The similarities between the stories that cast a national spotlight on Central High School in Arkansas and Jena High School in Louisiana are unmistakable.

Both involve incidents that exposed a student population and community rife with racial tension. In both cases, students were brutally reminded of their perceived place in the community.

And at the core of each is a group of black students —Little Rock Nine and Jena Six.

But the difference between the stories is stark: 50 years. While Monday was the landmark anniversary of the day soldiers had to escort nine black students into Little Rock's all-white Central High School, the ongoing case in Jena forces one to question just how far some places in America have really come.

Sadly, racial disparities plague many areas of life throughout the country: education, healthcare, socioeconomics. But in far too many regions of the nation, blatant and brutal racism exists as much today as it did in the days of Little Rock Nine.

Indeed, recent photos of the 10,000-plus protesters at Jena were reminiscent of those taken during the civil rights movement decades ago. They had traveled near and far to protest the unfair treatment of six black students who participated in a schoolyard brawl that resulted in the beating of a white student.

Such violence did warrant punishment, but the students were unjustly charged as adults with attempted murder and conspiracy, despite the fact that the victim was able to attend a school event that same evening. There is no justification for the six-on-one scuffle, but context is needed.

Last year, white students hung three nooses on a tree under which black students had sat. They were suspended for three days. After black students protested, the La Salle Parish district attorney threatened them with this statement: "I can make your life go away with a stroke of a pen."

Students hanging nooses symbolizing the Ku Klux Klan, a group steeped in hate and racism, is unconscionable — but it comes from somewhere.

Such bigotry is passed from generation to generation — and until communities are willing to send a clear message that this is no longer acceptable, the days of Jim Crow will still live on in pockets throughout our nation.