Keywords: noose, Noose Watch, Southern Poverty Law Center, Jena 6, racism, noose laws, hate-crime legislation, Louisiana, Rep. Rickey Hardy, racial intimidation
Nine months after the nation began witnessing an uptick in the number of reported noose sightings following the furor over the Jena 6 incident in Louisiana, lawmakers there, as well as in Connecticut and New York, have made hanging a noose a crime punishable by imprisonment. And more states are likely to follow.
Since September of last year, the number of reported noose incidents nationally jumped to nearly 80, according to the DiversityInc Noose Watch, the first and only tracker of national reported noose sightings.
Reported noose incidents skyrocketed after the Jena 6 case, in which six young Black men were arrested after a fight with a white student following a noose hanging at their high school. The incident sparked a nationwide protest last summer with more than 30,000 people marching in support of the men, nicknamed the Jena 6.
"We might see half a dozen [noose] cases a year; there is no doubt in my mind that there has been a major outbreak of noose incidents blossoming because of Jena," said Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Project for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which monitors hate crimes. The SPLC and DiversityInc co-authored an op-ed column for The New York Times in November, titled "The Geography of Hate" about the Noose Watch and preponderance of noose sightings.
These noose incidents are a part of a "larger phenomenon," according to Potok. According to the SPLC, the number of hate groups rose to 888 in 2007, up 5 percent from 2006 and 48 percent since 2000.
To date, three states have passed laws to punish those who use nooses as a means to intimidate. Connecticut and New York passed laws in May, with prison sentences ranging from a year in Connecticut to four years in New York. Earlier this month, Louisiana, the state where thousands of protestors marched in support of the Jena 6, became the third state to pass such a law. So far, no one has been sentenced under these new laws.
"I want to send a message that this will not be tolerated in 2008 in the state of Louisiana," said Rep. Rickey Hardy, who introduced the bill, in an interview with Stateline.org
Louisiana's law makes hanging a noose, or an image of one, on another person's property or on public property with "the intent to intimidate" illegal and punishable by up to $5,000 and up to a year in prison.
Lawmakers in Florida, Maryland, Missouri and North Carolina are considering similar legislation.
Readers' Comments
