#Placerville #Noose #WhiteGuilt #California

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 first lynchings, of two Frenchmen and a Chilean, was carried out in 1849 - five years before the official founding of the town.

Placerville is 50 miles east of Sacramento, and now home to 10,000 people.

The City Council voted Tuesday night to remove the noose after listening to emotional comment from residents.

Some argued that it is part of the history of the town, but others said it is violent and gives the city a bad reputation, the station reported.

The council's vote was unanimous.

'I am horrified and deeply hurt that we have a symbol of a noose in our logo,' said one caller during a Zoom debate on the issue on Tuesday.

'A noose is a symbol of death. A noose is a symbol of lynching. A noose is a symbol of racism. I think we're better than that.'

Yet others, according to KCRA, said it should be put to a public vote.

'I would like us to keep our noose. It's taking away from our history,' said another.

'We need to keep our history. This world right now is taking inch by inch little pieces of our history and throwing it away.

'If you guys are gonna change anything it needs to come out to the people and the people should be able to vote on it.'

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 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 northeast of San Francisco.