People live. People laugh. People dance. People love Denton. Everything they could ever want and more exist within the city limits. Truth is a frightening thing. Words can make reality appear much different than it is. The veil is quite thin. When pushed aside, Denton looks very different. White people live. White people laugh. White people dance. White people love Denton. Let’s not forget that this is a city that destroyed the homes of people of color and ran them out of town. Let’s not forget that this is a city that has pushed people of color into a specific area. Let’s not forget that this is a city that maintains racist names, monuments and artifacts throughout the city. Let’s not forget…
Something is wrong with my hip. Getting up and sitting down is excruciating. Regardless, I had to go pick up my kids from school. Every step was tough. I waited at the glass doors…just like always. It wasn’t long before I saw both of them running down the stairs. There is nothing that melts my heart more than to hear them say, “I really missed you.” I tried to hurry them along as fast as I could. I needed some rest. Eventually, we started on our journey. Deciding to take a short cut through the park, “We walked swiftly along the sidewalk.” When we turned the corner, I couldn’t believe my eyes. There was a noose hanging from the tree. I got closer just to make sure. It was 30 feet in the air. So, it wasn’t a swing. It was tied very securely with knots. So, someone had to have gotten up there and tied it. It was surrounded and laid on top of various small twigs and branches. So, nobody had been swinging of moving it. After a few minutes, I came to the conclusion that I had when I arrived…it was a noose.
Looking around, I couldn’t believe that all of the white people walking by hadn’t notice. White glasses are often blind the wearer to injustice. In the midst of it all, the noose simply blew back and forth. In the breeze, I knew what I had to do. I called the media first. Multiple photographers and reporters became involved. The consensus was clear…it was a noose and the city will try to say that it’s not. I don’t trust police departments to properly engage incidents like this. Their job is to protect the city…and often the duty to protect extends to the reputation of the city as well. It wasn’t long after I called the police that they arrived. One of the first things the officer said was, “It could be a rope swing.” 30 ft in the air? I paid the comment no mind. I just told him that the noose needed to come down as quickly as possible.
When I went by to check tonight, the noose was still there. I guess the city didn’t want news of a noose to disturb the tranquility of the evening. Make no mistake, this is a white city and they are going to take that noose down on their timeline. I bet it wouldn’t take this long if it was a sign that said, “Fuck White People.” That shit would’ve been down in seconds.
On the way home, I spoke my thoughts…
“This isn’t about a noose hanging in a park. This is about a noose hanging white Denton. This is about a people hanging others by refusing to open their own eyes.”
Amen.
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