ABHORRENT

Noose Found in African American History and Culture Museum

Second such incident within a week on the grounds of the Smithsonian.

Tourists in Washington, D.C. reported they found a noose in an exhibition on segregation in the Smithsonian’s new National Museum of African American History and Culture on Wednesday afternoon. The noose was removed after park police came to investigate the scene and the exhibit was reopened within three hours. “The noose has long represented a deplorable act of cowardice and depravity—a symbol of extreme violence for African Americans. Today’s incident is a painful reminder of the challenges that African Americans continue to face,” Lonnie Bunch, the director of the museum, wrote in an email to staff. This incident came four days after a noose was found hanging from a tree outside the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum.