Back on June 13, I posted an article about the city of Hartford, Connecticut dedicating a sculpture garden in honor of our nation's 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. In that original post, I included a photo of a sculpture of Lincoln meeting Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin."
The above image is from the original article in The Hartford Courant newspaper. I chose not to include it in my post because of the gentleman in the photo and the obvious fact that this particular sculpture of Abe was not complete, with the hoisting rope still visible in the image.
Imagine my surprise when I then found this column, also in the Courant, relating the fact that some readers called the paper, expressing outrage that this photo depicts Lincoln in a noose! One reader called and stated:
"We have been talking about nooses and what they mean to the black community for the past six months. When we see pictures like that show upon the front page of the paper, it's clear to us in the black community that the newspaper isn't representing us."
The editorial about this photo goes on to explain that the editors of the Courant realized that the photo might cause some consternation, but they elected to run the photo on page 1 anyway.
I realize that the noose is a symbol of hatred and racial intimidation to this day, and for good reason. However, I cannot believe that any reasonable viewer of this photo could possibly interpret the hoisting rope around this Lincoln statue as a noose.
What do you think?
1 comment:
Actually, it looks to me that Abe has his jaw bound in some sort of heavy bandage ... paerhaps he is recovering from a painful tooth extraction?
But a noose. No, the sling is took thick to look like a rope.
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