[Retrofitted]

It. Was. A. Bowline. At least that's what it looks like to me from the images I've seen (and what myself and three neighbors have on our garage door pulls). Now, I'm no expert either on the subject of knots or history, but I can't figure how a bowline would be a threat to black folks unless there was a ton of black folks keel-hauled during lynchings.

Of course, now that I've said that, wait for the "they used to keel-haul slaves back in whenever".

[Thommas]

The knot, to me anyway, looks like a Kreh loop knot.

Gee. Where could anyone in the South learn to tie a Kreh loop knot, commonly used in Fly Fishing? That would imply that good ol' boys in the South go Fly Fishing.

Furthermore, that might imply that those ol' boys had Fathers that taught them fly fishing and the knot used to tie the flies.

Fathers in the Southern household? Heck, that's RACISS! Case solved!

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Yeah, it’s a common household knot that you know about if you do anything around your house.