Jena: When the Cameras Disappear

The situation for the Jena Six that was such a concern for people nationally last summer and fall has been largely forgotten, even though most of them still face serious charges. The huge march came and went, and then the media left, many (not all) of the bloggers seemed to lose interest, and the case moved to the back burner, which is unfortunate to say the least. Perhaps people thought that fair treatment for the Six was guaranteed after the huge march and accompanying national attention, but that is a naive hope at best. What's more interesting, however, is that since February, a revival has been developing in Jena, involving both white and Black churches, including the L & A Baptist Church, where the first meeting was held to protest the noose-hanging back in 2006. The revival began at Midway Baptist Church, a church that was struggling and didn't even have a pastor, but it is continuing today, and yet, there has been no major media coverage. I wrote last summer that ultimately there is no answer to racism except people turning to Jesus Christ, and it appears that people in La Salle Parish have been praying, and God is working there. There are serious problems that remain, but it is encouraging to read that at one revival service, whites and Blacks apologized to one another and asked each other for forgiveness. This is what happens when people turn their lives over to God. The question is, where are the cameras now? Why is this not national news? The town's bitter racial conflict was front-page news all over the United States, but this unexpected, unlikely revival apparently warranted only a series of articles in a couple of religious journals. Does the media run from stories that lead to places they would rather not go?