It is one thing when nooses and other symbols of hate are put in random places: on your car, in your own backyard. It's another thing when nooses are hung somewhere to send a not-so-subliminal message, as they in Jena, LA. However, it is an altogether different and much more scary & sinister animal when nooses are placed at the door of a specific individual.
What the hell is this world coming to? I know it's cool to be overtly racist these days, but wow. I'm know lawyer or constitutional scholar, but this looks like clear and present danger to me. When you lay a knife by someone's bedside while they sleep, you send a message that says "I can and will hurt you." When you get a noose hung on your door at your office, it sends the message that "I hate you and want to do something about it."
What's really troubling though is that the professor in this instance, Dr. Madonna G. Constantine, is a race scholar. She has been writing and researching on race, gender, and poverty issues for the entirety of her career as a student and professor. She has been working to destroy the ignorance that would lead to the line of thinking that says it's OK to harass people that are different. It is not an exaggeration to conclude that this is a more direct statement of hatred than hanging the noose on the dorm room door of a random Black student.
It is not clear whether the noose was hung by a student, a faculty/staff member, or someone not affiliated with the university. The fact is though that this could have come from any direction. What that means is that racism and hatred must be stamped out at every opportunity. There is no situation that is too small, no scenario that is too trivial, no event that is too subtle.
Oppose ignorance with awareness. It's now whining, it's educating. I pray that this event at the Teacher's College will educate us all about the urgency of the state of race relations in this country.
Violent domestic terrorists remain in our midst; thousands and thousands of them. But these terrorists are not a target of anyone’s purported “War on Terror.” Really they could be anywhere from major urban areas, to the suburbs, to rural and small towns across America. But don’t get too worried. These terrorists don’t use car bombs, suicide bombs, shoe bombs, dirty bombs, or hijack airplanes. Furthermore, they don’t target all Americans, just some. However, the simplicity of their implements of terror makes them so dangerous and so prevalent. Their weapon: a piece of rope. White targets need not apply.
Nooses. They speak of the days of yesteryear when “strange fruit” hung from America’s trees. A time long ago when Black Codes, official and/or unofficial, short circuited the protection of the 14th and 15th amendments. When Black people couldn’t testify in court and bear witness against any white accuser. When Black schools were burned down rather than be used to educate “damned negroes” and Black churches were blown up while little Black girls were still inside. Back when the bloated disfigured bodies of Black boys floated down rivers and blazing hot tar melted Black skin from the bones. A time when there was double the amount of public water fountains, waiting rooms, and bathrooms. When lynching was a message not solely intended for the dead, but also to terrorize the living. Nooses are a flashback to a time when Blacks knew better then to even think about being a teacher at place like Colombia University, or becoming a police chief in New York, or asking to sit at a whites only tree in Louisiana. Wait a minute…
Terrorism is the use of violence and/or intimidation to achieve desired ends. This must mean that hanging a noose, largely because of its historical symbolism, is undoubtedly an act of terror. A person who commits such an act would consequently be called a terrorist. The hanging of a noose is a death threat, not to any specific person, but rather to an entire group of people living, working, or traveling in a particular area. The noose is a crystal clear message to stay in line. It is also a sad statement about the condition of our nation. Alas, it is America’s morality which is now squirming at the end of a taught rope; our nation’s collective silence and ignorance about the lingering legacy of racism that has tied the knot.