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‘Jena 6’ protesters rally at Louisiana town
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 | Focus on Jena Activists descend on a Louisiana town in support of six black teens accused of beating a white classmate. |
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Blogs draw attention to rally
Thursday’s rally, heavily promoted on black Web sites, blogs, radio and publications, had been planned to coincide with Bell’s sentencing, but organizers decided to press ahead even after the conviction was thrown out. Bell remains jailed while prosecutors prepare an appeal. He has been unable to meet the $90,000 bond.
“We all have family members about the age of these guys. We said it could have been one of them. We wanted to try to do something,” said Angela Merrick, 36, who drove with three friends from Atlanta to protest the treatment of the teens.
Sharpton admonished the demonstrators to remain peaceful, and there were no reports of trouble as of midmorning. White residents in the predominantly white town of 3,000 have largely been reluctant to comment, saying privately that the town was being unfairly portrayed.
“I believe in people standing up for what’s right,” said resident Ricky Coleman, 46, who is white. “What bothers me is this town being labeled racist. I’m not racist.”
Heated discussions
A group of about a dozen white residents and black demonstrators engaged in an animated but not angry exchange during the march. Whites asked blacks if they were aware of Bell’s criminal record, blacks replied that Jena High School administrators mishandled the incidents.
Another white resident, Bill Williamson, 59, said he tried to convince visitors that the town was being treated unfairly and that Mychal Bell belonged in jail.
“I think we changed one man’s mind,” he said. “But most of these people don’t want to hear.”
The demonstrators included large numbers of civil rights movement veterans and college students from across the region who weren’t alive in the 1960s.
Elizabeth Redding, 63, of Willinboro, N.J., said she marched at Selma when she was in her 20s.
“This is worse, because we didn’t get the job done,” she said as she walked up a hill leading to the park rally. “I never believed that this would be going on in 2007.”
Sharpton said Bell, whom he spoke with Wednesday, was heartened by the show of support.
“He doesn’t want anything done that would disparage his name — no violence, not even a negative word,” Sharpton said.
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