Here is an important update to this post from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
‘Jena Six’ athlete to play at Columbus’ Shaw High
GHSA grants eligibility to Robert Bailey Jr., who awaits trial for battery charge
By S. THOMAS COLEMAN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Monday, August 25, 2008
Robert Bailey Jr., one of the “Jena Six,” will be allowed to play for Shaw High in Columbus this season.
The Georgia High School Association approved Bailey’s hardship appeal to be granted eligibility for the 2008-09 school year today at its fall executive committee meeting. Bailey’s appeal was the only one of five requests to be approved.
Bailey is one of six black teenagers from Jena, La., who came to be known as the “Jena Six,” after they originally were charged with attempted murder after allegedly attacking a white student at Jena High School in December of 2006. The charges were eventually reduced to aggravated second-degree battery. Five of the six, including Bailey, are awaiting trial.
The alleged attack was one of several racially charged incidents that occurred in the rural town that year, and the case brought worldwide attention to Jena. An estimated 20,000 protesters marched through Jena last summer in a show of support for Bailey and his co-defendants.
The Raiders are ranked No. 5 in Class AAA in the AJC’s preseason Top 10 poll. They are a combined 71-12 since 2002.
Here is the originbal post:
This message of concern was forwarded to Friends of Justice by Organizing in the Trenches, a Jena-based advocacy group led by Robert Bailey’s mother, Caseptla Bailey, and his half-sister, Catrina wallace. In Jena, Robert was considered a bad apple; in Georgia Robert is considered a model student.
Hello, my name is Brandon Wood, I am the Defensive Coordinator at Shaw High School in Columbus, Georgia where Robert Bailey Jr now attends high School. First and foremost let me tell all who read this letter what a privilege it has been to have the opportunity to get to know Robert. Since I have known him he has been the model student athlete. Everything he has done has been done the right way.
With that said, it would be an injustice to Robert for the GHSA to declare him ineligble to play football this year. Robert has the oportunity and the ability to sign a major college football scholarship. However, if he is
declared ineligble that will not be the case! What we need is as many friends, family, celebrities, media, etc. as we can have present at his hardship hearing.
I am asking you to please help get this information out to as many people as possible. If anyone needs further information about the event they can call or email me and I will be glad to help in any way possible. My number is 706.575.5400 and my email is bwood@mcsdga.net.
We will meet the full 33 members of the State Executive Committee on Monday, August 25, 2008 at the Holiday Inn located in Forsyth Georgia. We have not been informed as of yet what time the meeting will begin but as soon as I get that information I will be sure to let everyone know.
Let me thank all of you in advance for your hard work pertaining to this matter. Please remember that Robert needs all of our help in this matter.
Please let me know if I can be of any assistance to you!
Brandon Wood
bwood@mcsdga.net
Shaw High School
7579 Raider Way
Columbus, Georgia
706.575.5400
http://shaw.mcsdga.net/
Friends of Justice 
What happens Mr. Wood, when Robert Bailey is convicted for the crime he committed at Jena High School? Should the crime he committed be forgotten because Shaw High School has allowed a criminal to attend school and play football? Is the victim to be forgotten because Bailey can play football?
It does not matter what kind of person you think Bailey is now or that he has been a model student or any of the other garbage you wrote praising him and his crime, he is still awaiting trial for a crime he committed at school and Shaw High School should not have allowed him entrance to high school when he was expelled for a violent crime at Jena High School.
I do not know what you people are thinking allowing Bailey in the school. And he certainly should not be on the football field. The general public is interested in justice and Bailey has not been brought to justice for the crime he committed.
Remember Mychal Bell has been to trial and convicted. Mychal Bell has to testify against Bailey and the others. It is only a matter of time.
Is Shaw High School that desperate for players?
I have no problem with Bailey being allowed to finish his education. Would you be asking for an eligibility extension if he was in the band or drama or choir? No you wouldn’t. You’re simply doing this because he is a football player. He has been charged with a very henious and cowardly attack and had he been white and the victim black, it would been considered a hate crime.
Bailey should be finishing his education in a detention center with the rest of the thugs, outlaws and common criminals.
The attitude reflected in these comments demonstrate why Robert Bailey needed to leave Jena and why his trial, if there is one, should be transfered outside LaSalle Parish. The presumption of innocence is inoperative when folks casually assume that a defendant is a thug, an outlaw and a common criminal without knowing the evidence against him. You must remember that in the days leading up to the assault on Mr. Barker, Robert had been physically attacked at a social event and had a shotgun pulled on him in a parking lot. These events, coupled with the fire that destroyed the academic wing of the High School, demonstrate that these were unusual times. I am not trying to excuse the Barker incident, nor am I suggesting that Robert was even involved. He may be innocent; he may be guilty, but I know Robert personally and can assure you that he is no thug. Is he capable of poor judgment? Certainly, that goes with being an adolescent. Is he capable of hard work and human decency? Most certainly. That’s the side of Robert Mr. Wood has been exposed to.
Mr Bean….
“You must remember that in the days leading up to the assault on Mr. Barker, Robert had been physically attacked at a social event and had a shotgun pulled on him in a parking lot.”
1. Social event he was not invited to..and tried to enter..
2. He was NOT alone at the parking lot of the store.. “Just sitting around minding his own business” SURE.. Why at a store.? Why not closer to home.?
The truth is out there. Try to seek it please..
BTW.. Was Mr Barker the one who assaulted him at either location.?
Why bring up the other incidents if it had nothing to do with Robert Bailey.?
“Caseptla Bailey, and his half-sister, Catrina wallace.”
Now there is a pair… Dig into some history…
iF THIS CHILD IS GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE WHY ARE WE SO ADAMENT ABOUT TAKING IT AWAY FROM HIM? WHY WAS HE ATTACKED FIRST IS THE QUESTION? HE REACTED JUST LIKE ANY ONE ELSE WOULD, THE PROBLEM CAME WHEN THEY, THE JENA 6 JUMPED THE WHITE BOY(S). WE NEVER HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT THE INITIAL ACTIVITY BUT ALL OF A SUDDEN WE ARE HEARING ABOUT WHAT THE BLACK KIDS HAVE DONE. IF YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE A MOCKERY ABOUT THEM JUMPING ON THE WHITE BOY(S) THEN ALSO MAKE A MOCKERY ABOUT THE WHITE KIDS JUMPING ON THE BLACK KIDS FIRST. I LIVED IN LOUISIANA FOR 21YEARS AND JENA I KNOW IS ONE PLACE I “HATE” PASSING THROUGH. IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN A RACIST TOWN AND WILL ALWAYS BE. I STILL HEAR THAT YES SIR MASTER, THAT YESSAMASSTER, I STILL SEE THE WHITE MEN DRIVING THE BLACK OLDER MENA ROUND ONTHE BACK OF THE TRUCKS, IT IS SHAMEFUL, LETS GO FARTHER DOWN THE ROAD, I STILL SEE PLANATIONS, THE MASTER’S HOUSE ON THE BIG LOT AND THE LITTLE PLANTATION HOMES FAR FROM THE HOUSE. PEOPLE WE ARE ALL GOD’S CHILDREN, WHEN YOU DIE YOUR SOUL WILL EITHER GO TO HEAVEN OR HELL, WE WILL ALL MEET AGAIN, STOP ALL THE HATRED ACTIVITIES, STOP TEACHING YOUR CHILDREN TO HATE PEOPLE B/C OF THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN. I AM NEITHER BLACK OR WHITE, MY FATHER IS THE PRODUCT OF A WHITE WOMAN (THE MASTER’S WIFE AFTER HE DIED) AND HIS FATHER WAS A SLAVE,, MY MOTHER IS BLACK AND INDIAN, WHAT THAT MAKE ME, NO NOT A MUT, THAT MAKE ME A CHILD OF GOD WHO IS MULTI-RACIAL, AND HAVE A LOT STUDYING OF MY FAMILY TREE. LET THAT CHILD BE, ESPECIALLY IF HE IS NOT CAUSING ANY PROBLEMS. MY DAUGHTER AND SON ATTENDS SHAW WITH HIM AND HE IS A NORMAL TEENAGER, THEY ALL GET IN TROUBLE A TIME OR TWO. AND FOR THE RECORD, SHAW IS NTO DESPERATE FOR FOOTBALL PLAYERS, WE HAVE SEVERAL KIDS THAT CAN PLAY, WE ARE NOT LIKE LOUISIANA SMALL SCHOOLS, HAVE TO CROSS THE PARISH LINES TO RECRUIT. DO YOUR HOME WORK, FIRST… COLUMBUS HAVE VERY TALENTED KIDS, FOOTBALL, SOCCER, BASKETBALL,TENNIS, GOLF,LACROSSE, THE KIDS EVEN START OUT AS EARLY AS 4YEARS OLD, IF YOUWAS TO EVER LEAVE TEH COUNTRY LIFE THEN YOU WILL HAVE A LOT MORE TO DO TO KEEP YOUR MIND OF PETTY CRAP.
Dear LaSalle native. I bring up the prior events because they dispell the erroneous notion that Robert et al decided to jump a random white kid simply because they were black thugs. The incident at the Gotta Go was a direct result of the assault on Bailey at the Fair Barn. Bailey and his two friends were coming out of the store when one of the boys who had jumped him the night before was coming in. Should we be surprised that the white boy ran for his gun? Not a good move, but we are talking about an adolescent males who lack adult judgment and perspective. It is important for people to understand that all the kids influenced by these incidents (including Justin Barker) were extremely on edge on December 4, 2006. It is also important to understand that the decisions of adults earlier that fall poisoned the social environment for all these kids, black and white alike. This is a story about normal kids behaving badly; it is not a story about black thugs. Those who ignore every aspect of the story save the fact that a white kid was assaulted by black kids are spinning the story for their own purposes. Look at all the facts and everything makes sense. We cannot condone violence, but we can understand why, given the right conditions, normal people behave violently. Does that help?
Why didnt anyone mention that THE WHITE KIDS tied ropes in the tree as if they were ready to hang the BLACK KIDS what about that???????????????????
I agree with Columbia resident 100%…Not only do I agreed with what you said, I was also shocked. I am a northerner and a city person and we definitely have our issues when it comes to racism, but to hear that racism to that extreme still exist makes me upset.
Bailey needs to be able to complete his education,play his sports (whether it be soccer, football, basketball or lacrosse) and enjoy his teenage years. Where’s the “so called victim???” (the white kid that was roughen up a little)….Remember,Bailey was a victim also.Where’s the WHITE KIDS that tied the ropes to the tree? Where they able to complete their education? If the answer is YES, I rest my case.
God Bless you all and we all need to pray for each other. No matter how much you may want to segregate blacks and whites. When and if we meet in heaven we will all be united as “one.”
i would have to agree wit the columbus resident. i also stay in columbus and attend shaw high school. i know bailey personally and he is no thug. i dnt think people should judge him off of one bad decision he made.
Ok i personally played football at shaw high school with mr robert bailey got to know him pretty well and learned a lot from him. Far from racist i mean crap im one of the most country redneck folks youll ever come across but i respect people for who they are and he treated me no different. great guy and football player.
for all of you who commented about robert in a negative way without even knowing him i want to let you know that he is doing great! He is a student at a historic black university where he is playing football and a member of the ROTC program!!! His grades are outstanding and he will be graduating soon!!! I would lime to say a special “THANK YOU” to ALL of you HATERS!!! You are the ones who motivated Robert and myself throughout this entire process!! I LOVE you Robert! Keep proving them wrong every day!
Brandon Wood