Written by Chris Berry
A noose was found on Sept. 3 in the office of Abilene Christian University’s Student Congress president Daniel Paul Watkins, a black student. The mainstream media have almost completely ignored this hatefully racist act, but I believe that this must be discussed.
As a white man, I do not feel I can completely empathize with the emotion that a noose carries for an African-American. However, I do feel that I can speak to the fact that the noose symbolizes death and that this symbol should not be taken lightly.
Kevin Berry, my uncle and close friend, committed suicide by hanging on Sept/ 12, 2007 — the first annual Day of Encouragement. He climbed a utility pole in the backyard of my parents’ house in Memphis, Tenn., and hanged himself with a homemade noose. I could not have been more devastated.
After spending a week with my family in Memphis, I returned to class very much still in mourning. I was at the time enrolled in American History Since 1877, in which we were discussing the civil rights movement. The first day I was back in class, we watched a video about public lynchings; the video contained graphic images of African-Americans hanging from nooses.
Though I have always been sensitive to such macabre images, this was something more. The noose had become to me a tangible symbol of death, and the images on the screen became real to me. I walked out of the class and went to talk to Dr. Mark Elrod, a professor and church leader, about what I was going through.
Through my personal experience, the noose has taken on a powerful and very real meaning. When I see a noose — even just the rope itself, tied in a knot—I see death and injustice; I see the tragedy of a fallen world; I see the catastrophe of man with free will; I see the ever-increasing need for God’s mercy, grace and love.
The noose is becoming America’s own swastika, and I cannot even begin to imagine what this symbol means to African-Americans, to a people whose family members were hanged by white men for no reason at all — except for the shamefully superficial reason of skin color.
On this second annual Day of Encouragement, let us encourage people like Daniel Paul Watkins. Let us also encourage people like my uncle Kevin Berry. Let’s encourage each other in every way.
