Opinions are many, and mixed, over the case of a local construction worker who claims to have found a noose at his workplace.

Although the company says it's a situation that has been blown out of proportion, the worker who found it says it has had a profound emotional effect on him.

But why does a noose evoke such strong emotions from some while other dismiss it?

"In many ways, the hangman's noose has unfortunately been associated with African-Americans," said Dr. James Jones, Prairie View A&M University Professor of History. "It has been particularly bothersome and cumbersome and it has followed us throughout our time here in America."

According to Jones, those who minimize the symbolism of the noose, are missing the point. "For those who consider it just a rope and that it is not a noose, I would simply say that it comes from either, and or, ignorance or intolerance or insensitivity."