UPDATE (10/15/07): Local NAACP Leaders speak out on noose incidents in New York.
UPDATE (10/6/07): Hempstead Police Department noose incident prompts new training.
How arrogant do you have to be in your whiteness to hang a noose in a police locker room to intimidate the African American deputy chief of police and other officers of African desce
nt in the department? I guess we will find out as they investigate the latest noose incident ... this time in Long Island NY. The noose was found in the locker room of the Hempstead Police Department. Check out the video report of the incident.Is there any benign connotation when a noose is hung at your schoolyard or your workplace or your home? Only horse thieves and Black men ever had to fear a noose. And it appears that this strange fruit is being grown again in our land.
One day you have empty nooses. The next day some fool tries to place an innocent Black neck in one.
Villagers, those three young 'pranksters' in Jena, LA appear to have started a whole new fad amongst some white folks in America. All of a sudden, it is difficult to go a week without another noose being hung in some public place as a not-so-subtle reminder of the danger that lurks beneath the surface for every African American in this country.
Racist thoughts being publically displayed in the form of nooses is something that needs to be addressed with quickness before this place explodes.
300-pound security guards are breaking the wrists of 16-year old teenage girls. White family having a good ol' fashioned picnic complete with rape and torture of a neighboring Black woman. Nooses flying high in high schools, colleges and now police stations.
Villagers, this is getting a little out of hand if you ask me. I wonder when President Bush or any of the candidates (either party) will recognize that this issue cannot be allowed to fester and grow as it currently appears to be doing?
What do you think villagers ... am I being too sensitive? Or is this some deep doo-doo in your view?
25 comments:
You are not being too sensitive about these incidents, Villager. This whole damn thing flat pisses me off. To look at me, I appear to be Castillian yet I am of mixed blood. I deal with a white supremicist(sp) almost daily and its not much fun especially since I'm 5'2" and he's 6'5".
One day he actually charged me. I guess I was supposed to be frightened, and I was frightened, but I also knew that if I turned in fear then he would have the upper hand so I faced off with him. I just made sure that my knees didn't lock out of fear. He saw that I was ready to take him down and at any cost when I looked him in the eye and didn't move. It didn't get so far as an altercation but he ran off to go tell his women friends in hopes that they would defend his whimpy, whiny gnarly arse. One woman tried jumping in the mix but she shut her nasty attitude and mouth up quickly after she heard the whole truth of what had actually taken place.
I have issues, k?
I agree with your post 100 percent. It seems this thing is escalating at warp speed and unless law enforcement and leaders within this country take these incidents seriously and start prosecuting folks we are headed back to the Jim Crow era. It's just a matter of time before these threats turn into action.
It's interesting that there is little outcry from non-racists whites regarding the rash of racial incidents.
I wish I understood what people are thinking. Hanging nooses? How can any rational person think this is acceptable behavior?
All people must stand up in protest of this. The Jena DA says hanging nooses isn't criminal behavior. Well maybe it's past time that it should be.
Wayne,
I am so embarrassed.
I thought you were already a winner of the Blog of the Day Awards.
I just went and did a search and did not find you in the archives.
This egregious oversight will be remedied soon.
Saboma - I think that the 6'5" jerk didn't stand a chance against you. If your writing on your blog is any evidence of your in-person style ... he was a fool to take you on in the first place (smile). I hope that our country gets a handle on this noose stuff before it gets out of control.
AJ - I don't think that the African American community will stand for a return to Jim Crow. That is why I hope that all peace-loving citizens begin to speak out against this nonsense in the RW and on our blogs.
Travis - I thought that the 'hate crimes' legislation was meant to handle this sort of thing. Apparently not...
Famous Quotations - (smile). We're just here to do what we do. I'm glad that you honored the Top Ten Black Bloggers for October. That was a good thing.
I wonder, if half the overall force is Black and the noose hung for 3 days; aren't there any black officers at that precinct?
Apparently white folks think nooses are funny: http://www.blackperspective.net/index.php/nooses-are-not-a-prank/
I sure hope we get this noose stuff under control soon, Wayne, and thanks for the compliment. I only wish I was as big physically as the sized heart I'm accused of having.
Have you ever read, The Seven Daughters of Eve by chance?
Thanks for the smile, kiddo.
Yobachi - I'm heading over to your blog to see the post on nooses.
Saboma - I have not read that book. I go to the library regularly. I'll check it out.
Thanks Villager for these two most recent stories.
These kinds of incidents seem to be enjoying a renaissance.
I think it has a lot to do with this damn Bush administration and the lack of any real enforcement or investigative activity in the Justice Departments civil rights division. Half of the attorneys in that division have left in disgust over the last few years because the office was being politicized and no real work was being done. Efforts to enforce the law or investigate these incidents were being interfered with by higher ups in the DOJ.
So for these racists...especially those in official positions (like police officers, police commanders, sheriffs, prosecutors, mayors, etc) the last several years have been like recess with no adult supervision. They know that when they act up... no one from the DOJ/FBI will investigate. So they are going crazy with their new found freedom.
Hell... it seems as though we had more DOJ/FBI civil rights enforcement in the 60's and 70's than we do now.
We've had Megan Williams, Jena, noose incidents in a fire department in Florida (I forgot the city), noose incidents all over the Country, voting problems/illegal voter suppression schemes, cross burnings coming back, racist incidents on college campuses (which the feds share jurisdiction over), the list goes on and on.... There was an incident in suburban St. Louis a few weeks ago where a Black citizen allegedly had a rock thrown through his window with a threatening note attached...this was after he filed a complaint about police harassment. But there doesn't seem to be the level of enforcement or even the fear of enforcement on the part of the offenders, as it has been in the past.
The DOJ/FBI has chosen time and time again to not get involved in these cases...and they always come up with some tired excuse. It is clear to me that this is not a coincidence...but appears to be the policy of the Bush Administration. They decided a long time ago that this was not going to be a focus of the Justice Department...and have decided to cut back on prosecutions and reduce their overall involvement in these cases...allowing local authorities to handle things...which is often exactly what the local racists want. This is part of the problem...especially in the South. This is why there was a need for the DOJ to get more involved in civil rights enforcement in the first place...the locals often failed to be impartial in these cases. We remember how the local authorities would handle things 40 and 50 years ago.
Hopefully things will change in January of 09 when a new Administration takes over.
Angry Independent - I agree 100% with your assessment of the poor enforcement from the Bush Administration. It is truly a dangerous situation. Unlike in the past ... there is much more opportunity for a violent reaction if something isn't done quickly about these hate crimes ... and that is what a hanging noose in your workplace is ... a HATE CRIME!
"It's interesting that there is little outcry from non-racists whites regarding the rash of racial incidents."
I do my best but my audience is small. The best answer for racism is for white people to descend on the perpetrators swift and hard with a clear message that this crap will not be tolerated. But those with influence are not living up to their responsibilities as human beings.
Old White Guy - We each must express outrage about these lynching reminders whenever we have any size audience. I appreciate your comments. I hope you find reason to visit with us often in this village.
Probably a little bit of both. Maybe I'm naive, but it doesn't make sense for the Jena situation to be the rallying cry for closet white supremacists across the country. It seems to me that these repeated noose incidents are just copycat crimes; some stupid white people who think it's cool. To me the problem isn't that all these people are racists, the problem is they don't know what a noose means to so many people.
And this I heard on CNN last night- people visiting a museum to learn more about the history of the noose were offended to see one on display. That's being too sensitive.
Is it really that bad though. We do have hundred of millions of people in this country. Bush does suck but how much more of a crutch do black people need. Its already cozy hear compared to other countries. Isn't free cheese, housing, and college enough. How about we stop crying over little shit. Plus, look up Jena Six in wikipedia to get an idea of the true situation. Is not a month in an alternative school and two weeks in school suspension enough. Did they not call an assembly to deal with the tension. Its easy for finger pointers to go back and critiscize in hindsight. Not to say the everything was handled the way I would have but a violent criminal is a violent criminal. I would give law enforcement the benefit of the doubt, rather than some ignorant violent kids. It must have been sad to see these animals kicking that kid. Racist incidents should be punished and dealt with but not turned into to a nationwide reason for whites and blacks to have tension. Lets rally to free innocent people white and black. Not little violent animals. Come on all you have seen the violence. Little black kids that have parents that raise them to fight over any little thing. Prison pop. 1/3 black hint hint.
Woozie - It seems we agree that the 'pranksters' are the rallying point for the many noose incidents that are popping up all over America. I think that the best way to handle it is to have some HARSH and PUBLIC arrests and convictions.
Anon - Please be aware that you are a guest in our village. Tread lightly and you are welcome to stay to share your village voice. In any case, I think that the reason so many African American prisoners are in the system is because of prejudicial criminal justice system. Just my perspective...
I agree with Old White Guy that we (Whites who despise racism regardless of the target) need to take a hard line and that we don't have a representative voice in our government to take a serious stand.
In the meantime, it is certainly best that these incidents don't cause racism to turn back into an all White/all Black issue. We need to stand together but being realistic I know that there will always be racism.
There are many of us who take a stand against sterotypes but this tends to fall on deaf ears because if you are incapable of learning that racism is bad and unnecessary at an early age, you will probably never understand.
We have to face the fact that the White Supremacists are in control of pretty much everything now to include running our government. This is also a huge issue with many Whites because this sort of intolerance is also responsible for the hatred toward Iraq and the rest of the Arab world.
I have a Japanese wife and we have two daughters who have also been subjected to similar difficulties. I may not have had the sort of attacks that Blacks and Hispanics have had to deal with but I can tell you how painful it is to try to explain these things to your children. I keep hoping for the day that all of this crap is behind us.
William - I appreciate your words and I join you in wishing that things will improve over time. The best thing that each of us can do is raise our children right...without prejudice and racism entering into their home training!
Jena has done the worst and the best. It has let all the real uglies out, all around the country. Maybe it's better to get them out - flush them out. If they are constantly in hiding we can pretend they don't exist - like everyone has been doing for years. Now at least no one can say "what you talking about ain't no racists round here".
Cooper - You are probably right, however, I worry that the response to the next noose incident might not be so benign. I keep waiting for some of these people to get caught. So far it seems only the Jena kids and the kids with the noose in their truck down in Louisiana have been caught. I guess that the Louisiana police knew where to look for 'em.
I am almost speechless at these noose incidents. I dated a balck guy my senior year in HS and again, in college. I posted some dance pictures on my blog and got nothing but nice comments. Imagine my outrage when someone I considered a close friend told me I should not have published that picture. I was stunned. Wha da? I am an idealist and racism is so inbred. I bet if I asked this person if she considered herself a racist she'd say no. Right.
I also tried an experiment by asking several of the women I know if they'd care if their children dated someone of a different race or religion. I know the results should not have surprised me. Not one of them had even considered the idea and were not pleased by the idea. Seattle can harsh to non-white people IMO.
My husband is part Asian and even my racist father did not mind. What is it with people? My mom tried to teach us to be colorblind, easy for her as we grew up in mostly white 'burbs in 3 different states. Mom was sure I dated a black guy to piss my dad off. Not so, he was friendly and charming and sexy. My dad never entered the equation and I was livid she'd think I was that shallow at 17.
I'm in college to become a nurse and I plan on treated everyone one well regardless of race, religion, or anything else.
Janice - Thank you for sharing your story. I think that racism will be defeated one mind and one heart at a time. Your mind and heart have overcome racism. Hopefully, you will share by example, word and deed the power of treating everyone with respect and dignity regardless of skin color or nationality. Thanx again for sharing your village voice with us!
Blue uniforms are the white hoods. The same terror that Black people felt in the Jim Crow south from the KKK is the same terror of the police today. As the Klan was (and still is!), the police are backed up by the power of the state to murder, beat, and jail primarily Black and Latino youth. They killed 8 in Chicago from July to September.
This system has jailed Mychal Bell - whose defiance in the face of white supremacy is a beautiful and welcome thing which should spread through a whole generation. This system has unleashed police/ICE agents to snatch more than 1200 immigrants off the streets of California in 2 weeks, ripping parents from their children like in the days of slavery.
Enough is enough!
I think we need a revolution, that humanity needs revolution and communism (the history of which people have been lied to about on a massive scale). We need a world that cherishes the beauty and creativity of the youth, that attacks and thoroughly uproots white supremacy, that unleashes the best in people to benefit all humanity.
As part of building a revolutionary movement, I think it's important for people to come out to the October 22nd National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation. In L.A. it starts at noon in front of Parker Center (with a march that ends up at MacArthur Park, scene of the May 1st police riot where cops attacked protesters, families and reporters).
Spread the word. Fight back, wear black!
Lu - Thank you for sharing information about the Oct 22nd protest being held in Los Angeles. I appreciate your village voice and I hope you will come back often! I will wear Black tomorrow in honor of your efforts.
I read where the black officer hung the noose himself to draw attention to the poor black man being set upon by the evil white males.
The black officer committed a "Hate" crime. He should be charged with inciting racial hatred towards whites.
The Jena six should be charged with assault and battery and attempted murder.
We are sitting on a powder keg here. Do you blacks really want to set it off?
So far in this black war on whites, whites have not taken it seriously. Most whites still believe in our justice system taking care of black criminals on white victims.
When the majority of whites awaken, there will come forth a white unity against blacks that the government cannot stop and really does not want to stop. The government wants a population reduction via race war. This ethnic diversity is divide and conquer-open borders is more of the divide and conquer plan and blacks will wish they had not instigated this hell they will bring upon themselves.
Light the fuse. It will not go out. When the shizzzt hits the fan it will be the blacks who are the biggest losers.
Truthful Care to share the source of your information that a Black officer hung the noose in the Hempstead Police Department? Or is that simply an untruth being told by the self-proclaimed truthful?
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