Seems the Coast Guard Halloween party organizers better be very careful about displaying anything that could offend this year. Probably not a good career move to decorate the house with a hanging corpse.

NAACP

It seems that the hangman's noose has replaced the burning cross as the sign of intimidation towards raciac and ethnic persons in the 21st century. What is making things worse is the noose is easy to replicate by the many wannabes out there who want to speard the hate.

I don't know, perhaps for our own safety and well being, the sale and possession of rope, cordage and heavy twine should be banned by government.

As my favorite network pundant, Jack Cafferty, has written in his newly published book, "it's getting ugly out there".

quote:

"I think there are many people who understand the significance of a noose as it relates to the history of African-Americans," said James Harris, president of the NAACP's state chapter. "We thought we lived beyond the era when people felt it was okay to have that type of display."

It's getting hard to keep up with these symbols. I think (to paraphrase Freud), "Sometimes a noose is just a noose."

...gjd

You mean a cigar is usually a cigar...without sexual connotations. I disagree with your comparison. A noose can only represent one thing: death. And for a certain segment of American society, a noose is a vivid reminder of when it was fashionable to be a racist. And because racism has been forced to become more sophisticated and subtle doesn't mean it has yet to pass into the history books. Think I'm wrong? I invite you to ask around and let me know. For comparison, I don't think I have ever heard anyone say that a swastika is just a Buddhist symbol...or 911 is just a phone number. They are symbols and as such they have the power to tap deep visceral emotions; if the NAACP says that public displays of nooses are an issue, maybe we should listen to the argument and then make a decision.

On a side note: Being that the DNA science is showing that we ALL came out of Africa, with a short stop in central Asia (excepting Aborgines who apparently went in the first wave out of Africa via India), I wonder how future racists are going to justify their logic...?

quote:

Originally posted by muckrake:
It seems that the hangman's noose has replaced the burning cross as the sign of intimidation towards raciac and ethnic persons in the 21st century. What is making things worse is the noose is easy to replicate by the many wannabes out there who want to speard the hate.

I don't know, perhaps for our own safety and well being, the sale and possession of rope, cordage and heavy twine should be banned by government.

As my favorite network pundant, Jack Cafferty, has written in his newly published book, "it's getting ugly out there".

Dang.. so much for mooring. Could this mean no more EYE splices?

I've always associated nooses to western movies. I've never thought of it as being anything but a form of justice. Whats next, a national law forbidding the display of the TBF in public view on any platform?

I was on a night shift project at Fermi Nuke station up near Detroit ... dinkin' the dog for about 99% of the work shift, which is par for the course on these projects. I picked up a bight of this extremely flexible wire we were using and began tieing off some knots in boredom. Tied up a noose without really thinking about it... a supervisor walked by and said I could "get rid of that right now, or take the long walk. Talk about the devil's idle hands ...

Last time I tied a noose, I was daydreaming about the days of the old West. Funny how a simple act can get you into hot water these days. Of course, leaving it is someone's locker or wherever is a whole different subject.

Don

Here's another old saying: "If you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail." After all the recent publicity, it looks like "everything looks like a noose."

To wit:

quote:

Investigation into noose at Anniston Depot ends, not racial

10/16/2007, 5:16 p.m. CDT
The Associated Press

ANNISTON, Ala. (AP) — An investigation into a noose that was found at the Anniston Depot has ended and racial intent does not seem to be involved, base officials said Tuesday.

A statement released by the depot said there are no direct witnesses regarding the placement of the piece of rope that was tied in a noose fashion and found on a utility pole on Oct. 2.

Joan Gustafson, a spokeswoman at the installation said the rope looked to be a tie-down used to secure tarps covering cargo in the back of trucks coming onto the base. . .

. . . Nooses have been found at several locations nationwide in the weeks since a mass protest in Jena, La. . . (Emphasis Added)

The rest of the story...

...gjd

Geez, I was just thinkin' about how many times we left Rescus-A-Andy swingin' by a noose in the warehouse for the weekend security watch to find ... we coulda been R-U-N-N-O-F-T just for that.

I find it amazing how based upon media portrayal items become associated with one thing only. The noose has been associated with the death penalty for as long as I can remember. Watching westerns as a kid growing up, they always hung the horse thieves etc. I never thought it to be a racial thing. However now that the NAACP has thrown it's hat into the ring, it is a racial object against african americans.

I saw in a movie once where they started a mob hunting an african american and one guy was carrying a baseball bat. Can I still have a bat for my son or would that be a racially driven item to represent discrimation and hate? Guess it depends on what the NAACP says.

quote:

I never thought it to be a racial thing.

I have a term for you to look up. A word that has been used in history.

Lynch mob


(Why don't schools teach history any more?)

quote:

[edit] History
The hangman's knot was used on ropes in Colonial America as well as England during the 16th and 18th centuries. It is still used in those US states which allow hanging as method of capital punishment.

According to wikepedia, I did not see anywhere where it said, for racial purposes only. Lych mobs were used against whites as well and the noose was not exclusive to lynch mobs. So I don't necessarily see the point in your post.

Not everything is a racial thing. When we learn to not be so sensitive to every little thing we will be a much stronger, and better society.

Then, check out this article from Yale University's Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute.



Not a pretty picture and a topic of United States history that many think that we should forget about.

quote:

mobs were used against whites as well and the noose was not exclusive to lynch mobs. So I don't necessarily see the point in your post.

Someone a while back told me that the N word's actual meaning was "ignorant". Somehow I guess it was directed towards blacks.
As much as I hate to admit, racism will always exist in our generation and those to follow. I would think a good way to slow it down is to not let yourself fall into any stereotype that exist for that particular race. I feel that we all have our goods and our bads (people), there is no ultimate skin color, or race. In the end, we are all 1 specie....Human.

Does this mean I have to remove the "noose" I've tied on the mushroom anchor three years ago?

Just one more "symbol" that has gottn out of hand. Hangings have been going on long before this country was established and after it was it was used as western "justice" well before it was a "symbol" of racism. Take Judge Parker "the hanging judge" he had 79 murderers and rapists hung, I guess murderers and rapists should be offended as well by a noose and let's not forget the Santee Sioux Indians who lost 38 in 1862 all in one large mass hanging. Hell why we're taking steps to stamp out racism lets chop down all the trees, if it wasn't for the trees we couldn't have a hanging. It's not about a freakin noose or a word that people have given WAY to much power to. It's about what's in a persons heart and no matter how many "Symbols" you try to bury or censor you are not going change it, not that way. It's very popular to shout "rascist" now a days, it get's attention, it scares people into mindless action, and it's just as often NOT rascim as it IS racism, just ask the Duke lacross players.

Throughout history symbols have been used to convey ideas or beliefs. They can be hijacked just as easily as invented. There is a theater in Alb. N.M. called the Kiva. On the walls of this theater the swastika appears multiple times. Were the builders Nazi's? Or were they simply putting up a symbol relating to the local native american tribes? Symbols only have power over those who choose to give it up. I am not saying that everyone should look the other way by any means. But with a little thought they could rob these symbols of their power. After all, as it was taught to me in Boy Scouts a noose is just another knot.

quote:

quote:
I never thought it to be a racial thing.
I have a term for you to look up. A word that has been used in history.

Lynch mob


(Why don't schools teach history any more?)

I didn't realize the term "Lynch Mob" was unique to African-American "lynchings"? Does that mean that "Lynch Mob" has now gone the way of the noose?

quote:

Originally posted by onewhl750:

quote:

[edit] History
The hangman's knot was used on ropes in Colonial America as well as England during the 16th and 18th centuries. It is still used in those US states which allow hanging as method of capital punishment.

According to wikepedia, I did not see anywhere where it said, for racial purposes only. Lych mobs were used against whites as well and the noose was not exclusive to lynch mobs. So I don't necessarily see the point in your post.

Not everything is a racial thing. When we learn to not be so sensitive to every little thing we will be a much stronger, and better society.

Hmmmm.. where else in history were nooses used... uh, what was that again... the "pagans" Oh that's right. Salem Witch Trials. It's a racist sybmol only if you believe it is. You're OBVIOUSLY however discounting all the "other" hangings that have taken place that were NOT about race.

I can see both sides of this, it's an interesting argument - here's a few thoughts to stir things up a little.
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Definitions of noose on the Web:

snare: a trap for birds or small mammals; often has a slip noose
make a noose in or of
a loop formed in a cord or rope by means of a slipknot; it binds tighter as the cord or rope is pulled
secure with a noose
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

The noose is a simple knot, normally made from a small-diameter rope, that is often used by campers and hunters to catch small game. The noose has also traditionally been known as a suicide method; however the actual knot associated with this is the Hangman's knot.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noose

Use HANGING-NOOSE or HUNTING-NOOSE if possible.
www.mda.org.uk/bmobj/Obthesn1.htm

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Firehoses were also employed in our historic racial battles, should those be shunned too?


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What about guns and other weapons? How can we take such a determined mind set against a KNOT when "a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity" has been used 10x as effectively (if not more) in expressing our worlds* racial prejudices.

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* Yes, worlds - don't forget it was a noose that killed Saddam Hussein. (Here's a list of other notable people who died by hanging)

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Historically, hanging was the only method of execution used in Canada and was in use as punishment for all murders until 1961, when murders were reclassified into capital and non-capital offenses. The death penalty was restricted to only apply for certain offenses to the National Defence Act in 1976 and was completely abolished in 1998. [Wikipedia]

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The word game hangman uses a stick-figure drawing of a hanged person as a method of keeping score; when the figure is complete, the player has lost. [Wikipedia] Should we also ban this traditional childrens game? (One I played in elementary school!)


Have fun w/ this - no bashing please - as I said before, I can see both sides of the argument.