Hang it Up

A victory plaque that is. Newly sworn in governor of New York state David A. Patterson has just signed a bill outlawing the displaying of nooses. Citing such racially motivated instances at Columbia University's Teacher's college, the Hempstead, Long Island Police Station, and the Jena 6 cases in Lousiana, a prior draft of the bill that passed in the New York State Assembly describes the noose "as a frightening reminder of the lynchings that took place in our nation`s past and is used to threaten, intimidate and terrorize its recipients." Interestingly enough when backtracking to last year's Jena 6 outrage, one of the jarring points of protest was the FBI's and resultingly the United States Attorney's office's initial refusal to label noose hangings a hate crime. In the words of the Christian Science Monitor, the nooses were communication symbols to the Jena High School Rodeo team who were white and any notion of racial animosity was a myth. Hopefully the recent bill passed in New York state, overcomes that hurdle. Diversity Inc.'s Noose Watch lists 76 such incidences since early 2006. It was astonishing to me to witness nooses hung as an outdoor Halloween decoration this past October when visiting family and friends in South Orange, New Jersey. Somehow this hatemongering display has become passively acceptable to the federal government and the evergrowing fellowship of race-baitors. Race relations have come a long way but to dismiss a crucial part of the country's legacy and label it antiquated is an exile from the United States' short two hundred year run of jurisprudence.