The Rev. Jesse Jackson believes in second, third and subsequent chances, and when he offered a helping hand to a 17-year-old boy who had been expelled from Decatur schools for a fight at a football game, it was because he thought that young man had potential.
That young man was Courtney Carson, who was elected to the Decatur Board of Education on April 4, the same board that once expelled him.
“It’s a great irony that the child that was thrown away has been redeemed,” Jackson said. “He must employ that experience to help other children.”Carson was one of the so-called “Decatur Seven,” who was part of a fight during the final minutes of a football game between MacArthur and Eisenhower high schools on Sept. 17, 1999. The fight caused a 10-minute delay in the game and a number of ejections from the stadium. Ultimately, six of the combatants were expelled, and a seventh was allowed to withdraw. The incident brought national attention to the Decatur community, and some residents still associate Carson negatively with that time.
But Carson, who is sworn in as a school board member Tuesday, said he draws upon those experiences as he works to mentor young people who might be at risk of following a similar path.