Nooses: When Retro Goes too Far

Of course, there's Jena, LA over a year ago, and the idiots who brought nooses back during the recent protest, but there are a frightening number of noose sightings all over the nation. I was watching CNN a few minutes ago and found this story

October 4th at the Coast Guard Academy: Coast Guard tries to deal with noose incidents

The head of the U.S. Coast Guard and a congressman planned to travel to the Coast Guard Academy on Thursday to speak to cadets about the discovery this summer of two small hangman's nooses on Coast Guard properties.

October 4th, outside of Pittsburgh: Nooses Left At O'Hara Township Work Site

A third possible incident of racial workplace intimidation in the Pittsburgh area this week was reported on Thursday morning. Errol Madyun told WTAE Channel 4 Action News reporter Ari Hait that he found a noose on Wednesday at the construction site where he's working in O'Hara Township.

October 4th, outside of Pittsburgh: Local Verizon Worker Says She's Target Of Racial Threat

The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, claimed someone left a noose around a doll's neck with a note saying she didn't deserve a promotion. The doll was left on her desk in an inner-office envelope at the Verizon Wireless complex in Cranberry.

October 3rd, near Ft. Wayne, IN: Noose found on utility pole at Army Depot

Authorities are trying to determine who tied a noose to a utility pole in the industrial area of the Anniston Army Depot. A passerby spotted the noose yesterday at about 10 a.m

October 3rd, near Louisville, KY: Woman quits job after twice finding doll with noose around its neck

A year ago, Carla Hinkle says she found a doll with a rope wrapped around its neck in a plant at her job.

October 2, Pittsburgh: Racist Threat Found In Port Authority Garage

Officials said a black baby doll, with a racist threat, was found hanging Monday in a hallway at PAT's East Liberty garage. The threat was directed at an unspecified black woman.

September 30th, in Hempstead, Long Island NY: Noose Found Hanging In L.I. Police Station; Called 'Intolerable'

A noose was found dangling in the headquarters of a suburban police department that prides itself on its diversity, the police chief said.... Corey Pegues, a New York City police captain and the president of the Long Island chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, said members believed the noose may have been directed at a high-ranking Hempstead police official who is black.

This doesn't include all the incidents brklyngrl posted about on OpenLeft this weekend. Like the word "nigger" a noose can be used by any white person to bring down any black person. Doesn't matter if we're talking about high school students or Coast Guard officers, construction workers or police chiefs. I'm sure many of these incidents are copycats "inspired" by the Jena 6 story, but let's not forget that George Allen kept one in his law office long before that famous "schoolyard fight" in Louisiana.

Hanging a noose, like burning a cross or blowing up school children (whether on a city bus or in a church) is an act of terrorism. It forces people to change their habits, quit their jobs and live in fear. It is a threat on one's life. Black folks in America have been living with some form of terrorism since we arrived here, but somehow, I don't expect the government will be sending the troops to Hempstead and Louisville and Pittsburgh anytime soon.