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California Gold Rush town votes to remove noose from its logo
City council decides after emotional comment from residents of Placerville, nicknamed ‘Hangtown’ after 19th-century lynchings
www.theguardian.com
- Placerville nicknamed ‘Hangtown’ after 19th-century lynchings
- City council decides after emotional comment from residents
The California Gold Rush town of Placerville will change its logo to remove a noose that stems from its mid-19th century reputation as “Hangtown” following lynchings of criminal suspects by mobs of miners.
The city council voted on Tuesday night to remove the noose after listening to emotional comment from residents, CBS 13 Sacramento reported.
Some argued that it was part of the history of the town, but others said it was violent and gave the city a bad reputation, the station reported.
The council’s vote was unanimous.
The decision comes amid a reconsidering of images of nooses in the context of racial injustice and the history of violence against black people in America.
The City of Placerville’s Facebook page shows the town’s logo that includes a noose. Photograph: AP
The signs and symbols of Hangtown are commonplace in Placerville, the El Dorado county seat in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada about two hours north-east of San Francisco.
The circular logo shows a miner washing gold in a stream. The noose hangs from a tree in the background. Written around the image are the words “City of Placerville”, “Old Hangtown” and “1854”, the year the city was incorporated.
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Three men were hanged there in the 1840s on 'suspicion.'
I'm glad I missed CA in the mid-19th century.