Amidst of everything regarding the Jena 6 incident in Jena located in Louisiana, it looks as if the hanging of the nooses is far from “dead.” This most recent incident involving nooses happened in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania just two weeks ago. Errol Madyun saw the noose when he reached his work-station on the third story at a construction site. Madyun is a black ironworker. The city of Pittsburg is well noted for the steel industry. The steel industry has been the heart of Pittsburg for a very long time.
This isn’t the only time an incident like this has happened since the incident in Jena, Louisiana. Something like this had happened at T.W. Andrews High near Greensboro, North Carolina. The superintendent Terry Grier who is white spotted the noose hanging from a flagpole. Upon seeing that, Terry Grief became enraged from what he stated in an interview. T.W. Andrews is a predominantly black high school.
“I became very angry. Part of what you think is it’s a copycat of Jena.”
Same thing has happened at the University of Maryland. Nooses were looped over a tree on the campus.
The suburban Memphis theatre had nooses knotted to the end of stage-rigging ropes. One was slung on the doorknob to the office of a black professor at Columbia University. Another was hung in a longer at a Long Island police station. On a historic ship, one was stuffed into the duffel bag of a Coast Guard cadet who is black.
Around the Pittsburgh suburbs, there were nooses draped around necks of black dolls. It is said that the noose could be the newest symbol of hate. Meaning, it could replace the Nazi swastika or the flaming cross that the Ku Klux Klan would leave in front of black homes and black churches.
Another incident took place at Columbia University in New York. A noose was slung on the doorknob of a black professor’s office.
Department of Justice has become very concerted of the various noose sights after what had transpired in Jena. As a result, the town of Jena has been the focus of numerous civil rights demonstrations from the NAACP, ACLU, Human Rights Campaign, Japanese American Citizens League, and many other organizations and advocacy groups.
NAACP dubs it as the oldest form of terrorism. Back in Pittsburgh, Madyun’s supervisor who was white simply waved it off saying that it could’ve possibly been a joke. But it’s a joke that hardly anybody is laughing at.
A black co-worker stated that this happened to him the day before. Unfortunately, the police chief of that township states that the department is too small to carry out an investigation such as that one. However, it was referred to Allegheny County police.
It would look that people will continue to hang nooses as a form of intimidation. In the future we should expect more incidents such as the ones that have transpired.