I agree with Lippmann's proposal, "Pictures have always been the surest way of conveying an idea .... But the idea conveyed is not fully our own until we have identified ourselves with some aspect of the picture."
The recent media coverage of the Jena 6 incident and images of nooses has reopened old wounds for some people, new wounds for others, and something to think about for the rest. The way each of us has been exposed to a particular image, such as a noose, affects how we view that image.
African-Americans who lived through the Civil Rights Movement of the '50s and '60s may see a noose and flashback to a time when lynchings were not all that uncommon. The younger generation of African-Americans may not have quite the same connection, but still view the noose as a threat. Before the Jena 6 coverage, my predominant image of a noose involved the wild west.
Now the news coverage of the Jena 6 incident has made Jena, Louisiana and the images of nooses almost synonymous; and so, the comment, "Now when you turn on the TV, you see nooses hanging everywhere. And it all started in Jena," isn't that far from the truth.