Columbia University teachers and students held a rally this week to show outrage over a noose found hanging from a black professor's office door.
Professor Madonna Constantine called it a "blatant act of racism," The Associated Press reported.
"I'm upset that our community has been exposed to such an unbelievably vile incident. Hanging the noose on my door reeks of cowardice and fear on many, many levels," she told the crowd Wednesday.
Police are investigating the incident this week as a hate crime. According to ABC News, police wanted to check campus security cameras to determine whether the act was caught on tape, but the university has yet to turn the tapes over.Police say it could have been hung by another faculty member as part of an ongoing dispute with the professor, WABC reported.
Constantine had a noose hung on her door on Tuesday. The professor has published scholarly works on racism and ethnicity, according to her bio online.
The hostile and potent lynching symbol has returned to the public eye with the Jena Six case recently and now it seems it won't go away. The USA Today has reported on the numerous copycats.
"Any time you have a case that receives national notoriety, you see an uptick in copycat offenses," Brian Levin, executive director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, told the USA today.
But that does not justify these acts of racism.
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By: Cecil Jones on 10/10/2007 3:57PM
Don't cry out for justice in a dark and secure room. The person standing next to you may hold a grudge and think that justice is being served. The person crying out could be crying "Crocodile Tears." Who benefits from this act of hatred? Who is trying to raise their profile in the discussion of race? Beware. This was a secure place. The person crying could be guilty? Wait until the investigation is complete before we form a hate mob to fight the hate. Fighting fire with fire means the village must burn. Anyone in the building could have struck this match. The parents and the husband are always the first suspect in matters behind closed doors. Who stands to profit?
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By: brijonesdiary on 10/10/2007 5:37PM
I am getting really tired of this "noose" BS. Enough is enough. Here it 2007 and we have these fools putting up nooses...like we are back in the Jim Crow
era. Be man enough to say how you feel, quit being a punk and a coward hiding behind a piece of rope.
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By: Val on 10/10/2007 6:20PM
My daughter is a senior at Columbia, majoring in Russian Lit. She hopes to become a professor some day. I was hoping this story would not go national as the school's reputation is already tarnished by the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visit (whom I happen to like). I tend to believe it was a student. Columbia is known for being a very liberal institution and we haven't had many incidents during my daughter's time there.
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By: Sandra Howell on 10/14/2007 10:41AM
The noose's are not just in trees and on doors, they are in the judicial system. I have had my feet chained to back of 2007 F450 Racism truck, dragged down Lynch St, intersecting at Uppity "N" St while my head is knocked off by the gavel and served on a platter which edges are trimmed by ropes.
I am involved in false allegations by FEMA and the FBI in San Angelo, TX and have contacted representatives from Al Sharpton's group, NAACP, etc. and have received either extremely asinine responses or none at all. I have called for help from these organizations in at least 5 states and have been ignored. It is written on the web site of the NAACP in Phoenix, AZ that one should join, pay dues and support the organization before you need them. I have a difficult time supporting an organization who can't return a phone call. It makes me think that I have to buy their attention.
The allegations against me are a cover up for a much larger problem in San Angelo, TX and it's "racism". San Angelo is a very quiet and polite city like Jasper, TX and Jena, LA. I was evacuated to San Angelo as a "disabled" evacuee and just before the Rita struck, I called the American Red Cross in that city to get reporting instructions and to make them aware of my medical condition of a recently replaced hip along with a request for "reasonable accommodations". I was totally ignored by "all" officials who refused to provide a bed and forced me to drive every month back Baton Rouge, LA for medical care. I did not get any assistance from anyone in that city for 10 days. I believe that the city of San Angelo has received federal funds from FEMA by counting me as an evacuee, but failed to provide any assistance to me. I believe that this avalanche of allegations are being dumped on me to take the focus and attention from San Angelo and it's officials, therefore leaving me with no credibility. I have many letters from FEMA advising me that I was eligible for assistance "after" I filed an appeal when I was first told that I was denied. I have filed a discrimination complaint against Red Cross chapter and the city of San Angelo. At this time everyone is taking a wait and see attitude as I go through the investigation and trial which is scheduled for January 7, 2008. I also filed a complaint with the Texas Workforce Commission who has said there was not discrimination and in January 2006, I was informed that San Angelo, TX was still looking for a mattress...the one I needed in September 2005.
All protocol has been thrown out of the window since I was never given the opportunity to answer to the allegations before being arrested at my home on June 26, 2007 by six armed FBI agents. It was an early morning raid and I was immediately handcuffed with no explaination of what was going on. I asked if I could use the bathroom and there was reluctance to let me go. I was finally allowed and the female agent, still with my handscuffed behind my back, excorted me to the toilet, pulled my pants down for me, used the tissue to clean mp and then pulled my pants up and I still was not told that I was under arrest. I was not notified that I was under arrest or of the reason why I was being arrested until my Miranda Rights were read to me in the back seat of an FBI vehicle on the way to the downtown Tucson, AZ federal building. I do have an attorney at this time who is as confused as I am regarding FEMA sending me letters of eligibility and has mid-stride claim that I was not in the area or was not advised to evacuate as a "disabled evacuee" Information about San Angelo, TX can be found on line by googling "Racism in San Angelo, TX. San Angelo is the home/headquarters for a KKK group, which is publicly known by the majority if it's citizens.
There has been a mysterious death of a young African American man which has been deemed a suicide. The young man was married to a white woman who had ties through other family members on the San Angelo police force and a member of the KKK. Michael Clay was found dead in his car at a local Target parking lot with a bullet hole in the back of his head and burned to death sitting in the driver's seat. Many of the citizens are not convinced that this young man took his life and logically speaking to commit suicide in this manner is extreme and one would think, difficult to do.
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By: aprile on 10/12/2007 9:11AM
AND YET....in the Jena 6 case the hanging of the noose was down played now what....AGAIN I SAY...it was then & is presently VIEWED AS RACIAL DISCRIMINATION!!! ITS AN INSULT AND IN MY OPINION A CRIME...BECAUSE IT INTIMIDATING as our ancestors had to suffer & died from it and those ignorant people who are placing these nooses out there are for the most part SICK...TOO BAD THEY ARE UNABLE TO EXPERIENCE WHAT IW WAS LIKE THEN FOR US. WHO WANTS TO BE REMINDED OF RACIAL INEQUALITY......
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By: warren on 10/11/2007 1:29PM
Something tells me we are going back to the 60's in this country. The hatred for blacks is getting worse in my opinion.
http://www.howtostealfromcarbuyers.com
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By: Cecil Jones on 10/11/2007 2:21PM
Let me share some insights on the future of America. In 2004, I shared a thought about the "Power of One." I told some highly visible political candidates that we should consolidate the powers of the NAACP, DOJ, and the other so called "Help" into a mighty fist. When one is threatened or abused, they should share their story and fight with a fist instead of a finger or being brushed off by the hand. One politician listened and created one organization that is growing. Other politicans listened and copied the effort. Which "One" would you support? One that does nothing or one that provides "Equal Opportunity?" The problem with our state of racial affairs is neither side listens. Sending a noose is a message that can't be ignored. Sending Al Sharpton is a message nobody want to hear. Why is Sharpton the only person who can speak on race? The N word doesn't bother me. Haters hate on me. Jill Scott gets it! Be who you are and listen! You'll learn who can be trusted.
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By: VJ on 10/11/2007 6:09PM
ALL IT TAKES IS ONE ASS HOLE TO BRING OUT THE FEW RACIST THAT OUR LEFT. IF ONLY THEY HAD THE HEART TO STAND UP FOR THEIRS.
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By: Janessa on 10/11/2007 7:03PM
This is a sad hate crime, as a black woman, and an alumna of C.U., I'm saddned to hear about this this morning. And was moved in doing so to write a reflection on my blog. It is irrelevant if it was a student or faculty member, what is relevant is that this can and does still happen in 2007.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/411513/hearing_the_news_a_noose_on_her_office.html
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By: Sam on 10/11/2007 11:38PM
It may be one of our own in an attempt to keep it in the media. It may be one of them who hate black people. It may be a student who doesn't like the teacher. There are always people who will copy a crime they see on TV in hopes of fame. Sad, but true. We need to wait for the facts to come in. It seems Jena 6 brought out the racists of all colors.
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