Melvin B. Miller
Editor & Publisher

Beyond Jena

Thousands of people descended on Jena, La., last month to protest the discriminatory prosecution of six African American teenagers. The trouble began a year ago when a black student at Jena High School decided to sit under a tree where only white students usually sat. Nooses appeared in the tree the next morning, and racial conflicts erupted.

Three white students were suspended from school for hanging up the nooses, but they were not criminally charged. However, six black students who fought with whites after the incident were charged with crimes.

Mychal Bell, one of the so-called Jena Six, was tried and convicted as an adult on the charge of aggravated second-degree battery, and he faced a sentence of up to 15 years. A state court later vacated his conviction on the grounds that he was improperly tried as an adult.

The demonstration in Jena seemed like a flashback from 50 years ago, but it was by no means a reprisal of the protests of the civil rights era. A significant element was missing — fear. When protesters marched in the Deep South in the 1950s, they understood that they were risking life and limb. Law enforcement agencies, which are supposed to protect the general public, were operating on the side of the segregationists.

With about 20,000 protesters in Jena, a town with a population of little more than 3,000, the balance of power was clearly with the protesters. According to reports, the mood of the crowd was cheerful and festive. Demonstrators even felt comfortable petting the horses of the police who were present for crowd control.

Black spokesmen who are committed to the strategies of the old civil rights movement are delighted with the turnout in Jena. They are disappointed, however, that the Jena demonstration became an event — a happening. They would prefer for it to be the opening volley of a new civil rights movement. But that will not happen.

Times have changed. It is difficult for young people to imagine what American apartheid was like. Then, blacks in the South had few rights that whites were bound to observe. Blacks were continually informed of their inferior status by separate drinking fountains, swimming pools, schools and places of public accommodation. Blacks were even required to ride in the back of the bus. A breach of any of these rules would cause the full power of law enforcement to descend upon the miscreant.

These circumstances set a tone for demonstrations that cannot be artificially replicated. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed racial discrimination in employment, education and places of public accommodation, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 made it unlawful to interfere with the right of blacks to vote in the South. Although some blacks are mired in the mental attitudes of 50 or 60 years ago, times have indeed changed.

Of course there will still be occasions when a call for massive demonstrations is appropriate. Egregious injustice in the judicial system is such a time. The Jena situation was tailor-made for such a protest. Nonetheless, those organizing such efforts should be mindful of the unintended negative consequences of protests.

The long history of racial abuse in America has understandably created a cultural inferiority complex among many blacks. This notion is reinforced by stories of continuing racial discrimination. Now that the civil rights fighters of 50 years ago have cleared the way of major impediments, the better approach is to focus public attention on emerging opportunities.

That does not mean that grievances should be ignored. It should be the business of lawyers, politicians and civic organizations to set those matters right. There is no other rational way to proceed. The Jena demonstration was a dramatic event, set in motion by circumstances not easily recreated. Blacks must focus primarily on strategies for progress.

“Man, this is the way to do a protest.”