Coast Guard commandant to speak about noose incidents

NEW LONDON, Conn. — The head of the U.S. Coast Guard plans to visit Coast Guard Academy cadets this week to talk about incidents in which nooses were left for a black cadet and an officer conducting race relations training.

Commandant Admiral Thad W. Allen is scheduled to visit the academy today with U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., who last week called for a thorough investigation and urged Allen to address the full academy.

Cummings, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, said he was utterly shocked to hear about the implicit threats. He praised the efforts of the academy to expand training in race relations, but said that was not enough.

“I am very pleased to be accompanying [Allen] next week when he addresses the entire student body to convey the message that hateful, threatening behavior such as placing nooses among the personal effects of students and officers is both unacceptable and intolerable,” Cummings said in a statement.

Allen’s press secretary, Cmdr. Brendan C. McPherson, said last Wednesday that the commandant was already considering visiting the academy this weekend for homecoming.

“Given the latest reports and Chairman Cummings’ interest in visiting the academy, the commandant firmed things up for his plans this afternoon and extended the invitation for Chairman Cummings to join him,” McPherson said.

The academy’s superintendent, Rear Adm. J. Scott Burhoe, said in a statement that the commandant’s visit will be “a clear symbol of the Coast Guard’s commitment to eliminating discriminatory barriers here and throughout our service.”

An investigation has not determined who left the nooses.

The first was left in the bag of a black cadet in mid-July on board the Coast Guard cutter Eagle, officials said. The cadet pulled out the noose at a crew meeting the next morning and told everyone that he was offended.

The second noose was found in early August on the floor of the office of a white female officer who had been conducting race relations training in response to the first incident.

After the incident on the Eagle, the ship’s commanding officer met with the crew and outlined conduct standards and his expectations, Coast Guard officials said. The commander conducted a full investigation, and all crew members received race relations training.

The academy has also pledged to hold additional racial sensitivity training, seminars and discussions in the coming months.

(Associated Press)