'We're not taking it anymore'

PROTEST | Obama's absence noted as no-trespassing signs, Confederate flags greet demonstrators

JENA, LA. -- The rally in support of six African-American teens who faced attempted-murder charges for a schoolyard fight drew thousands of black Americans and a smattering of whites from across the nation to a small Southern town, where some residents strung Confederate flags and no-trespassing signs across their lawns to welcome the out-of-towners.

The estimated 3,000 residents, about 85 percent of whom are white, had braced for the convergence by closing up businesses and emptying the streets.

Most of the people who showed up in Jena were too young to have marched in Selma or Montgomery, but their energy and spirit were reminiscent of earlier protests against segregation led by another generation.

"There is a lot of democratic energy here for the righteous cause," the Rev. Jesse Jackson said.

"The criminal justice system has crashed on us. The energy here could help in the 2008 election because I think what Montgomery was in the public accommodation struggle, what Little Rock was to the desegregation struggle, Jena may be that to the criminal justice system struggle."

The day before, Jackson was under fire for deeming Barack Obama's cautiously worded response to the "Jena 6" controversy as "acting white." Jackson has said he doesn't recall uttering those words, and he reaffirmed his support of Obama's campaign Thursday.

Still, Jackson maintains that Obama and other Democratic presidential candidates missed a good opportunity to attract black voters -- a sentiment that was echoed by some of the protesters.

"I think Barack Obama should have been here because it represents equality for everybody. It is a missed opportunity for him and for the others, but for him especially because he needs to be here," said Barbara Banks, a Dallas elementary school teacher.

Many who descended on Jena were college students like Jinnely Davidson, a Temple University senior who represents the "new voter" Obama has been courting.

"We came all the way down here -- 24 hours on a bus," Davidson said. "There are about 80 of us, two buses full. I hope this march will show that black people are united and show you can't just walk all over us -- not in 2007."

Despite the outpouring of support shown Thursday, national outrage was slow to ignite over the excessive charges leveled against the six black students accused of beating up a white classmate. The fight followed weeks of racial unrest stemming from black students sitting under a tree traditionally used as a gathering place for the white students at the local high school. After three blacks sat under the tree, three nooses were hung from its branches. That act, which likely would have been deemed a hate crime elsewhere, was considered a "prank" by school officials.

Last December when the "Jena 6" were jailed, B.L. Moran, the 25-year-old pastor of Antioch Baptist Church, was the only clergyman who agreed to let the teens' families meet in his church to strategize a plan of action.

"There was a lot of fear. Pastors were afraid they would get dismissed from their churches and that their churches would be vandalized," Moran said in an interview. "My stand was [the relatives] needed a place to meet in a Christian atmosphere."

Moran also expressed concerns over Obama's absence from the protest, since Obama is struggling to lock up the black vote.

"I feel as though it would help his race [for president]. Look at all of these people who have come here from all over the United States," Moran said. "We have not seen anyone of his stature."

Obama did release a statement Thursday:

"Today I stand with those who stand for justice in Jena," he said. "When a noose hangs from a schoolyard tree in the 21st century and young men are treated in a way that is not equal or just, it is not just an offense to the people of Jena or to the African-American community, it is an offense to the ideals we hold as Americans."

But that statement isn't likely to satisfy people like Banks.

"So many times we are looking across the water to help people, but right here at home needs to be taken care of first," she said.

"To tell you the truth, I was also looking for Oprah."