A Rash of Nooses: Terrorism American Style.

Say what you will about international terrorism and radical Islam. America is the real land of terrorism. The War on Terrorism should have begun here - a century ago. This seems only fitting because historically terrorism began in the United States. Webster's Dictionary tells us that terrorism is "the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims". Can you say lynching?

Lynchings were used to enforce white supremacy and to intimidate African Americans by racial terrorism for more than a century. According to the NAACP History of Lynching from 1882-1968, 4,743 lynchings occurred in the United States. Of the people who were lynched the overwhelming majority 3,446 were black. There is no question that the purpose for these lynchings was to intimidate African Americans to discourage and ultimately prevent our pursuit of political aims and the maintain white supremacy.

The last recorded lynching in the United States was of Michael Donald in Mobile, Alabama in 1981. Several Ku Klux Klan (KKK) members beat and killed Michael Donald, a young African-American man, and hung his body from a tree. They acted because the trial of a black man accused of killing a white man resulted in a hung jury. Michael Donald had nothing to do with the case and was selected at random to be lynched. This was apparently done to send a message to prospective jurors before the next trial. Then there was the case of James Byrd who was the victim of lynching-by-dragging in Texas in 1998.

Despite these gruesome facts there has never been an anti-lynching law enacted at the state or federal level. Attempts to enact such legislation have always been blocked by southern Democrats. But did you know that we have a Federal Animal Welfare Act. Remember Michael Vick? In 2007 he was sentenced to 23 months in prison for violation of the that Act.

Now we are seeing nooses, the quintessential symbol of lynching, appearing all over the place, a vertiable rash of nooses. The Southern Poverty Law Center notes that the noose "depicts the horrors of racial violence perpetrated against African Americans and others” and that it shows "support for the days of segregation and subjugation, epitomizing the essence of discrimination...." They also report that such incidents are on the rise. But the noose is much more. It is a calculated attempt in modern times to raise the specter of prior unrequited atrocities at the hands of hooded cowards and white supremacist terrorists whose intent it was to intimidate and control African Americans to insure that we never gain enough power to determine our own destiny. It should also be noted that among these hooded cowards and white supremacists were often to be found local sheriffs and other law enforcement officers. When I see the noose or the burning cross for that matter I think of the "bitter fruit" that Lady Day sang about. I think especially of Mary Turner who was lynched in 1918 set on fire and whose unborn child was cut from her stomach and stomped to death. Lynching like all terrorism is about intimidation for political purposes. But why now?

Donald Trump is President of the United States both houses of Congress have Republican majorities, we have a majority conservative Supreme Court and thirty nine Republican governorships - the same climate as when Dred Scott v. Sandford and Plessy v. Ferguson were deciced. Not to mention that slavery as punishment for crime is still legal. Can you say mass incarceration?

Recently Rep. Al Green (D. Tex) an African American Congressman was threatened with lynching (by anonymous callers to his congressional office) because he called for the impeachment of President Trump. Some things never change - but some things do. Hooded cowards and their confederates take note. In the words of Rep. Green "I will not be intimidated ..." Let the word go out - the days of white supremacist intimidation are over. The noose has no color.

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Johnnie Cordero holds a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and a Doctorate in Jurisprudence. He is author of Total Black Empowerment: A Guide to Critical Thinking in the Age of Trump.