Worchester, MA – Lamar Watkins felt shocked when he went into the post office and allegedly saw a hangman’s noose hanging from the middle of a post office room.
According to the NAACP, Watkins went into the post office on June 12 and spotted the noose in the employee area.
He told the organization it was clearly visible to customers from the service counter and he took photos of it.
Watkins says he asked why the noose was there and he says he was ignored.
He then contacted the Worcester NAACP, and it wasn’t until Political Action Co-Chair Chuck Jackson went in to the post office two weeks later, and saw the noose, still hanging. Only when he demanded it be taken down was it removed.
When asked why the noose was up there Jackson said an employee told him the noose was put up as decoration by another employee 20 years ago.
He tells FOX 25?s Crystal Haynes that he’s not buying that story, and a complaint has since been filed with the state Attorney general’s office and the NAACP says the US Attorney General is also investigating.
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“First reaction was shock and disbelief. And in the shock an disbelief then came to anger, Jackson said. “I’m from the south. I was born and raised in North Carolina, and to see stuff like this, I’m almost 53 years old, I remember seeing Ku Klux Klan members walking down the street in offensive gear, walking with hangman nooses in their hands.”
In a statement to FOX25, the US Postal Service said:
“The Postal Service does not tolerate discrimination of any kind, real or perceived. In this matter, the USPS-Office of Inspector General was asked to conduct an independent investigation and upon completion will provide their investigative findings to the Postal Service and the United States Attorney’s Office for any action deemed appropriate.”
No, I see it differently. I am a white woman. And I find it arrogant and offensive! The employee told him it was a decoration. Not a light switch fixture. And in 20 years, not one employee thought it bothersome, if not offensive? Well, that story is fixed. I just say, if you’ve got a problem, speak your peace, don’t torment others with your attitudes and/or prejudices. If it was an innocent string, clearly it offended one person, and it still hung there for two weeks until Mr. Jackson came inquiring about it. One person is to many. When Im on break and hear the guys laughing and telling sexist jokes, hey, I leave. No big deal. Its a guy thing. Its not personal.
If they posted dirty pics, well, that would be a different story.
poor golly gee, poor inspector19, poor lehighguy, a noose to you guys mean nothing, but ask the families of men, women, and children that have been lynched in this country over the last 100 years, just maybe your eyes would open up. lehighguy
what’s stopping you, o yea the lynch mob.
Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! This crap makes me wanna hang myself!
quit wasting peoples time with those ridiculous complaints!
A “noose” made out of string? Are they afraid someone might hang a Barbie doll? This is so stupid I can’t even comprehend how it’s gone this far. Looks like a pull string for a light fixture to me, but the pics of course don’t show what it’s attached to. Bet they’ll interview the employees and discover it’s a pull string for a light fixture and been like that for decades! Better not investigate the loops in people’s shoe laces or the whole office will get fired.