Rainn Wilson shares photo of a Noose tied in friends tree

Photo by Kristina Bumphrey/StarPix/REX

The Office’s Rainn Wilson decided to share a photo he received from a close friend in an effort to bring attention to the racism still very much alive today.

Taking to instagram this week, Rainn told of his friend Jamey who lives in the LA suburbs with his sister, and found what looks to be a noose on his front yard tree.  Jamey is African American, which makes the incident escalate from simple prank to possible hate crime.

“So my friend Jamey texted me this photo. Looks pretty innocent at first, right? But when you learn that he and his sister are African American, the photo turns instantly chilling,” he began the Instagram post, attaching the front yard photo of the noose.

“When the police were called they said, essentially, ‘what’s the big deal?’ Yolanda lost it. What’s the big deal?” he asked. “Well, officer, the noose is the symbol of lynching which was used to hang thousands of African Americans, especially by the Klan.”

 

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So my friend Jamey texted me this photo. Looks pretty innocent at first, right? But when you learn that he and his sister are African American, the photo turns instantly chilling. This was hung in a tree in her front yard in suburban Los Angeles, to be found by her seventeen year-old daughter. When the police were called they said, essentially, “what’s the big deal?” Yolanda lost it. What’s the big deal? Well, officer, the noose is the symbol of lynching which was used to hang thousands of African Americans, especially by the Klan. Granted, this is a pretty lame noose. Might have been made by some local kids or something. Who knows. But the fact is it is as strong a symbol of racial hatred, violence and oppression as a Swastika. Many folks are in denial about the extent to which racism exists in our country in 2019. Just ask a Black Person. They will tell you stories. Jamey told me today that last year, while playing golf, he was looking for his ball in the brush and a white guy who wanted to play through called out “Hey, you can hurry up, we don’t have you picking cotton anymore!” Not sure if he was trying to be funny or not but literally Jamey’s great grandfather was an ACTUAL SLAVE on a plantation and was regularly beaten there. That’s not that long ago. Great grandfather. And, perhaps, a relative or two of Jamey’s were lynched. Or saw a lynching. Or heard of a lynching. And now, his niece gets to be reminded of what hate looks like. Right in her own front yard in suburban LA.

A post shared by Rainn Wilson (@rainnwilson) on Jun 4, 2019 at 10:38am PDT