[RP TownTalk] unfortunate incident gets Riverdale Park in the Post

[Nancy Augustine]

I saw this in the newspaper, this morning. 

I am very, very grateful that the Town dealt with this quickly. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'm angry that two people - town employees, no less - would do something so stupid to make my town look so bad. Although it could have happened anywhere, it's an unfortunate reminder of what PG used to be, a place where a lot of people would think that putting up a noose is funny. 

At the same time, I'm very happy that it's not being tolerated. Hurray for Vern, making such a strong statement that this is NOT what we are about. 

Nancy
Riverdale Road


=====================
From: Dwight Holmes <dwightrholmes at gmail.com>
Date: 2007/12/14 Fri AM 09:52:11 CST
To: TownTalk <towntalk at riverdale-park.org>
Subject: [RP TownTalk] unfortunate incident gets Riverdale Park in the Post

Sounds like our Mayor and everyone handled this well...sorry they had to handle it at all.

Two Suspended After Noose Incident

By Avis Thomas-Lester
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 14, 2007; B03

Two RiverdalePark town employees were suspended yesterday in connection with anincident in which a noose was found hanging in a town building,officials said.
The noose was found dangling from a televisionFriday in an employee lounge at the Department of Public Works, saidseveral employees who did not want to be identified because of thesensitivity of the incident. Workers discovered it after returning froma job outside the building, the employees said.
Michael Scott, acting director of the department, would not identify the suspended employees or discuss the incident.
"Wehave suspended two employees pending the completion of the city'sinvestigation," he said, adding: "Yes, it is in regards to a noose, butI cannot get into any of the specifics about who or what or any ofthat."
Mayor Vernon Archer said town officials took actionWednesday after being notified of the incident. He said that it isbeing treated seriously.
"Not under any circumstances will thiskind of thing be tolerated," Archer said. He would not say who notifiedtown administrators or why they were not notified sooner.
The employees who did not want to be named said that a man and a woman, both white, said they hung the rope.
"Peoplewere really upset about it," one of the employees said. "Two peopleadmitted they did it. They said they were just joking around, that theywere trying to be funny. We didn't think it was funny. We told them itrepresented people being lynched and killed."
More than 4,700 people died by lynching in the 19th and 20th centuries, most of them black men.
Severalnooses have been found elsewhere recently, in the Washington area andother parts of the country. In August, one was discovered at the University of Maryland near the black cultural center. Near Jena, La.,the site of recent racial tensions, two men were arrested in Octoberafter being accused of driving with nooses attached to their pickuptruck. Also that month, a noose was found on the office door of a blackprofessor at Columbia University.
Archer said that relations are usually positive among races in Riverdale Park, an ethnically diverse community of 6,500 near College Park and Hyattsville in northern Prince George's County.
"Rightnow, we are trying to deal with the incident itself, and from there,how to counsel anyone who was offended or hurt will be part of theconsideration," he said. "People here generally get along very well.That's why something like this is extremely unusual."
Staff writer Ovetta Wiggins contributed to this report.

-- 
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"Don't tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value." --Sen. Joe Biden
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