The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 17, 1999, Image 6
Nation & World
Jackson led away in handcuffs at protest over expulsions
by Jay Hughes
Associated Press
Decatur, III. — The Rev. Jesse Jackson was led
away in handcuffs by police Tuesday after he, par
ents and other ministers tried to force a confronta
tion over the treatment of'six students expelled for
a brawl.
Jackson and his followers fought their way through
a mob of reporters and cameramen to the edge of the
grounds of Eisenhower High School. There, an offi
cer cuffed the hands of an unresisting Jackson behind
his back. Several officers lead him away, while an
other videotaped the arrest. Police decline to say
what, if anything, Jackson was charged with.
“We want the youth to stand still knowing that
their parents and their ministers would cross the fine
for them,” Jackson said shortly before his arrest. At
least four others weregirrested with him.
Jackson and representatives from the Rain
bow/PUSH Coalition had met with school officials
this morning to discuss the expulsions in an effort to
prevent a confrontation. The meeting ended short
ly after noon with no agreement reached.
“They’re so locked into imposing a one-year pun
ishment, no matter how well they [the students) do
in school,” Jxkson said after the meeting.
He had vowed to stage an act of civil disobedi
ence if officials did not agree to review the ex
pelled students’ punishments on a case-by-case ba
sis. He wants the students to have the chance to return
to school by January if they do well in an alternative
program.
Decatur Superintendent Kenneth Arndt had said
earlier today that talks had been continuing behind
the scenes through an intermediary. An emergency
school board meeting was scheduled for this evening
to discuss the situation.
At a meeting Monday, Alberta Brown, 46, said
she was willing to risk jail to make a statement on
behalf of her 12-year-old daughter and other public
school students.
“I’ve never been [to jail), but I feel likeit’sagood
time to find out what it’s all about,” she said.
School officials had sounded just.as obstinate.
“Go home. You’re definitely not going to get
through our doors,” Amdt said of protesters.
The students are black, but Jackson has said it
was not a question of racism but whether the stu
dents were treated fairly.
The six students were given two-year expulsions
after allegedly taking part in abrawl at a football game
Sept. 17. A seventh withdrew from school during ex
pulsion hearings.
Under pressure from Jackson, the governor and
the national spotlight, school board members voted
last week to trim the expulsions to one school year
and let the students attend alternative education pro
grams. But Jackson was holding out for students to
get the chance to return to regular classrooms
‘I’ve never been [to jail], but I
feel like it’s a good time to
find out what it’s all about. ’
Alberta Brown
expulsions protester
Special to The Gamecock
Decatur police officers handcuff and arrest the Rev. Jesse Jackson at
Eisenhower High School In Decatur, III on Tuesday. Jackson, parents and min
isters were protesting the treatment of six students expelled for fighting at a
September football game.
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