Would you vote to....

After her election to the U.S. House of Representatives late this past summer, Rep. Laura Richardson didn't waste any time in submitting her first piece of congressional legislation: a joint resolution which would criminalize the hanging of nooses in public spaces. Her act of leadership has roots in the rash of noose-related incidents sweeping the nation since the widespread outcry over the fate of the "Jena 6." The Southern Poverty Law Center has tracked reported incidents since the events in Louisiana began several months ago. In the past decade or so, only about a dozen noose incidents a year came to the attention of civil rights groups. But since the huge Sept. 20 rally in Jena, the country has seen a rash of as many as 60.

Here is a commentary on the Geography of Hate in the NY Times.

Not everyone is supporting Rep. Richardson's resolution--notably, the ACLU is undecided on the issue of symbols as free speech....What do you think? Is criminalizing nooses an appropriate response to these atrocious hate acts?

Comments

[xJane]

You know, I don't think that it is. It's like criminalizing a word. What might be better would be to actually punish the perpetrators of hate crimes, to educate youth (and adulth) so that hate crimes decrease, and to protect those in need of protection. Banning one symbol will simply make perpetrators find a different symbol; meanwhile other legitimate or innocent uses of that symbol will be suspect or criminalized (I can see the debates now: is it a noose or not?!)