Students Discuss Jena Six

Students gathered last night in the Business School to discuss the Jena Six controversy as well as the history of racial discrimination in America and race issues here at UConn.

As students entered the room a slideshow played at the front of the lecture hall. Pictures of race riots from the civil rights era and images from current racial conflicts, such as the Jena Six incident, flashed across the screen as Billie Holiday's song "Strange Fruit" played in the background.

Around 80 students showed up to the event, filling the small lecture hall. Jevon Shibpy, a 1st-semester accounting major, said he was just there for extra credit for his Anthro100 class. His friend Richard Tompkins, a 1st-semester business major, showed up in support of the African American community.

"I'm obligated to come here ... this [the events in Jena, L.A.,] happened to people like me, part of my culture, so I had to come," Tompkins said.

The event was sponsored by the Graduate Students of Color Association, the Queers United against Discrimination, the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.

Brittney Yancy, a second-year doctoral candidate for history and the vice president of the Graduate Students of Color Association at UConn moderated the event.

The forum began with a slideshow informing event attendees of the current situation in Jena. The controversy in Jena began when a black student asked school officials' permission to sit under a tree that only white students normally sat under. The next day, three nooses hung from the tree, an incident that school officials dismissed as a "silly prank." The situation escalated to physical violence. Now, six African American male students sit in jail after being charged with attempted murder following a fight in which a white student was beaten and kicked. A separate incident, in which a black student was beaten, resulted in a slap on the wrist for the white culprits, according to the slideshow. A short CNN clip from YouTube, which explored the events in Jena, was shown after the slideshow.

Following the slideshow three speakers discussed the Jena Six controversy.

The first person to speak was Dr. Evelyn Simien, a Louisiana native and professor of political science at UConn.

"I had no idea after watching that clip what an impact it would have on me," Simien said, swallowing tears as she stood at the podium.

Simien went on to discuss how the events in Jena are reminiscent of a time when Jim Crow laws were used to oppress African Americans and when the Supreme Court ruling Plessy v. Ferguson enforced racial segregation. She expressed astonishment at the fact that a black student in 2006 would ask permission to sit under a "white" tree. Simien also brought attention to the three nooses hung from the tree in Jena, saying they echoed an American history of lynching and "served to remind [black students] of their inferior position in society."

Keandra Jones, a junior at UConn, spoke next about experiencing racial discrimination as a student. Jones said that in class she makes sure to sit in the front of the classroom and participate as frequently as possible in order to prove herself as a committed student.

"Racism nowadays isn't as blatant as calling you a n----- to your face. It's something as simple as saying [in a surprised tone] 'oh, you're doing extra credit?' or 'oh, you're coming to the study session?'" Jones said.

The final speaker, William Jones, a 1st-semester undecided major, expressed outrage at the incidents in Jena. He described an incident in a UConn economics class when a white female student was asked to comment on how the United States could increase mass production.

"We could reinstitute slavery," she said, to which her professor simply replied, "We already tried that."

Following the speakers, the meeting was opened to discussion. Students were invited to stand up and speak or to write their comments down on index cards, which were then read aloud by a moderator. Several members of the audience stood up to give their opinions on the Jena Six controversy, racism in the United States and to describe their own personal experiences with discrimination.

Alex Ashley, a 1st-semester ACES student, was the first to stand up. He said he wished the issues of racial discrimination in Jena had been brought up before the situation escalated into violence.

"If we eliminated separate but equal, why is there a tree that only whites can sit under?" Ashley said.

Dr. Lee Allen Aggison, a UConn professor of molecular and cell biology, described comments he has received in student evaluations, including "Go back to Africa," "Where the hell do you come from," and "Why do they have this n----- teaching us."

Many students and faculty members who contributed to the dialogue encouraged African American solidarity, urging blacks to confront the issues of racism around them.

"This is a big fight that we're fighting and it needs to start somewhere and it needs to start here in the UConn community," one student said.

Chad Rosenberg, a 9th-semester political science and psychology major, described the forum as a "very enlightening and eye-opening experience."

Rosenberg, who said he attended the event to get extra credit for one of his courses, said afterward his opinions on racial relations at UConn were changed because of what was said during the forum.

"We're supposed to be the top students and the brightest, yet we have such ignorance," he said.

Other students also described the Jena Six forum as a positive experience.

"It's good to see people looking at this situation and not tolerating it to the point where we can get together and talk about it," said Serena Silva, a 3rd-semester molecular and cell biology major.

"I think it's a very good idea that people are coming together to organize something like this. You don't see this every day ... it's time that we wake up to [racism] and not be blind sighted by it," said Yeussuf Yeussuf, a 5th-semester biological sciences major.

A demonstration expressing support for the Jena Six will take place today from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Fairfield Way. The event is sponsored by the Graduate Students of Color Association, the Queers United Against Discrimination, the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., and the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.

Contact Kate King

at Katherine.King@UConn.edu.