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The Daily OrangeStudents use Jena Six case to spur racial discussions
By Sandra E. Plasse
Posted: 9/28/07, 12:12 AM EST Section: News
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That's the world that television, radio and film professor Rick Wright grew up in. It was the Jim Crow segregated environment of 1961, and the men were testing the Constitution.
"The home of the free and the brave," Wright said. "Those are beautiful words written in the Constitution."
Wright was the guest speaker at a table discussion Thursday evening presented by Pi Beta Sigma, Sigma Alpha Mu, Alpha Phi Alpha and Sigma Gamma Rho fraternities. The discussion focused on a variety of race-related incidents in response to the recent Jena Six case in Jena, La.
The case involves six black students who were charged with attempted murder in December 2006 after a schoolyard fight with a white classmate. The classmate, Justin Barker, was released from the hospital after two hours and attended a school event that evening, according to the Associated Press.
Wright told those who attended that he was the first black man on the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications faculty. He said when he was in the same room as Thursday's discussion in 1970 as a doctoral student, he "was the only brother in the room."
In Washington 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I have a dream" speech. "That speech is still resonating tonight," Wright said.
Wright then encouraged all students in attendance to vote next year as he handed out registration papers.
"Don't you dare sit back and not get involved," he said. "We're in a world of trouble, and we've got big problems." He continuously emphasized the need for leadership and use of technology to get together and promote social change.
Michael G. Cox, president of Alpha Phi Alpha, directed a question at Wright about what the Jena Six case says about our current society. Wright explained that racism is ingrained in society and has been passed down continuously.
"It is not an overnight fix," Wright said.
Students in the discussion began suggesting different ideas on how to change racist practices that still exist in America.
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