Washington, DC – Today, Congressman William J. Jefferson spoke on behalf of House Resolution 826, a sense of Congress condemning the use of nooses, recognizing them as symbols of intimidation and stating that their use should be prosecutable by law. The resolution was introduced by Representative Al Green (D-TX) and was sponsored by 57 members of Congress including Congressman William Jefferson.

The floor statement is below:

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.Res 826. I commend Representative Al Green for taking this timely and necessary step against the heinous act of noose hanging, an act that can only be described as one of racial intimidation and hate.

Now is the time for the Congress to address the well over 50 incidences of noose hangings that have occurred in just the past 2 ½ months. In my home state of Louisiana atleast three recent events have been reported: one in Jefferson Parish, one in St. Tammany Parish and of course the most famous of all one in Jena, Louisiana.

Mr. Speaker, Professor Ogletree, of Harvard Law School, got it right when in recent testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, relating , to what happened in Jena, La, he said, in part,  “We have failed at basic lessons of history if an American can blithely characterize hanging nooses on a tree as an innocent prank or practical joke, as some officials in Jena have done. This is not an act to be minimized, laughed off or chocked up to ‘childhood shenanigans’…” With more than 3000 people lynched from the late 1800s through the early 1900s , a noose today is a powerful symbol of… pure barbarism. Given the context, the noose to an African-American who
knows his history, is nothing less than an expression of hatred. It is, too, a warning of impending
violence and likely death.”

Indeed, this is the correct reading of history and the correct context in which to view the importance of this resolution.

The composition, “Strange Fruit,” written by Lewis Allan and originally sung by Billie Holiday, lays bare the savagery of lynching and therefore what noose hanging means in real terms to African-Americans. It reads:

Southern trees bear strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees

Pastoral scene of the gallant south
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

I dare suggest that if Mr. Allan were writing today, he would include the North, West and Eastern parts of our country as well, as the pernicious practice of noose hanging is an issue throughout the nation.

It is important to note that their hate hangings affected Jews, Italians and Hispanics over the course of our nation’s history. Indeed, a mass lynching took place in New Orleans, in 1891 when 11 Sicilians were lynched after being found not guilty in the murder of a New Orleans police commissioner. 

Professor Ogletree concluded his referenced testimony by saying “If all that emerges from these unfortunate events [in Jena] are educators’ more systematically informing community members and students about the shameful history of lynching that will be a positive step.”

I agree. But more is needed. The bitter crop of race-based lynchings demands more. It is imperative, then, that noose hanging be condemned as acts of hate and intimidation that encourages violence against African Americans based purely on race and that the laws of our country are strengthened to uniformly punish them as hate crimes in every jurisdiction of our country. I urge the passage of H.Res 826.