Noose found hanging at Duke University two weeks after racist incident

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/01/noose-found-hanging-duke-university-racism-claims

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Duke University students found a noose hanging from a tree along the school’s main thoroughfare early on Wednesday morning, rattling the campus less than two weeks after a black student was allegedly taunted by white students singing a racist chant.

Police removed the noose, made of yellow string, from a tree in Bryan Center Plaza around 2.45am. A spokesman for the department said police were still gathering information on the case.

Larry Moneta, vice-president for student affairs, emailed students hours later, writing: “I can’t begin to describe the disgust and anger I felt, and still feel.

“To whomever committed this hateful and stupid act, I just want to say that if your intent was to create fear, it will have the opposite effect,” he wrote.

Moneta said campus services would be available for all students, and “if we’re able to identify [anyone] responsible for committing this act of intimidation, they will be held fully accountable.”

The Duke People of Color Caucus, an anonymous group recently formed to address racism at the school, posted a statement urging black people to take care: “This campus is not a safe space, and has proven beyond any doubt that it is a hostile environment for any and all black people.”

The group also voiced concerns about an incident on 22 March, when a black female student said a group of white men taunted her with the same racist chant that had resulted in the expulsion of students at the University of Oklahoma earlier that month. The students, members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, sang a song with racial epithets about lynching black people before granting them membership in the group.

Duke’s president, Richard Brodhead, and provost Sally Kornbluth wrote to students after the incident. Brodhead and Kornbluth reaffirmed the school’s commitment to an inclusive and tolerant community, and called for students to come forward with information.

Students then posted dozens of notes on the glass wall of the Black Student Alliance office with their suggestions and concerns for what needs to change at Duke.

The administration has not said so far whether its investigation has found who might have been responsible for the racist song.

Students have so far expressed shock and horror at the discovery of the noose, as well as disappointment with the administration. “Crazy how Duke administration wrote a response to the noose that was hung from a tree on campus last night without using the word racism,” one junior wrote on Twitter.

“The racists got the email and saw that there would be no action taken. Free pass to press on,” another student wrote. “As an institution, a noose should put you on a collision course with your racism.”

Also on Wednesday, the assistant chief of an Indiana fire department was demoted for having tied and left a noose in the station in February. The firefighter has since apologized while also insisting he “had no malicious intent”.