The Battle Against Racism In Jena: A Sultry Day In History (article) by Eddie Thompson on AuthorsDen

September 20, 2007 turned out to be one sultry day in history for the racial drama America still endures in its next generation. The author recaps the day with his own perspective. As hundreds of buses meander through the highways and byways of America, bringing home a movement that overwhelmed a tiny little town in Jena, Louisiana, my hope is that they do not imagine that their mission is accomplished. We allowed them to borrow our town for the day to get in touch with previous generations of civil rights activists who battled for equal justice under the law. They listened at the feet of parents and grandparents who told tales of marches and freedom fights across the south: Now they have a story to tell their own children. The people of Jena were irrelevant to this movement. It wasn't about the so called "Jena Six" or their victim, Justin Barker, or the issues our little town face. This was about America and it's national sin of racism. This is about a generation of black youth who are trying to balance their past with their future, trying to find a niche in their long journey towards equality. Doubtless, those marchers from across the land, as they find their way home on tour buses, will pass through cities, burrows, and slums with far worse racial issues than those we face in Jena. I hope the convenience of playing out America's racial drama on a stage in the piny woods of central Louisiana will not cause them to ignore the racism in their own back yards. Jena may be America's poster child for racism today, but that image is not base in reality. Our town has it's knot-heads and hot heads, but it is not the racial conflagration the media has created. She is actually a very nice place to live. On September 20, there was not a single arrest made from the day of protest. Only a few were sent to our emergency room with some heat-related issues, none serious. No fights. No damages. No confrontations. Credit goes to a movement that came in peace to march in peace for righteousness. Equal credit goes to a righteous people who live in Jena, Louisiana. On any normal day, with just 3,000 citizens, we have arrests. We have emergencies in our hospital. We have confrontations. We swelled to add perhaps 40,000 more and saw a miracle. We put out our best, as southerners usually do for guests, and our guests were gracious, too. My conclusion is that small towns in the deep south have come a long way when it comes to tolerance and historic movements in the minority community have come a long way when it comes to discipline. Something good will come of this. People of faith must always believe that. For those in Jena who feel like their town was desecrated on September 20, understand that America needed a moment like this. She needed a catharsis so she could move past the mentality of victimization in her minorities. For those in America who feel exhilarated by the passion of a new generation of "freedom fighters," say a prayer of thanks for a gracious town who sacrificed her dignity, without lashing out, for one sultry day in history.
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