Nooses and Shoving Race Under the Carpet

I saw Rev. James H. Cone on Bill Moyers show this evening. Moyers had invited him to expound on his October, 2006 talk at Harvard titled,Strange Fruit: The Cross and the Lynching Tree. In both the originating speech and the television discussion there were a lot of big ideas thrown about. However the Cliff Notes interpretation is that the United States, a Judeo-Christian nation has to reconcile its religious principles with its historical treatment of Blacks. Cone discussed the lyrics of the song "Strange Fruit" made famous by Billie Holiday and said that we can't understand the full meaning of the Christ's crucifixion until we understand the import of lynching---"black bodies swinging" on our country's conscious.




Nooses may not scare Blacks as they did a century ago, but the fact that they are resurfacing is unsettling. Like the crackers in the Klan who did their dirt at night, the hanging of nooses are the clandestine work of Whites who walk amongst and believe that it is their right to keep Blacks in line. While Whites can shrug off nooses, Blacks are often forced to wonder if their White co-worker or neighbor is someone who feels entitled to hang a noose to signify the need to put an uppity negro in his/her place.

A noose, hung on a tree for Whites at a Jena, LA high school was the impetus for fight that led to the arrests and convictions of Black youth in the Jena Six cases. Subsequently we have seen a rash of copycats noose hangings around the country. Noose sightings include the University of Maryland- College Park, The U.S. Coast Guard Academy and Columbia University. We all know that the noose is a symbol of hatred, but many people are less willing to accept that it is also a symbol of terrorism. The noose was/is a way to express White supremacy---or rather the idea that it was right and just that Whites wield all political and economic power. The purpose of the noose is to instill fear, by the threat of death, in the hearts of Blacks. Whites who conformed to this principle believed that brutality and violence against Blacks was justifiable in the maintenance of the racial/power status quo. The resurgence of the noose is a way to say---you may now be able to get a college education or professorship or a good job, but we White folks are still in charge.

Once again, discussions about race are no where to be found in this presidential election. Even with Barack Obama as a contender, it is easier for Whites to shove aside nooses and other remmants of the past, such as racial slurs a la Don Imus on the extreme back burner. By continuing to downplay the importance and history of racist symbols such as nooses, Whites portray Blacks as merely ultrasensitive. This depiction then allows them to gloss over how racism still has the ability to impact the everyday lives of Black people. Racism is alive and well and can be seen in the inability of a Black man to catch a cab, to the disparities in loans between Blacks and Whites with the same salaries and credit history to a criminal justice system which seems better at arresting and convicting Black youth than Whites.

However as long as hanging a noose is viewed as an isolated incident or a prank, there is never any reason for Whites to look at how racism and racist attitudes affect the institutions that govern our society. Under this fog, Whites are able to comfortably assume that since everyone has equal opportunitites, the Black person who does not make it is simply lazy or stupid. They never have to consider that the Black person may be unduly hindered by institutional racism that equates Blackness with inferiority and thus rewards Whiteness.

After the Civil War, the noose was a way to terrorize Blacks into accepting that their only role in society was as the servants of Whites. The man or woman who dared in action or word to challenge White authority met his or her fate at the noose. While some lynchings were covert affairs, others were public spectacles where throngs of Whites gathered often with their children and perhaps bringing a picnic lunch. Public lynchings were a way of reinforcing for Whites, particularly the poor and uneducated ones, that they were indeed in charge and could not and would not be supplanted by Blacks.

White Americans remain squeemish about the issues of race. Many Whites harbor the concern that given the history of Blacks in this country that not only do they hate Whites but are also waiting for the moment when they can exact the big payback. Moreover, in order to have a frank and meaningful discussion, Whites would have to first acknowledge that they are descendents of lynchers (killers of Blacks) or of the multitude of spectators who watched Blacks die as sport or of those who remained silent as Blacks were cheated, exploited and killed. At the bare minimum, "Whites"---particularly those who claim to be of immigrant stock have to acknowledge that have benefited from this country's social, economic and political system that for 300 odd years exploited Blacks---first as slaves and then through legal segregated Blacks which restricted the ability of Blacks to become educated or to obtain a range of jobs that would have put them on equal footing with Whites.

If a real race dialogue were instituted, Blacks would have the burden of actually listening to Whites articulate their insecurities and prejudices about race. More important after the validation of past injustices and contemporary fears Blacks would have to chart a new course that not only heals their psyches but also builds a foundation for further social, economic and political gains. By continuing to point to the sins of White folks, Blacks are not forced to deal substantively with our collective shortcomings.

While both Hillary and Barack yank about being the change candidate, neither one of them is talking about uniting the country on our most important issue. For different reasons, both candidates are willing to dance around race for fear of offending White voters. Leadership---real leadership would mean that before we run around the world and preach to sovereign countries about human rights and democracy that we would get our own house in order. We are not equipped to deal with any authority with the Israeli-Palenstinian situation or with the Sunnis and Shites because we have not found a way to deal with our own sectarian divisions. If were truly on the road to unifying the United States, we would then have a viable model to export abroad. Unfortunately, all that we are selling to them is the same lies and mythology about equality that we pedal to those at home who believe that we can do better--and thus puch for tangible social justice.