The American Postal Workers Union will join with other progressive forces at a demonstration in Jena, LA, to protest the excessively disparate punishment of six African-American high school students who were embroiled in a racially tinged altercation.

Mychal Bell, age 17, is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 20, and APWU members intend to lend their voices to the demand that justice be color blind – that this child should not be imprisoned for a period of 15 years or longer because of his color.

Details of the events leading up to the altercation that resulted in Bell’s incarceration (since December) can be found at www.naacp.org/news/press/index.htm. Unless something is done, it is clear that this small community with a history of racial division intends to disproportionately penalize these teenagers.

The NAACP is coordinating activities demanding justice for the ‘Jena Six.’ Included in the planned events is a rally at the LaSalle Parish Courthouse in Jena on Sept. 20. An APWU contingent of support will be led by Secretary-Treasurer Terry Stapleton and Human Relations Department Director Sue Carney, who is coordinating the union efforts.

President William Burrus urges APWU members to participate. Locals should notify the Human Relations Department of their plans by calling 202-842-4270. The national union will reimburse locals for the cost of chartering buses for the protest.

“This union will not sit idly by as justice is perverted and children of any color are victimized by their communities,” Burrus said.