Coverage

(Washington DC)--Yup, this is where I'm writing this blog, but the story a classmate and I covered was actually in College Park, Maryland... Home of the University of Maryland. We were sent there to find student reaction and more information about a noose found hanging on a tree near a cultural center where several African-American organizations operate.

The noose was found on Friday. I first heard the story this morning. One student we interviewed said he was "disheartened, but not surprised."

I wish the brotha would have been surprised. That would at least say that racial tension is not a big issue.

Apparently it is.

Another reaction I didn't expect was one kid who seemed to think it wasn't that serious... maybe someone just left it there was the gist of his comments. I wasn't expecting that, but my classmate and I still had to maintain our faces. Actually, my classmate reacted to it faster than I. I had to let the comment sink in.

I agree with the director of a multicultural education center on the campus who said this can be an opportunity to educate people about "the history of racism in America."

He ain't 'neva lied.

In light of recent events transpiring in Jena, Louisiana, I think this act, whether a prank or motivated by malice and ill will is sad. It shows insensitivity and ignorance about the noose and what it means in THIS country to African Americans. If motivated by ill will, the act shows that brute hatred is still a part of our society...

What will it take to get folks to "just get along", as Rodney King said 15 years ago.