships between the races do exist here as well as marriages and dating. This should give us all hope that one day we will see justice reign in the American South. The day when Martin Luther King Jr.'s dreams can finally, after too long, come true. But this cannot be so until injustices in our court systems and institutions, from jails to schools, are wiped out. We must be vigilant to protect the rights of all peoples and to not let the unfairness of yesterday continue on into tomorrow. There is hope but cases such as of the Jena 6 make it harder to see.

Learn more about this author, Nate Weeks.
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