Two St. Louis Sheriff's Deputies Suing After Noose Incident

Two St. Louis Sheriffs Deputies have filed a lawsuit after a noose was found hanging in a City Court building last year. The two Deputies, Pat Hill and Jacques Hughes, decided to file suit as a last resort, after other efforts to find a resolution were either ignored or rebuffed.

The noose hanging did not occur in a vacuum. It appears to be part of a pattern of problems within the Sheriffs Department and in City government overall. The City has been racially divided for decades, but City government in particular has a racial divide, a divide recently put on display with the recent demotion (and resignation) of the Fire Chief.

Hear a recent interview with Deputy Hughes, from the radio news station KMOX.

Summary

Host Paul Harris talks with deputy Jacques Hughes about the lawsuit he and deputy Pat Hill filed over a noose hung near the holding cells in the St. Louis courthouse, which they claim created a racially hostile work environment.

Listen To Interview

Read more on this story from St. Louis' NBC affiliate KSDK TV.

Will The Apologists and Excuse Makers For Black Degradation Ever Let Up?

I’m so sick and tired of Blacks making excuses for all sorts of degradation within "Black Culture".

On yesterdays Black Bloggers Roundtable (from NPR), the issue of the N-Word came up. As expected, one of the panelists defended the use of the word by Black Americans, rappers in particular. The discussion centered around rapper NAS. I don't own one Rap CD, and have been Rap free for the past 17 years or so. And I can't stand the stuff today... in fact, I think I may be allergic. That being said, I don't support the use of the word by these rappers. No, the N-word is not the most crucial problem facing urban America, but the liberal use of the word is a reflection of a much deeper problem within so called "Black America" regarding cultural values....or the lack thereof. When a culture allows this kind of thing to go on freely, what does it say about that group or culture?

The Blogger on yesterdays News and Notes program who gave his support to the word was Christopher Rabb of Afro-Netizen. Rabb commented:

“Nigger is (an acceptable) part of the Black dialect”.

Says who.. Christopher Rabb? The Rappers? Bull.... That kind of comment lumps all Black folks together in something that I don't think all would agree with. Rabb doesn't speak for me... and I doubt that he speaks for the other 36 million + Black folks in this Country.

Here is my response to this issue given to the blogger Field Negro... who made similar claims as the blogger above. (I am still a regular reader of the Field Negro...but we don't always have to agree).

You stepped into a mine"Field" with this one.

You already know how I feel.

Why continue making excuses for the use of this word...especially for those who are capitalizing from it?

You are like Michael Meyers...who recently said that nooses are no big deal... that they aren't harmful. The same historical context as "Nigger", etc... so should we allow nooses? Perhaps Katt Williams was wearing his noose as a symbol of Black pride (a symbol of endearment). Will nooses become a new fashion statement in a few years? I can see Black folks walking around using the excuse that "hey... by wearing these nooses we are taking the power away from the symbol". Hmmm.

Come on Field. As Rikyrah stated so well... you are a travelled, educated & cultured man. It would seem that you would know better.

And you say Hip Hop is a world wide phenomenon... that's the problem Field. It just means that these negative images are spread around the world even faster. The fact that Hip Hop is a world wide phenomenon means that it's the perfect trojan horse for spreading this poison. The fact that this stuff is mainstream is really what's killing our image. It means that young kids in Europe repeat the word "Nigger" (God Bless em) not really understanding what the hell they are saying...because they don't have any point of reference or context to draw from...at least not in the way that we have here.

Michael Meyers Says Nooses Are No Big Deal

In a recent NPR interview Meyers says that Black folks should just let it go... that the recent rash of nooses is no big deal. According to Meyers, they could all be a practical joke for all we know. He also makes similar comments in a recent editorial.

No... I am not making this up. The head of a New York Civil Rights group (New York Civil Rights Coalition), says that the nooses are just a joke.

He seems to believe that these noose incidents are taking place in a vacuum... with no historical connection or no historical context attached. He seems to ignore Americas history of lynchings. He talks as if the hanging of nooses has no more meaning than random vandalism, such as a TP'd door or tree. It's just a practical joke as far as he's concerned.

He even had the nerve to say "We don't know why people are doing this" (referring to the hanging of a nooses).

Meyers is clearly either losing his mind, or he is having a serious bout of denial.
Now I am not one of these folks who is hysterical about this. I don't believe that the sky is falling. However, I am astute enough to recognize that there is a problem with race relations in this Country and that the noose incidents are- in many cases- a manifestation and representation of deep-seeded racial animosity and intolerance. And I recognize that more needs to be done in terms of improving relations, providing an education and a context to younger generations about lynchings & the significance of these symbols, and making sure that laws are changed and enforced so that those responsible for these kinds of incidents can be dealt with. Yet Michael Meyers, the leader of a Civil Rights organization, can't recognize this? He doesn't recognize that the hanging of a noose amounts to a threat.... and amounts to a hate crime (based on certain facts and the context of the specific incident)? He doesn't recognize that a noose is used as a symbol of terror, designed to intimidate and frighten? His comments were unbelievable. (Link to audio interview provided above).

I was disappointed that News and Notes did not bring on another guest with an opposing viewpoint who was equally as passionate as Meyers. But instead they allowed Meyers to ramble unchallenged. (Julianne Malveaux would have eaten him alive... although I often don't agree with her on a lot of her positions. She should have been on the program).

What exactly has to happen before Michael Meyers is convinced that these incidents are a serious matter? I guess Meyers is saying that the racists have to draw blood from their victims in order to be taken seriously. It's almost as if Meyers is encouraging racists to "get more serious" and to actually carry out their threats.

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Related Links

Background On Lynchings

Without Sanctuary

More Background On Lynching

AmericanLynching.com

Duluth Lynchings

Lynching in Texas

Columbia University Professor Finds Noose On Office Door

Yet another noose incident has been reported. This time at Columbia University. It seems to me that we are going backwards. At least that is the direction that a few people want to take us in. When these incidents started to increase over the past year, I attributed it to the fact that reporters are paying more attention to these problems, and are therefore reporting more incidents....incidents that have always been taking place. But it now seems as if these incidents may be a real reflection of an increase in racial hatred and intolerance. The Jena Louisiana situation has raised tensions all over the Country. But I doubt if Jena alone could be responsible for a widening racial divide. Other factors must be at work. There are a lot of things that seem to be coming together all at once, which may explain part of the upsurge.... there is the war on terror...in which hardline Republicans have spooked their constituents into being afraid of anyone who speaks with an Arabic accent. There was the recent immigration debate...where many Americans trained themselves to be leery of any hispanic person and to be skeptical about their citizenship. We have a prominent African American candidate for President...who has been receiving threats. And we have a job market that is sending good paying jobs out and bringing labor in at the same time, from places like India & Mexico. (so there is this animosity about labor...centered around who is "taking" American jobs). A perfect storm? I'm not sure...but animosity seems to be growing. However, I believe that only a very small slice of Americans are actually involved in these kinds of activities. These kinds of tensions do seem to go up and down in cycles. I recall the Matthew Hale & Benjamin Nathaniel Smith cases from several years ago.

I guess we will never be entirely safe from these threats.

Black Columbia professor finds noose at office
BY DANIEL MASSEY

A black professor at Columbia University's Teachers College found a hangman's noose on her office door yesterday, an act that university officials immediately condemned and reported to police.

"The Teachers College community and I deplore this hateful act, which violates every Teachers College and societal norm," Susan Fuhrman, president of the college, said in a statement.

Fuhrman added that she and Provost Tom James will conduct a community forum on the incident today on the Manhattan campus.

The professor who was targeted, faculty and students said, has distinguished herself as a scholar in race relations. Neither police nor the college identified the 44-year-old professor.

"She's very passionate about social justice and equality," said Shawn Maxam, 26, of Brooklyn, who is studying music education and sociology education at Teachers College. "I'm not surprised or shocked. There are issues surrounding race and class at Teachers College."

Other students said they were hurt after learning of the incident.

"I'm shocked," said Nichole Henry, 23, who is studying to become a physical education teacher. "For a hate crime to go down at Teachers College, this is such a diverse school.

"I can't believe it. It's really disappointing. It hurts."

Nursing education professor Kathleen O'Connell called the incident "extremely distressing.

"This place does a lot of work on racial and diversity issues," she said.

Speaking of her colleague, O'Connell said, "She's a very productive faculty member, so that's just nuts."

Debbie Sonu, 31, a fourth-year doctoral student in urban education, said she was disappointed about the incident but encouraged by the school's swift response.

"It's a wake-up call," Sonu said.

She made reference to the case of the six black teenagers in Jena, La., who civil rights activists have said were treated unfairly by the local criminal justice system and prosecuted overzealously when fights along racial lines broke out at their school last year.

"Maybe we can't compare the context or geography," Sonu said. "But the bottom line of how we treat each other is comparable."

Source

See a local ABC Report

Noose Found Hanging At University of Maryland

'Speak-out' urged over noose at UM
Black student leaders call for voicing outrage

Report from The Baltimore Sun

By Gadi Dechter -- Sun reporter
September 10, 2007

Black student leaders at the University of Maryland have called for a communitywide "speak-out" Tuesday to encourage people to express outrage about a noose discovered hanging from a tree last week on the College Park campus.

At a meeting Monday between student leaders and senior administration officials, UM police said they believed the small noose had been hanging for about two weeks before it was reported to them. Authorities are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime because of the rope's proximity to a cultural center used mainly by African-American campus organizations.

"The speak-out will occur on Tuesday, Sept. 11, because this is terrorism," said Shawna Murray, a vice president of the black student union. "We're a collective and we've organized and we're prepared to say that as a Terp community, we're not going to stand for this."

To many people -- particularly on a formerly segregated campus like College Park -- a dangling noose evokes memories of lynching. African-Americans make up about 13 percent of UM undergraduates and 7 percent of graduate students.

The speak-out event is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. in front of the McKeldin Library on the sprawling Prince George's County campus.

University police spokesman Paul Dillon said authorities were "perplexed" about why the noose apparently dangled in plain view for two weeks without being reported or removed, but suggested it might simply have gone unnoticed.

According to a police analysis of a photo, the rope was about 3 feet long, with a noose about 2 inches to 3 inches in diameter. Before it was cut down and destroyed by UM maintenance workers Friday, the rope hung about 15 feet above the ground in a walkway between the student union and the Nyumburu Cultural Center, which houses the black faculty association and a black newspaper.

The assistant editor of the Black Explosion newspaper, who reported the noose to police Friday, said Monday that it appeared even smaller in person than it did in a photo published this week in the Diamondback student newspaper.

"Whoever tied it wasn't a great noose-maker, let's put it that way," said Ajan Brown, 21, a sophomore journalism major from Seattle. Still, Brown said it resembled a lynching noose "enough to be offensive to me."

Anne Carswell, an administrator in the Nyumburu center, said she saw the noose hanging Thursday, but hesitated to notify authorities out of fear of overreacting. "I didn't feel comfortable calling the police department, because I didn't want them to think I was blowing something up."

Asha-Lateef Dobbs, president of UM's black graduate student association, said that kind of reaction suggests a worrying trend on campus.

"That's something we need to address," she said. "What is the culture here? What is the climate here that didn't make whomever saw it feel like they could just pick up the phone and say, 'You know what? There's a noose hanging outside of the [student] union'?"

Despite such concerns, Dobbs and other student leaders praised the administration's quick condemnation of the noose over the weekend, and the police department's immediate characterization of it as a suspected hate crime.

Police do not have any suspects, Dillon said. He made an appeal to students for help in identifying the culprit. "One of the keys to solving this crime is finding out why this noose was placed in the tree," he said.

The last major hate crime investigated at UM was in 1999, when several black officials and student leaders received racist threats. No one was charged in those crimes, Dillon said.