On Thursday, Sept. 20, national news sources estimated that between 15,000 and 20,000 people descended upon the small rural town of Jena, La. Participants put that number instead at 40,000 to 50,000. Described as a “pilgrimage” by CNN, this gathering was the result of a subversion of justice in the LaSalle Parish for six high school students who have come to be known as the “Jena 6.”

For those unfamiliar with the case, the town experienced a heightened level of racial tension when three nooses were hung from a tree on Sept. 1, 2006, after a group of black students sat under it. It was common knowledge that the tree was reserved for white students. Despite the principal’s recommendation that the three white students responsible be expelled, the school district superintendent imposed a lighter three-day suspension for what he described as a “youthful prank.”

Black students staged a protest at the tree, and a series of events with racial overtones unfolded. The school’s main building was burned down. A black student, Robert Bailey, suffered injuries and was allegedly hit with a bottle while attempting to enter a social function of white students. A simple battery charge was filed, and one student received probation.

The next day, Bailey confronted another white student who had been at the party. This student threatened him with a shotgun. Bailey and some friends wrestled the shotgun away from him and unloaded it, yet they were charged with theft of the gun, while the owner received no punishment.

All these events led up to Dec. 4, 2006, when a white student named Justin Barker allegedly taunted Bailey about his injuries, mocked a number of students about the nooses and used racial epithets. It is then alleged that a group of students physically retaliated, and Barker was taken to the hospital where he was treated for his injuries. The injuries were mild enough that he was able to attend a school function that evening.

Six students were charged in regular and juvenile courts with a combination of attempted second-degree murder, conspiracy and battery. Mychal Bell was charged as an adult, though only 16 years old at the time. Bail was set very high, above $70,000 for all, and many languished in prison for months, unable to attend school.

As Martin Luther King, Jr. once remarked, “An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” It is an injustice that students be allowed to hang nooses, evoking decades of lynchings that subverted the country’s legal system, continued second-class citizenship for African-Americans and ended the lives of countless innocent victims, both black and white. Consider other similar symbols of hate and violence and imagine whether the students responsible would receive just a slap on the wrist, and think of the outrage they would undoubtedly have caused. Where is the equality?

Let me be clear. No one advocating for the Jena 6 is condoning the use of violence. From the outset, the rally was one of non-violence. Comments made by the district attorney about disaster being averted that Thursday through ?direct intervention of the Lord Jesus Christ? are outrageous. The acts of hate and violence committed by white students have gone relatively unpunished, while the acts of violence committed by black students have resulted in excessive charges in which the same district attorney has presented a tennis shoe as a murder weapon. Where is the justice?

The NAACP is one of a number of organizations advocating for the Jena 6. Mychal Bell?s inappropriate conviction as an adult has been thrown out, and he faces a new trial as a juvenile. The FBI is also monitoring the legal proceedings. Last Thursday, Bell was finally released from prison, though he is now confined to house arrest.

But the fight is not over. Bell is set to face the same prosecuting attorney and judge in a juvenile court whose trials have been overturned twice. In a glaring conflict of interest given a pending civil suit against the school district, the district attorney also serves as its legal counsel. The fate of the Jena 6 remains unknown, especially for those who are classified as adults under Louisiana statute at age 17.

The nation is watching Jena now. The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold hearings on the case on Oct. 9. There is a consensus that hate-crime legislation should cover nooses, swastikas, burning crosses and other symbols.

What can you do to help? Sign a petition, donate to the Jena 6’s legal aid and stay informed about the case at freethejena6.org, naacp.org or aclu.org. While the racial overtones of the case are clear, it is fundamentally not a question of black and white, but of justice.