In a democratic world, individuals have the right of equity and thereby should be treated as such. This equal treatment means that everyone deserves “due process of the law”. This fundamental principle of justice says that everyone will receive fair treatment. As such, individuals charged for similar crimes, under similar circumstances, will receive similar punishment. However, this was not true for the case of the “Jena Six.” The “Jena Six” are six black teenagers from Jena, Louisiana; charged with attempted murder for beating a white classmate in December. This violence stemmed from racial tension through numerous events, the first of which was when a black student sat under a “white only” tree and the next day there were nooses hanged under the same tree that the black student had sat under. This brought about angry feelings from the blacks because they viewed this action as a threat. The principal just dismissed the incident as a “prank.” There were other inciting incidents after this that led to the climax when a fight broke out between black students and a white student. The white student received injuries, however none where life threatening. The black students are charged with attempted murder and could spend up to twenty years in prison. Does the punishment fit the crime? The unequal fact about this case is that one of the “Jenna Six” was in a fight prior to the incident at school. In this incident, he was the victim and a white kid busted a glass bottle over his head. This case even involved a weapon so should it have been handled with the same seriousness? However, there were no criminal charges brought against the white kid.

In this world of hypocrisy, individuals are allowed to compete on the same football team, but not allowed to go to the same churches. In the 21^st century, does there need to be a separation between people, and if so, why is there a need for division? The city of Jena has been divided for years. Some people have even said that the civil rights movement didn’t reach Jena; that this town has always been separated. What is the causal relationship between the mentality of individuals in this town, and the mentality of the majority of citizens in America?