Noose Found On Office Door Of Black Professor At Columbia U

WNBC:

A noose was found at Columbia University's Teachers College on Tuesday morning, police said.

A black professor found the symbol of hate dangling from her office door in a campus building on 120th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam.

Teachers College would not release the professor's name, but students said she teaches a class on social justice and is a vocal proponent of racial equality. However, a source identified the teacher as Madonna Constantine.

Read the whole story: WNBC

Comments

[drblack]

Though this kind of thing is extremely distasteful an actual bodily harm is more alarming.
People make fun of other people all the time.
They are jerks, and vile, but a sense of priorities has to be maintained.
Is this a serious threat or some jerky joker?

[dleonard123]

Here's my line -- 50-50 odds that it was the "victim" herself or one of her supporters. 40-60 odds that is was the person she sued for "defamation". 25-75 odds that it was a student who was unhappy with a grade or something. 1-99 odds that it was truly an act to threaten her race. Any takers? Yes, in any outcome there's an element of race -- but the rush to call this a hate crime is premature.

[Kalima]

You are a country founded by Pilgrims from
many nations.You took land from the owners
of that land and gave back little in return.
You ripped black Africans from their homeland
to be slaves on your plantations.
Now in 2007 you can't see the implication
of nooses springing up all over the country
like weeds.
America's cleaning up their act should not
only be limited only to government but to the
people too.
I would be ashamed.
Who are these people?

[freeloader]

If it is true that racism is so prevalent in our society, shouldn't there be enough authentic incidents for "progressives" to point to without having to resort to concocting fakes? Of course. Conversely, if there really aren't many examples of hate crimes for progressives to trot out as evidence of our evil ways, then . . . well, shouldn't folks be happy about that? Clearly not. The Left's "progressive" agenda runs on the fuel of hate and indignation. Where none exists, it must be manufactured. Like ethanol. Otherwise the major constituencies of the Democratic Party might stop believing that they are helpless to lead productive, happy lives without the intervention of the kindly, wise politicians and the generous gifts of other people's money.

[1love]

hey freeloader,
i applaude your comments!!! the KKK most certainly is not accepted by a majority of "white" americans. a majority of people of color don't get higher intrest rates on their home loans. when blacks get stopped in their cars for "fitting the description" of one who has recently committed a crime, they usually have. when i as a graduate of M.I.T and senior partner in an engineering firm constantly gets passed by while hailing a cab in new york city, i must have both forgotten to take my gold teeth out and left my belt at home. when a police in seattle kills an unarmed black kid and is put on paid administrative leave then is awarded the officer of the month, the kid must have deserved it for a crime committed in his past life. but it's all good......i wish you all the best...what a country, and i mean that seriously (peaceful transition of power and we all have an opportunity to put food on our tables...for me those are the 2 best attributes of OUR country)...can we all just get along?????

p.s i just knocked off work, took my belt and button down shirt off, to reveal my boxers and white t, got 3 blunts rolled up in the ash tray of my 07 benz, got some too short in the trunck, got my gold grill and mr t chains in the glove compartmant, and me and my black queen bout to go pick up some fried chicken, some old e and hypnotic, condoms, my #1 snow bunny and go back to my crib to have a lil adult FUN......hit me back dog, i'm straight and i don't mine sharing.......hou u during?

[freeloader]

Reaction to the KKK legitimated Black cultural acceptance of crime, especially including "hate" crime. The KKK is no longer accepted in white America, but black reaction to its action in the past has not been delegitimated. It is, rather, nourished--by black and white con artists. Including, tragicly, the media.
Take away the media hype legitimating reaction to essentially phantom threats, and the problem would be greatly ameliorated within a generation. But what then would journalism have to talk about?

[MyLadyMacbeth]

if you apply yourself it doesn't matter where you go to school. If you don't apply yourself even Harvard can't help you. see Bush. So it's all BS. Most of our famous scientists in the world where poor. Some of them didn't even have electricity and studied by candle light. all BS all politics
-----------------------------------------------
I wish that were true but it is not.In fact that is one of the old adges that was used to permeate the elite WASPS around the world.That is how Britain built an empire.They applied themselves so the sun never ste on their empire.Suppression is the exact force that does not allow the capable tthe chance to "apply"themselves.If gurantees the old stereo types because it hides behind them somehow insinuating that people who never get a chance just do not apply themselves.Then the best part of that argument is when they do exert energy to stop the barriers which would be the only way they can apply themselves they become trouble makers,rabble rousers,extremists or any other label you wish to add to that list.The elite have doors open to them most people never get to see.Then to say all politics is BS?That "BS' rules your life no matter where you live.Those "BS" artists decide what ahppen to youe wages and in fact the internet your on.You have just spouuted underwhelming wealth of cliches.

[freeloader]

...a must read.

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

If 'MyLadyMacbeth' would just proofread her 'copy' before submission, it would communicate MUCH more clearly what she intends. Spelling errors and bad punctuation detract from her impact.

[freeloader]

What would happen if, instead, we returned to the idea of individual accountability, and gave up the totalitarian fantasies of reparations and "social justice," in which oppressed classes exact retribution from their age-old oppressors? What if we returned to the real world in which individuals commit indefensible misdemeanors and monstrous crimes. What if we revived the idea of making the punishment fit the actual deed? Think of all the people who wouldn't know what to do with themselves if that were to happen. Why some would not have the television too spew their own form of racism. Get over yourselves, it'll help.

[A Meat Beetle]

freeloader: Yeah, it would be nice if conservatives, when they got caught doing something illegal, or they got called for saying something stupid or hateful, or when they just exposed the fact that they are worthless, subhuman scum, would accept personal responsibility and accountability. Instead, it's always a "liberal conspiracy" or the "liberal media". It's always someone else's fault. Think of all the people who wouldn't know what to do with themselves if that were to happen:
Tom Delay
Larry Craig
Pat Robertson
Jerry Fallwell (currently burning in hell)
George Bush
Donald Rumsfeld
Rush Limbaugh
Bill O'Reilly
Ann Coulter
Alberto Gonzalez
Clarence Thomas
Michael Savage
Newt Gingrich
Rudy Giuliani
Bill Kristol
Karl Rove
Bob Novak

Well, that's nowhere near all of them, but it's a good start.

[Amhet]

Its easy to point out someone elses moral flaws and lack of ethics when you dont have morals OR ethics.

[avergejoe]

Hey, they dont deny the jewish holocaust!

We can overlook other minor problems.

[Rand]

ALL forms of bigotry are wrong... Including what seems to be your favorite

[wsblake]

Symbols carry with them powerful subconcious messages. In many ways in an image -driven culture such as ours, far more powerfully than any other form of communication. And the noose symbolizes a dark period in American history, when vigilantism and lynching were commonplace. That having been said, the media is once again exploiting an incident that should have been handled on the campus of Columbia. Just to get higher ratings ,profit-driven corporate media is once again further polarizing and dividing America along racial lines.

[BigBagel]

Columbia is a hotbed of white supremacists. Many of the students are skinheads and members of Aryan Nation. Confederate flags hand from many dorm windows. The tattooed women are particularly mean.

[dora rice]

hang a noose in the darkness of night and a movement is born. Otherwise you would first find the perpetrator and then accuse . All BS by the ones who profit the most.

[dora rice]

how do we know a white person hung the noose?
how about a black trouble maker ? today anyone does anything . To make such a fuzz over a fricking noose and blame a whole segment of population , because some idiot hung a noose, shows there are a lot of dumb people in this world, including academia

[Joeseo]

Proves the adage: Give 'em enough rope and they will hang themselves.

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

Dead on, "Dora"! The PC continue to make the mistake of acknowledging the power of the SYMBOL with their overblown reaction: The PC are looking for a reason to be disturbed. The display or composition of ANY symbol is 'protected speech'! Such displays may be distasteful and/or aesthetically displeasing (e.g., the wearisome 'peace sign'....), but they only have power when they are able to elicit a reaction. At that point--and that point only--does the portrayer have any, albeit fleeting, power....

For example: What power does display of the sickle and hammer possess since the collapse of Marxism? Now, it's a curiosity whereas once it conveyed hope(?) to a few romantics and a sense of awe to a cadre of domineering fanatics.

Americans have culturally 'thin skins'--rather like Muslims--and would act more rationally if they discarded some of their semiotic baggage.

[ResidentChimp]

So much pontificating, so few facts.

[itmaybetoolate]

That's helpful. What facts are you looking for? Do you disagree that hanging a noose on the door of a n African-American is an act of hate? Would you support the expulsion of any student involved in this incident? Do you disagree that this can be interpreted as a threat against the teacher involved? Do you believe that racism in america is dead? Just wondering.

[Lucille]

Some of the media says the investigation is looking towards a fellow professor, one that is jealous of this professor.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if it were a professor because as a student in both high school and college, I was subjected to racist acts from adults not the students.

[GundamJack]

I am really upset about this whole matter and I am worried that we will see more of the crap down the road. We need to stop the hanging of nooses around American and the republican are full of crazy white people. Most of the republican party is part of KKK, neo Nazi, and skinhead groups. I feel that each of the hate groups are destroying this country. They act like the 9/11 Terrorists and the Terrorists in Iraq. We are fighting a born evil in this country and we need to fight back because the police are not going to protect us. The laws in this country protect the richest people and the white people. Thank you so much Mr. President Bush for nothing.

[freeloader]

Reaction to the KKK legitimated Black cultural acceptance of crime, especially including "hate" crime. The KKK is no longer accepted in white America, but black reaction to its action in the past has not been delegitimated. It is, rather, nourished--by black and white con artists. Including, tragicly, the media.
Take away the media hype legitimating reaction to essentially phantom threats, and the problem would be greatly ameliorated within a generation. But what then would journalism have to talk about?

[A Meat Beetle]

Hey, you just said that!

[freeloader]

Reaction to the KKK legitimated Black cultural acceptance of crime, especially including "hate" crime. The KKK is no longer accepted in white America, but black reaction to its action in the past has not been delegitimated. It is, rather, nourished--by black and white con artists. Including, tragicly, the media.
Take away the media hype legitimating reaction to essentially phantom threats, and the problem would be greatly ameliorated within a generation. But what then would journalism have to talk about?

[A Meat Beetle]

Hey, you just said that!

[blindyone]

If this incident at Columbia turns out to be an aggrieved colleague, Black or White, so be it. That person should be exposed and charged for the police investigation. But the bigots can jump up and down as much as they want. Several dozen racial hoaxes over two hundred years or so do not cancel out the vicious racial history of this country. We need to move on. And moving on doesn't mean that White people get to cling to a racial hoax, or a corrupt congressman, or a fallen athlete and say, "Ah, that's better. We're all even now." Sorry, it should be that easy. Oh, and I'll go all "Al Sharpton" whenever I damn well feel like it.

[Natec2]

2)¦ all b/c of "black skin!" The more things change the more they stay the same. And to prove that a large number of whites (not all)in this country are racist, I have 4 points. 1) NOT ONE president and his administration, or congress, have ever put forth any legislation calling the "kkk" a TERRORISTIC ORGANIZATION; with all their murders and killings¦nothing. 2) Not one mega church-evangelical leader has spoken out against racism or stood with black ministers on any incident where a white person has been proven to be a racist. 3) The number of white that would respond to this by saying I am racist for pointing out the sins of whites¦are racist. 4) Every time a white person says "everything is fair and equal now, racism doesn"t exist", GOD allows the truth to be seen; i.e Katrina & Jena6. Based on these four things and the history of the brutal treatment by white people to blacks¦ we are 3-5 years away from a new civil war in this country. There are "MANY" people willing to die for this (Black AND Hispanic), because white America has proven for hundreds of years that it will not change and it does not have enough good people, with courage, to bring about that change. I love all "good people" and I pray it does not come to this¦ but I know people! Remember, a good majority of whites voted twice for a man that started an occupation, based on lies, giving rise to a civil war among its people¦America is about to reap what it has sown.

[nihilon x]

I disagree.

If things hadn't really changed, black kids and white kids wouldn't even be going to school together today, nor would they be able to marry one another, nor would they even be allowed to be friends in some places.

Yes, there are some -- possibly even many -- whites who hold on to these ideals, but at least the laws have changed to allow for any black person who is willing to make the effort to become a doctor, a business owner, a congressman, a bishop, an astronaut, or possibly even the president.

Before you go promoting war for any reason at least recognize the truth -- racism does indeed still exist in America, but there is no reason why one can't rise above it if one makes the effort.

Instead of spending all of that energy on anger, focus it on using all of the opportunities out there for you to do good and to improve the situations around you.

Violence solves nothing -- it only brings about more violence.

[fitz]

Now thats some funny shit,

one nutty lib prof hangs a noose on anothers door and homeslice here is ready to bust out the camo and go commando.

But before you hit the streets lookin to make whitey pay, you best double check your numbers.

And you better not be counting on Julio having your back. Last I checked, groups like M13 and the Latin Kings would sooner pop a cap in your black ass than look at you. They are definitely not down with el negro.

So listen to nihilon, and go sleep it off before you do something extra stupid.

[hannitizer]

"But before you hit the streets lookin to make whitey pay, you best double check your numbers.

And you better not be counting on Julio having your back. Last I checked, groups like M13 and the Latin Kings would sooner pop a cap in your black ass than look at you. They are definitely not down with el negro."

Oh please. Please, whomever you are, please try to refrain from speaking on behalf of anyone who may happen to have a similar, or common ancestry.

Your biggoted and racist remarks only give evidence to the lack of education that has befallen you. In terms you may understand;

Hey boy you best get yurself sum edumacation purty dang soon foren I half to edumacate you myself.

[Natec2]

1)There is a plethora of recent events that are leading up to the fact that no matter what religion, ethnicity, political affiliation, or economic status; you will be "touched" by the hatred and evil this country was founded on. Allow me to elaborate; there is no word, and I mean NO WORD like the word "nigger." NO word, like this, exists for Jews, Mexicans, Asians, Whites, Arabic, ect. It is the one noun in our language that gives a name to some of the world"s most horrific atrocities that men could inflict on one another. It is that one name that represents death and degradation of an entire race of people for 400 years. It was so powerful that a symbol was born from the thousands upon thousands of deaths caused by it¦ and so came, "the noose." These representations of "the evil" from so many white people of this land strike so hard at the heart and soul of black people today because this was the 1st sin of this country that gained "legacy." In that, it was passed down from one person to the next, who committed the same horrific acts has his father did before him. And thus, generations of Black have felt this "evil," not once, but many times. And to see these events in generation after generation with no end in sight, is causing blacks to wonder, is our existence so powerful that they had to enslave us, deny us an education, all the way to the right to live. It cannot be simply "skin color," that they hate us for; it must be something far deeper than that b/c the rationale behind this "evil" would mean utter insanity for millions of people (past and present). 300 years of slavery, oppression, lynching, 2/3 of a person, Jim Crow, church burning, rape, killing children, home burning, torture, ect. all done in the past only to give birth to MLK"s death, Katrina, Jena6, a black woman beaten a raped by 5 white ppl, police terrorists, & SO MANY OTHER INCIDENTS