Home > News
University students will rally in support of Jena 6
In brief
by Robert D'Andrea | News Reporter
Students will rally at noon Monday at the EMU Amphitheater to protest racial injustice and show solidarity with six students arrested last spring in Jena, La.
Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy and Vice Provost of Institutional Equity and Diversity Charles Martinez are scheduled to speak at the rally. The Black Student Union, the Multicultural Center, and MEChA are among the groups hosting the event.
The controversy stems from an incident last spring where six black students aged 12 to 15 faced criminal charges for beating up a white student. The case made national headlines for weeks and resulted in one of the largest civil rights protests in decades when people from all over the country gathered in Jena in September.
Student Sen. Diego Hernandez said there wasn't enough time at the beginning of the school year to organize a protest here. "Oregon (and) Washington, we didn't really say anything," he said.
But now students, faculty, and community members will gather to talk not only about Jena, but institutional racism and civil rights issues in Oregon, Hernandez said. As of Sunday afternoon, the event's Facebook page had 180 confirmed guests and 350 who said they might show up.
Hernandez said topics will include African-Americans being incarcerated at a much higher rates than whites and other injustices in the legal system.
"We're not gonna take it in Jena and we're not gonna take it here," he said.
rdandrea@dailyemerald.com
Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy and Vice Provost of Institutional Equity and Diversity Charles Martinez are scheduled to speak at the rally. The Black Student Union, the Multicultural Center, and MEChA are among the groups hosting the event.
The controversy stems from an incident last spring where six black students aged 12 to 15 faced criminal charges for beating up a white student. The case made national headlines for weeks and resulted in one of the largest civil rights protests in decades when people from all over the country gathered in Jena in September.
Student Sen. Diego Hernandez said there wasn't enough time at the beginning of the school year to organize a protest here. "Oregon (and) Washington, we didn't really say anything," he said.
But now students, faculty, and community members will gather to talk not only about Jena, but institutional racism and civil rights issues in Oregon, Hernandez said. As of Sunday afternoon, the event's Facebook page had 180 confirmed guests and 350 who said they might show up.
Hernandez said topics will include African-Americans being incarcerated at a much higher rates than whites and other injustices in the legal system.
"We're not gonna take it in Jena and we're not gonna take it here," he said.
rdandrea@dailyemerald.com
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 5
will
posted 10/22/07 @ 2:08 PM PST
protesting to support people who engage in violence - commendable but not injustice !
Rebecca Hale
posted 10/22/07 @ 7:18 PM PST
i want justice for the jena 6 i live in Western australia and i really care about the jena6 and i think that racialisum has gone on for to long and it needs to stop today if it dosb't it will go on forever and i defently don't want. (Continued…)
ryan
posted 10/22/07 @ 11:21 PM PST
6 kids ratpacked one. no matter your color, no matter your creed, thats messed up. beating a kid into a pulp is a criminal action no matter your reasoning. (Continued…)
Abe
posted 10/23/07 @ 5:13 PM PST
Black people (men, women, and children) make up ONLY about 12% of the USA, which logically makes "crime-age" black men ONLY about 6% of the US population, but somehow only 6% of the population commits over 50% of all murders, over 32% of all rapes, over 56% of all robberies, and over 34% of all aggravated assaults in the USA. (Continued…)
Post a Comment