Spring Valley incident brings Rev. Jesse Jackson to Columbia

[gtxvideo vid=”6LY96Hmn” playlist=”” pid=”rkijshg2″ thumb=”http://player.gtxcel.com/thumbs/6LY96Hmn.jpg” vtitle=”Jesse Jackson”]

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — The incident at Spring Valley High School brought Reverend Jesse Jackson to Columbia Wednesday evening. The reverend wanted to address the problems exposed by the arrest of the two students in that classroom. He was flanked by community leaders from a state representative to a college professor. They came together inside the Modjeska Simkins House. Simkins was the spearhead of the civil rights movement in South Carolina. “Ultimately it’s not just black and white,” Jackson says. “It’s wrong and right. This was not right. It should not have happened.” Jackson says he was appalled to see the video. It shows Officer Ben Fields jerking a student backwards in her chair and then throwing her across the room. “I think that firing this officer was the thing to do, but frankly it does not excuse what happened or erase the trauma that’s left behind,” he says. Jackson says a logical next step is filing a lawsuit. He says that the “disturbing schools” charge against both students needs to be dropped. “God does not deal with zero tolerance,” Jackson says. “That’s why you have mercy and grace with all sinners, saved by grace.” Zero tolerance is another term for disturbing schools, a law passed by the South Carolina legislature. The law allows the arrest of students being disruptive in school. “Zero tolerance is not working and it is something that has affected this state and education system for a long time now,” State Representative Joe Neal says. Neal says he’s working on a bill to either kill or greatly amend the law. “Administrators and teachers need to be given the authority and the urging and the training to go back to guidance and counseling and discipline in their own hands,” he says. Both he and Jackson say the law acts as a pipeline to prison. If at-risk kids graduate, they come out with a diploma and a criminal record. Representative Neal says we need to reevaluate zero-tolerance’s impact, and really dive in to how districts are dealing with it. Earlier this week, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott mentioned that he is not a fan of the law either.