Civil rights protesters converge on Jena

By Matthew Bigg

JENA, Louisiana (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of black Americans descended on a small town in central Louisiana on Thursday to protest what they say is injustice against six black teen-agers charged over a high school fight.

Protesters arrived in buses and cars from cities as far away and apart as New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles and New Orleans for a rally in support of the "Jena 6."

The case has become a symbol for many blacks of a wider struggle against racism and perceived discrimination against black males by the criminal justice system.

"I came because enough is enough. I am tired of the way the courts have been treating African Americans historically," said Doug Martin, a computer analyst from New Orleans.

Most of the demonstrators were dressed in black. Some held banners reading "Free the Jena 6" and chanted "no justice, no peace, no racist police."

By mid-afternoon, scores of buses departed the town as protesters began long journeys home. Many said the rally, which was peaceful, gave young people a taste of the activism associated with the civil rights era of the 1950s and 1960s.

The Jena protest spawned rallies in New York City, where about 200 people dressed in black gathered on the steps of City Hall, and in Washington, where several hundred met across the street from the U.S. Capitol.

At both rallies people wore black T-shirts that read "Free the Jena 6."

The case stems from an incident in August of last year when three nooses were found hanging from a tree at the high school in the town of 3,000 northwest of New Orleans. Nooses have been seen as a symbol of racial lynchings of blacks.

Black residents said that incident stoked tension in the town, and in December the teen-agers were charged with assault after a white classmate was beaten up.

Charges against some of the youths were later raised to attempted murder, drawing accusations from protesters that they had been excessively charged. Those charges have since been reduced.

CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

For many blacks the "Jena 6" case has attained the status of a modern-day version of the incidents that punctuated the U.S. civil rights movement in the 1960s.

Word about it has spread through the black community partly through syndicated radio shows by civil rights leader Al Sharpton and popular disc jockey Michael Baisden.

Several candidates for the Democratic nomination for president including Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards issued statements urging justice in the case. The candidates are vying for black votes.