UPDATED: Wednesday, May 31, 9 P.M. ET:
Lonnie Bunch III, founding director of the National Museum of African American History & Culture, condemned the cowards who left a noose in the museum’s history gallery on Wednesday.
“The noose has long represented a deplorable act of cowardice and depravity–a symbol of extreme violence for African Americans,” he said in a statement released via Twitter. Read the complete statement below:
The incident comes on the heels of the discovery of another noose found hanging from a tree outside the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum in the District of Columbia on Friday.
Noose Discovered Hanging Near Smithsonian Museum
A noose was discovered hanging from a tree outside the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum in the District of Columbia on Friday, reports the Chicago Tribune.
From the Chicago Tribune:
U.S. Park Police say the noose was found Friday on the grounds of the Hirshhorn Museum. Officials said in a statement that it’s unclear how long the noose had been there. It was found by a Smithsonian police officer.
The Washington Post reports that Smithsonian Secretary David J. Skorton said in an email to staff that the institution is committed to being a “welcoming, inclusive and safe place for all.” He said he knows staff will join him in “deploring” the act.
The discovery comes weeks after bananas marked with the letters “AKA,” a reference to the historically Black college sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha, were discovered hanging from nooses on American University’s campus in the District of Columbia.
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune