University of Maryland Possible Hate Crime

College Park, Maryland

A noose was discovered hanging outside the Nyumburu Cultural Center, the heart of “black social, cultural, and intellectual interaction” at the University of Maryland, College Park. C.D. Mote Jr., President of the University issued a statement this past weekend expressing dismay and shock at this clear assault on the black student population and carefully acknowledged the employ of a noose, and its undertones: “The possibility that this act appears intended to bring to mind the horrific crime of lynching, which is a such a terrible and tragic part of our nation’s past, is particularly abhorrent”. Mote went on to ensure that a full investigation will be launched, including review of all surveillance tapes, interviews, and physical evidence at the scene as well as interviews with those who come forward with information.

Students and faculty at the Nyumburu Cultural Center, a meeting place for African-American faculty and staff for 27 years, reported the noose early Friday afternoon. Nyumburu is the Swahili word for “freedom house”.

Lynching, an indescribably horrific method of execution was used to terrorize and intimidate black men and women. The last lynching is recorded as occurring in 1968, though many regard the 1998 murder of James Byrd in Jasper Texas a later occurrence.

Link to the Jena 6

Evidently, this incident will add to the annals of tense-filled race relations then and now. The ongoing, high profile case of 5 black students from Jena, La. who have become known as the ‘Jena 6′, has triggered a nationalized discussion, as do all controversial events having to do with race. And when the furor dies down, what grips our attention for the time being, will be swept under the national rug-until the next time a radio jock steps out of political correct bounds and forays into what may be natural-behind closed doors, or a natural disaster is handled dispassionately, or when the murder of two people becomes a national story not because our human family is so interconnected that what affects one affects all, because the victim was a white female and her companion, and the accused famous-but black. The lack of frank and blunt discourse on race relations only compounds things further and undoubtedly result in a delayed aggression.

More on this story as it develops.