A Tennessee Art Student's Rainbow Noose Project Sparks Outrage

A Tennessee art student’s project was installed for less than an hour before it was swiftly removed by police for its insensitivity. 

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Six rainbow-colored nooses were hung on a tree at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee as a project “meant to address the cycle of death and rebirth that is represented by the arrival of spring.” The student, whose name was not disclosed added, “I had no social or political statements in mind. I did not take into consideration that nooses are a racially charged symbol, for that I am sorry.”

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Nooses have been a racially-charged symbol for quite sometime, especially in the south and Tennessee, where black people have been lynched, so it’s hard to believe anyone wouldn’t think a little harder before installing a project like this. However, the initial concept was approved with the professor expressing some concern about how it would be interpreted. Speculation suggest that the project was meant to highlight the struggles facing the LGBT community. 

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University President Alisa White stated, “This incident is deeply disturbing and is hurtful to our university community. I am saddened, and I am sorry for the hurt and offense this has caused.”

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