Hate crimes seem to be on the rise throughout Long Island. Recently, there are reports almost daily of swastikas spray painted onto windows, defamatory language being used against undocumented immigrants and other minorities. Now this.

The discovery of a noose in the men’s locker room of the Hempstead Village police station sent chills through the collective spines of residents of the village, Nassau County and the nation at large.

First, Mayor Wayne Hall vowed to investigate. Then calls were made for something larger. Nassau County stepped in. And now the U.S. Justice Department is joining the County for a joint investigation into the matter.

Apparently Deputy Chief of Police Willie Dixon, who is black, was the target. In addition to the noose, newspaper articles about criminal charges against him, charges on which he was acquitted in 1993, were posted in the locker room, according to a Newsday report.

Coming on the heels of protests surrounding the prosecution of the Jena Six, intolerant remarks made by Don Imus and others, racial tensions around the country have not been this raw for some time.

Enough is enough. It is now time us to confront these tensions head-on. A national symposium about racism in America is in order.

No more calls for mob war by the likes of the Rev. Al Sharpton. No more stoking the flames of states rights’ pride by former Sen. George “Felix Macacawitz” Allen.

We need to have a thoughtful, sensible and sensitive discussion on where we are as a country, and where we need to get for these disgusting acts to end.

The more we, as a nation, sidestep this as an issue, the worse these crimes will get. This country has got to move away from its blemished past, and towards a right and just future.

And the only way to do it is to talk-honestly, sincerely and without precondition.