Uphill idealist

Blatant racism is exposed in a small town here in Louisiana, culminating in the burning of the high school and attempted second-degree murder charges against six students (the “Jena 6″) for a high school fight. The high school in this 85% white town evidently self-segregated, as schools often do, but apparently it became less about choice and more about enforcement because a group of black students found it necessary to ask permission to sit under a tree where white students normally sat. The school administrator told them they were free to sit where they liked, and when they went to the tree the next day; they found three nooses hanging from the branches. Attempted murder and conspiracy charges against a black high school student accused in the December beating of a white student escalating racial tensions were reduced Monday to less serious charges that could mean far less time in prison if he is convicted. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------