Jena 6: More Nooses

Alot of talk coming out of Jena, from locals, has been that the town is not racist, the hanging of nooses in a school yard tree was nothing more than a prank, etc. Well, now there is a new noose incident. Outside of Jena in Alexandria, which was one of the areas used by protestors as a staging area for yesterdays protest in Jena, a pickup truck was pulled over with two makeshift nooses tied to the back. The drivers, two teenage white boys, one 18 one 16 were arrested. The 18 year old driver was drunk and apaprently so was the 16 year old. Reports from CNN say that the 16 year old told police he and his family are in the KKK.

For those in Jena and beyond who may not know here is a lesson:

Nooses were used to hang blacks who had been lynched for reasons varying from being black to not being white. The bodies were often then burned. Lynchings were major social events. Whites often took photos with the hanging dead bodies which were often left hanging for long periods of time. Some photographs actually ended up as post cards. Here is a link to some pictures and stories, they are disturbing.