In the fall and winter of 1968-1969, two local events demonstrated the racial injustices of law enforcement and sparked black organizing in the area. In February, white high school students got in a fight with crowbars at a baseball game, and several people were hospitalized. A few students received fines, but no one served jail time. By contrast, four months earlier, a few black high school students in Chester got in a fistfight and faced prison sentences of up to twelve years. Black parents and the Media Fellowship House organized to challenge the unjust sentence against the black students, hosting educational events, enlisting legal help, and circulating a petition to send to the Department of Justice.
![[Legible copy of] Report on events leading up to and following the conviction of sixteen Black youth for allegedly "rioting" at a Chester High School football game](http://s3.amazonaws.com/sc-lib-ds-bl1969/square_thumbnails/3a82c53e840818794b904650b7881752.jpg "[Legible copy of] Report on events leading up to and following the conviction of sixteen Black youth for allegedly \"rioting\" at a Chester High School football game")
