Major Update: The noose hanging in the door of the historic Tate Depot has been removed and is in the custody of the county.
I got this email from the editor of Smoke Signals and I appreciate her prompt followup:
Donna,
Our Pickens reporter met with Pickens County Sole Commissioner Rob Jones.
The noose is gone; see attached photo. We weren't able to find out who put
it there or when -- but it's gone. I wished we could have gotten more
information.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I wish we had been able to
find out more for you. I can assure you that most people I know would have
been just as appalled as you were at seeing the noose. That said, there are
still remnants of racism, I believe, in many parts of our country. It's up
to the rest of us to ensure those remnants are revealed for what they are!
Barbara
Barbara Schneider
Executive Editor
Smoke Signals/Smoke Signals Online
bschneider@bigcanoenews.com
www.bigcanoenews.com
Original Diary is below:
Noose on display at Historic Tate Depot
This past Saturday, some friends and I were driving back from Big Canoe, GA, when we stopped to take pictures of the Historic Tate Depot in Tate, GA. The building will be moved and made part of a historical display in that city. It’s a very picturesque old building, and I have a love for old train depots and steam trains. Here’s my first shot.
I also love to take pictures of old doors, so I moved in closer.
What could that be displayed behind the tattered old door? I move in closer. My eyes just totally do not register what is right in front of me. There are some images that the eye learns not to see, and this is one of them.
I felt my stomach lurch. I was born and raised in the South and have lived here for long periods of my life. I currently live in Marietta, a small city just outside Atlanta. I remember the separate water fountains and the “Whites Only” signs. I remember the electric trolleys with the signs telling “colored people” to move to the back. I remember a field trip to the Joel Chandler Harris House when I was in grammar school. Here, at the home of the author of Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit and other beloved stories of my childhood, I heard the “gentleman” at the front door tell several black children in the waiting line, “We don’t allow n****rs in here.”
I sent this letter by email to The Atlanta Journal, The Marietta Daily Journal, and several other newspapers located near Tate.
Noose on display at Historic Tate Depot
On Saturday, February 19, 2011, while driving through Tate, Georgia, we stopped to take pictures of the historic Tate Depot.
Imagine my surprise and disgust to encounter one of the most violent symbols of hatred and racism in the history of the South displayed in the door of the old building...a noose!
Attached are some pictures of said noose. This is an outrage. I am white and was born and raised in the South. To find something like this displayed right out in public in a historical building leads me to believe that we have not made as much progress in race relations as we'd like to believe. What is the message here?
