To Mr. Tim Currier, Mayor of Massena, New York:

We urgently need to hear from you about the noose left in a Black Massena family’s driveway on Saturday, July 25, 2020. Leaving a noose on someone’s property without permission is a crime of aggravated harassment in New York State. We need to see Massena police follow through and charge the person who did this.

This family and all Black, Indigenous, and People of Color residents of St. Lawrence County deserve safety, respect, and goodwill. Stand up now for inclusion and equity in the North Country. We value a diverse, safe, and inclusive community.

The noose is a racist threat with a long and unmistakable history. President George W. Bush said in 2008, “For generations of African Americans, the noose was more than a tool of murder; it was a tool of intimidation that conveyed a sense of powerlessness to millions.” (Source: See splc.org source below.) 

Mayor Currier, we need to hear your outrage and concern for how this act impacts and threatens this family. We need to see you make it clear that you stand against such hateful and threatening symbolism. Don’t wait. Step up and stop this threatening harassment now.

Here are some expert perspectives on the violent racism symbolized by the noose:

The noose is widely understood to be a threat of racist murder. “In America, the hangman's noose has come to symbolize a deplorable act of brutality, along with unbound fear and hatred towards African Americans. It's a reminder of America's dark history of racial violence . . . ‘The noose always means much more than a knot in a rope,’ said Jack Shuler, an associate professor at Denison University and author of "The Thirteenth Turn: A History of the Noose." 'The noose was a tool used to kill people and, therefore, it is a threat -- it is violent speech. The noose has become the new burning cross.’ . . . It's a symbol of America's history of lynchings. The NAACP estimates that more than 4,700 people were lynched in the US between 1882 and 1968, although Shuler believes the number is probably much higher. Almost 73% of them were Black.” (Source: “Why the noose is such a potent symbol of hate,” CNN, June 23, 2020.)

The leading national organization on racist extremism writes: “Perhaps no other symbol — even a burning cross — depicts the horrors of racial violence perpetrated against African Americans and others more than the noxious hangman's noose. Nooses show support for the days of segregation and subjugation, epitomizing the essence of discrimination. The noose not only symbolizes racism, but also served as the actual murder implement for the lynching of people because of the color of their skin. As the NAACP said in its 2007 ‘State of Emergency’ report: ‘The hangman's noose is a symbol of the racist, segregation-era violence enacted on blacks. … [It is] an unmistakable symbol of violence and terror that whites used to demonstrate their hatred for blacks.’ Last February, President Bush agreed: ‘For generations of African Americans, the noose was more than a tool of murder; it was a tool of intimidation that conveyed a sense of powerlessness to millions.’ . . . [As of September 2007] New York amended an aggravated-harassment law to bar the depiction or display of a noose. It provides that such action is a crime unless the person has the permission of the private or public property owner. In July, Louisiana passed a similar measure forbidding ‘any person, with the intent to intimidate any person or group of persons, to etch, paint or draw or otherwise place or display a hangman's noose on the property of another, a highway, or other public place.’” (Source: “Can government outlaw the display of hangman's nooses?” Southern Poverty Law Center, splc.org, November 30, 2008.)