The Duke University campus was rocked by a startling sight on Wednesday. In a popular area of the campus, a makeshift noose was discovered hanging from a tree.
Though the noose appears to be a cheap nylon symbol more than anything functional, the message is clear enough. Black Student Alliance Vice President Henry Washington and 14 other students had to see the tree in question and found it just as the photos on Twitter had described.
After recent racist chantings found in a video posted online, Duke University is unfortunately becoming known for some of its students being less than accepting of minorities.
Duke University investigates noose found hanging from tree on campus. http://t.co/vSmDxTdUZX pic.twitter.com/jte1zCElqe
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 2, 2015
Larry Moneta , the vice president of student affairs at Duke, has made it clear that this “cowardly act of bias” is unacceptable.
“I can’t begin to describe the disgust and anger I felt, and still feel. Though it has since been removed, the photos are everywhere and its hateful message will sadly pervade and persist for a long time.”
This may not be as bad as the “ white history month ” float full of watermelons in the same state on July 4, 2013, but the discovery at the Duke University campus was just as shocking. A noose is generally equated with slavery and execution of the black community, especially in the South.
University President Richard Brodhead spoke to thousands of students at a campus rally Wednesday, making his stance on the noose clear before the Black Student Alliance.
“This is no Duke we will accept. This is no Duke we want. This is not the Duke we are here to experience, and this is not the Duke we’re here to create.”
The noose was discovered in Bryant Center Plaza, and after complaints, police took it down. The school administration does not want Duke to be known for racism or inequality, and is looking for whoever put it there.
Student Tara-Marie Desruisseaux, 19, stated her opinion on the image that the Duke University campus wants to portray.
“Now I feel like they’re looking back at us and wondering, what were they selling me and what do they accept that they think Duke is so great? I think the fact that Duke is in the South gives it something different from Stanford or Harvard. I think the way that racism resonates is a lot stronger here just because not that long ago Duke’s campus was segregated and the only blacks on this campus were cleaning up bathrooms.”
It could be a while before the Duke University campus finally sheds the racist notions that some students have perpetuated through their actions lately. The noose is merely the latest of these insults, and the administration will not stand for it.
[Image via FM Realty ]
