California town once notorious for lynchings votes to remove noose from its logo

Changes to official badge follow months of debates and research into its origins

Placervillle’s official Facebook shows the logo featuring a noose (AP)

A California town once famous for lynchings and the American gold rush will remove a noose from its logo.

The changes were approved by all legislators of the Placerville City Council on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times reported.

It followed testimonies from residents for and against the changes, with the town’s history and issues of racial injustice cited as reasons for keeping and replacing the logo.

The town’s vice mayor, Kara Taylor, acknowledged the feelings of the town’s Black residents before tabling the motion on Tuesday.

“A lot of people want us to stand up and fight this battle against change, but our job at the city is not to fight change but to navigate it,” said Ms Taylor, according to the LA Times.

It follows calls for the replacement of the circular logo featuring a noose hanging from a tree along with the words “Old Hangtown”.

In January, the council formed a committee to research the history of the Placerville logo after designs for a replacement were rejected in July – amid calls for the removal of the noose in the wake of racial injustice protests.

The committee found that a number of official logos, including that of the Placerville Police Department, avoided the noose in the 70s and 80s, and was not on recent logos.

Officials could not determine when the noose began to appear on the town’s logo, according to the LA Times. It is also often confused with the city seal, which does include a noose.

Changing and removing the town’s logo from signs will cost $3,500 (£2,540), the Sacramento Bee reported, which was within this year’s budget.