Civil rights activist Al Sharpton says Congress should expand hate crime laws to deal more forcefully with noose-hanging incidents like the one in the Jena Six case in order to squelch what he called a sharp rise in racism.
If Sharpton sees nooses as a symbol of racism, others obviously don't agree. Why else would we see nooses; hanging from trees, hanging around the necks of entertainers, in gym bags, and as jewelry? Has America now come to accept nooses just like tattoos, ipods and leather leggings (see article below), as a "throw back", "in vogue" and a part of the American landscape.
(Katt Williams: Purple suit and a noose???) Today, Tuesday,the Reverend Al Sharpton, will testify before the House Judiciary Committee about the case of six black teenagers in the small Louisiana town of Jena charged with the beating of a white student. The incident happened after nooses were hung from a tree on a high school campus there
— a symbol of the violence of the segregation era. But for sure today's pow-pow with Congress, will center on the "fashion must-have" of the year ... nooses.Since the Jena case began attracting national attention, there have been a number of other nooses found in high-profile incidents around the country — in a black Coast Guard cadet's bag, on a Maryland college campus, and, last week, on the office door of a black professor at Columbia University in New York.
"Nooses, the 'n' word, a Klansman's hood, and the burning cross are the clearest symbols of hate for black America," Sharpton said in remarks prepared for delivery to the committee.
Normally Sharptons testimony would be pin pointed at the unbalanced of justice received by defendants of the Jena Six case, but all the defendants are out of jail except for Mychal Bell,
who last week was sentenced to 18 months in jail after a judge determined he violated the terms of his probation for a previous conviction.
Racial tensions began rising in Jena in August 2006 after a black student sat under a tree known as a gathering spot for white students. Three white students later hung nooses from the tree. They were suspended but not prosecuted.
More than 20,000 demonstrators gathered recently in Jena to protest what they perceive as differences in how black and white suspects are treated.
But today on capital hill they will be separating the emotions and hyperbola and focus on the symbol that started this whole barn a blaze ... nooses.
Obviously the message, how Black people feel about nooses, is not getting out. Perhaps they are not teaching in school the significance of the noose in history.
Perhaps African Americans should roll back the clock like our Jewish and Armenian family members consistently do each year, and pick a time to remind the world of our atrocities and reflect.
Perhaps Sharpton and others are making too much of this, making it too complicated to understand. Perhaps we need to justify and clarify as we simplify. Simple enough, here are some pictures.
