Jena Six offers tough lessons for administrators on racial tensions
The case of the "Jena Six" offers tough lessons for principals and other administrators who must grapple with racial tensions in their schools. According to experts on race relations, principals and teachers can head off such incidents by knowing the sources of conflict and acting to defuse them. The also point out that when prevention fails, school leaders should treat such matters seriously, condemn any offensive act, and mete out fair punishment. In addition, the experts stress that communication with students, parents, and the community is crucial to keep the situation from worsening, and administrators may need to draw on outside mediators for help. "Educators have a tremendous responsibility to not only know what the academic needs of their students are, but to know what the social climate is in their school, because those are not unrelated," says Beverly Daniel Tatum, the president of Spelman College. "It seems to me that school leaders in Jena lost several opportunities to address these incidents before things became physically violent."
Jena is a near-textbook example of potential pitfalls for school administrators. In the view of some outside observers, the appearance of the nooses on a tree, that was a known meeting place for whites, a day after a black student asked in a school-wide assembly whether he could sit under the tree, revealed underlying racial tensions. A number of educators believe the fact that the superintendent and a disciplinary review panel overrode the principal’s recommendation to expel the three white students responsible for hanging the nooses and instead imposed the lesser punishment of suspension may have contributed to the escalating tensions between black and white students that culminated with the six blacks being charged with beating a white student.
The black students, known now as the "Jena Six," were initially charged with attempted second-degree murder, but the charges have since been reduced. Five of the cases have yet to go to trial; one student who was first tried as an adult had his convictions for aggravated battery and conspiracy overturned. The series of events provoked accusations of racism and uneven treatment of black and white students and thrust the predominantly white town of 3,000 into the spotlight, culminating in a demonstration last month in support of the six youths by tens of thousands of protesters from around the country. Some scholars who study racial issues believe that the when the black student asked about sitting under the tree that should have been a red flag for school officials. "It indicates there are racial divisions that leaders should have already been addressing," says Rosemary Henze, a linguistics professor at San Jose State University. She adds, "Principals have to send a strong message to the entire school that segregation will not be tolerated." However, the reaction of Jena’s residents illustrates just how difficult it can be to interpret such warning signs. LaSalle Parish Superintendent of Schools Roy Breithaupt believes the nooses to be a prank. Billy Wayne Fowler, a LaSalle Parish school board member, believes that white and black students at Jena High generally got along and points out that he heard that the morning of the incident, both black and white students were seen sticking their heads through the ropes. "That sheds a different light on this," says Mr. Fowler. "You can’t overlook the seriousness of hanging the nooses, but I don’t think our young people understood the significance of that symbol" as a graphic reminder of the long history of lynchings of black Americans. On the other hand,
Cleveland Riser Jr., a retired administrator in LaSalle Parish schools, argues that while students may have thought the nooses were a joke, adults shouldn’t have been so dismissive. "When the superintendent overruled the principal on expulsion, he sent a message that it wasn’t that big of a deal to hang such a hateful symbol of racism and terror in a tree at school," says Mr. Riser. "That was the first big breakdown in this whole mess."
Black parents and students also were outraged that the white youths were not punished more harshly, and that no hate-crime charges were brought against them. Although it has been widely reported that the three white students served a three-day suspension, Mr. Breithaupt has pointed out they spent nine days in an alternative school and then served two weeks of in-school suspension when they returned to Jena High School. The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated after local residents complained to federal authorities, but the federal prosecutor did not prosecute the teenagers for hate crimes because federal investigators found that the three had acted without the involvement of adults, organizations, or hate groups. Juveniles are rarely, if ever, prosecuted in federal courts. "In this case, none of the three boys had any criminal history or even school disciplinary history, so trying to certify them as adults in federal court would have been doomed to fail," says Mr. Washington, the U.S. attorney handling the case. Reed Walters, the district attorney for LaSalle Parish, also points out that hanging nooses is not a crime in Louisiana.
When similar noose incident occurred at Andrews High School in High Point, North Carolina, Superintendent Terry B. Grier of Guilford County school district communicated clearly to students, parents, and local leaders that such actions would not be tolerated. "I immediately said, both publicly and in a message that went to our parents, that it was a despicable, deplorable act and that it has no place in our schools, in our district, or in our community," says Mr. Grier. School leaders there also called local law-enforcement officials to investigate the incident. No suspects have been arrested, but Mr. Grier notes there has been no evidence that students at the majority-black high school were involved. Mr. Washington agrees with the approach taken by Guilford County school officials. "With the benefit of complete, total, and perfect hindsight, if I were a school official in that situation, I would treat something like nooses with the utmost priority, and I would call it what it is," he says. "It’s a horrific act that should not occur on a school campus, and for those who commit it, they should be excluded." However, questions remain as to what lessons will be drawn in Jena. "I think this kind of racist behavior had been dormant here for a while, but it boiled over and blew up," says Mr. Riser.
Education Week By Lesli A. Maxwell
[Editor’s Note: The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has issued "lessons learned" from the "Jena Six" incident guidance, available at the first link below. For additional background on the "Jena Six" controversy, see the second link below. For a helpful video and guide on discussing racial issues in schools, see the third and fourth links below to access materials produced by the NSBA Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) in 2004.
SPLC Jena Six guidance
NSBA School Law pages on Jena Six controversy
CUBE Renewing the Promise video
CUBE Renewing the Promise discussion guide