Police in Maine are investigating to try to find out who strung a noose from telephone lines in Deer Isle.
The noose has been removed, the Bangor Daily News reported. Police are also investigating to try to find out who vandalized Black Lives Matter signs in the area.
Photos of the noose circulated on social media Friday, which was the Juneteenth holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.
Also, some Mainers are questioning whether Waldo County and other places named after Gen. Samuel Waldo should be renamed because he was a slave owner who made much of his fortune in the trade.
Waldo was a Massachusetts land speculator, merchant and politician in the 18th century. He served as brigadier general during the 1745 British expedition against the French settlement of Louisbourg in Nova Scotia during King George’s War.
He also was a slave trader. “A lot of his wealth was inherited — but a lot was built on slavery,” said Mary Drymon DeRose, a Maine historian and author, told the Bangor Daily News.
The recent scrutiny of Waldo’s legacy comes amid a national reckoning on race. Black Lives Matter protesters are calling for racial justice all across the country. Statues that honor Confederate heroes are toppling
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