A new civil-rights cause in Louisiana

Tens of thousands of people marched through the small Louisiana town of Jena on Thursday, protesting the treatment of six African-American students arrested last year for the beating of a white classmate. White kids involved in a string of racial incident

More than 10,000 people marched through the small Louisiana town of Jena on Thursday, protesting the treatment of six African-American students arrested last year for the beating of a white schoolmate. The protesters—who included Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton, and radio host Michael Baisden—said the black students were treated far more harshly than white classmates after a series of racial incidents at Jena High School. “This is about fairness,” Jackson said.

The controversy started last year after several black students sat under an oak tree in the school’s courtyard where white students usually gathered. White students responded by hanging three nooses in the tree the next day. A series of fights followed. The white students who put the nooses in the tree received in-school suspensions. The black students who allegedly beat up their classmate were charged with attempted murder.

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