Nooses

Because of the art projects displayed on Patterson Avenue last week, Miami University has taken one step backward in its mission towards diversifying the campus. All of the talk and gossip about it has led me to question why the idea of race takes such an important place in our lives. Why is it that so many people took offense to the nooses hanging from our trees? I think the reason that Miami University has had problems and, obviously, is still having problems with race is because of our country. Because the country has historically had difficulty accepting and always struggled with race, kids still focus on it today.
To begin, Miami is not the only campus that has problems like this. It has happened at the University of Maryland when a noose was hung outside of a black studies building. It happened at Columbia University when a student hung a noose outside a black professor’s home.
I didn’t really understand why the hanging of the nooses was even a controversy in the first place. I knew that blacks had been hung in the past, but to me the image of the noose represented suicide, not racism. Others see the noose as a symbol of justice. The CNN special on nooses brought to life the feelings that an African American goes through seeing a noose. The interviewees voiced the remembrance of the past and their ancestors who had been hung in the cruelest way possible—by hanging and then burning the corpse. It brings fear that something like that could happen to them in the future.
I also learned that each state has a list of hate crime laws. They dictate against burning crosses in public or putting swastikas on public property. More surprising is that they do not include nooses. People are fighting that concept to this day.
What I think has taken over the country recently is the result of the media. Had the media not repeatedly talked about Jena Six, the country would never had been exposed to the idea that race was the reason for this conflict. It has put the idea in the public’s mind that not only is the conflict divided into two sides- a black and a white, a right and a wrong, but also that they must choose which side to support. It brings us backward in our mission towards diversifying.
Another thing that can help is education on topics like this one. I am taking a class on Cultural Diversity in addition to Everyday Hybridites. These classes are are focused on race. I can honestly say that these classes have helped me to be more aware and to understand the feelings that others go through.
What we need to do as a country is to stop listening to the media, or if you are to listen to it, make sure you have all the facts. Do not listen to just one side, or one biased side. If we get the chance, we need to share our knowledge with others without pushing our opinion on them. And listen to other opinions without letting them push their opinions on you.