Jena 6 case, Jena Louisiana; Racial intolerance regarding black high school students sitting under a tree that was monopolized by the white high school students. White students hung three nooses from the tree the day after black students sat beneath it. Six black students retaliated by beating up a white student. The black students were prosecuted and imprisoned but the white students were only suspended for a few days for their actions. A demonstration of 400,000 people came to Jena, Louisiana on Thurs., Sept. 20, 2007 protesting the harsh penalty for the black students versus the white students. There were no arrests or acts of vandalism during this one day protest.
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree (Joyce Kilmer)
The tree was planted long ago
Amidst the hatred it would grow
The whites would sit beneath this tree
No blacks in this fraternity
And it was known throughout the school
The ones who should observe this rule
The tree with branches full and wide
Would soon be lying on its side
The tree that never was aware
Of those who said they wouldn’t share
The tree for all and not for some
In need of shade, they all should come
But now that day will never be
Because they cut that lovely tree
A tree cut down while in its prime
This tree did not commit a crime
By, Randee Saber 9/25/07
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree (Joyce Kilmer)
The tree was planted long ago
Amidst the hatred it would grow
The whites would sit beneath this tree
No blacks in this fraternity
And it was known throughout the school
The ones who should observe this rule
The tree with branches full and wide
Would soon be lying on its side
The tree that never was aware
Of those who said they wouldn’t share
The tree for all and not for some
In need of shade, they all should come
But now that day will never be
Because they cut that lovely tree
A tree cut down while in its prime
This tree did not commit a crime
By, Randee Saber 9/25/07