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I hear we have a new trend here in America. Ever since the infamous Jena 6 case, nooses have started cropping up all over our country. The most recent incident was the hanging of a noose on the door of a black professor at Columbia University.

Some people are saying this was nothing more than a prank done in bad taste. I strongly disagree. A noose takes us all the way back to when it was meant to cause fear, and intimidation. It is a symbol of lynching and violence, directed right at black people.

So to me, the black children in Jena had every right to "defend" themselves against this obvious racial attack. If I would have been the judge in this case, I would never have prosecuted the black children. However, after the child that hung the noose was released from the hospital, he would have received some substantial jail time from me. After all shouldn't this be considered a hate crime?.

New York law makers are discussing this idea now. Not a moment too soon in my opinion. The department of justice has made a task force to investigate the noose hangings. They have investigated the Jena 6 incident, but will not prosecute. Unfortunately the federal government does not bring hate crime charges against juveniles. This makes no sense to me. They can charge a juvenile with murder, but not for hanging nooses?.

What about confederate flags and swastikas? These are also symbols of hate, that are also prevalent in our country. I would love to see these symbols included in the hate crime legislation. I am a polish catholic, and some of my ancestors were killed in the holocaust. So of course I loathe seeing a swastika. This however can not be compared to a hanging noose.

To me hanging a noose, sends a clear and threatening message. It wasn't a prank. It was a warning to the black children not to sit under a specific tree, or else. It is a clear death threat. It reminds me of when the KKK burnt crosses on the lawns of blacks. It saddens me to think that in the year 2007, we still have incidents like this in our country. Especially when it is perpetrated by our children. I have always held the hope that racism will become a thing of the past, because the youth of today are intelligent enough to not to judge a person by the color of their skin. To my dismay, I was wrong.

Learn more about this author, patty smithe.
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