In the 1930’s, Billy Holiday sang a selection titled, "Strange Fruit." The lyrics progressed as such:

Here we are in a new century. We have attempted to legislate morality and harness the ugliness of racism and classism but somehow, like the weeds that choke the beauty of gardens worldwide, that strange fruit finds a way to just keep growing from campuses of academia, professional settings and the origin of the rural south. They are not a vestige of ancient days gone by, but rather a footstep and visible sign of the time in which we live. They cannot be ignored and dismissed as meaningless signals.

The dangerous reality is that such racism and terrorism is representative of every facet of society and exactly what our society thinks about people of color. Socially, it is the personification of every Jena, Louisiana case, Genarlow Wilson / Marcus Dixon Case, Don Imas and every Duke Lacrosse team, police misconduct along racial lines, and every predatory lending institution. It is, furthermore, the basis for every attack on affirmative action and the disparities in criminal justice, health care and educational systems.  It is the reality that while the bell on wall street tolls, other less conspicuous crowds are wondering what ever happened to the "trickle down theory" of a "kinder gentler" nation. It represents everything that is wrong with our society and is the exact opposite of the beloved community. 

Hanging a noose shows complete disrespect and is a slap in the face to the countless number of persons of African descent it was used to both terrorize and murder by day and by the cover of night. It mocks the innumerable gallons of blood the ground holds from its victims. It uplifts and glorifies every white supremacy group and religion that dehumanizes anybody of the global community. And being as such, I continue to maintain that it must not be ignored but taken with open minds for what it is. And so, in that there are those who have attempted to divide our nation by color, we now must find, as they have done, evermore creative ways of fighting a moral battle. In ancient days, racism, with all of its ugliness, was blatant and forthright. Now it has morphed into an ever-present horrifying subtleness. In this new day and new era, just like those days of old, I submit, the American cultural tree still bears the same terrorizing strange fruit.

The Reverend D. D. Prather, is a noted Civil/Social Justice Activist, and a native of Atlanta, GA . Click here to contact the Reverend Prather.