It almost never fails. When a Black person dies from hanging in Mississippi, there is an immediate rush to judgment by many that the person was murdered. This conclusion first is arrived at in the absence of evidence but then clung to even when the evidence says otherwise.
The people in this state, in the nation and in much of the media have been conditioned by Mississippi’s past history — when lynching was a real and persistent threat to African Americans — to believe that a horrific crime has occurred rather than the much more likely cause of suicide.
So it was again last week, when Demartravion “Trey” Reed, a 21-year-old student at Delta State University, was found hanging from a tree on campus. Even before authorities could begin their investigation, there were unsubstantiated rumors circulating on social media, catching the attention of the news media and some politicians, that Reed had been lynched.
When law enforcement authorities in Bolivar County, where Delta State is located, said their preliminary investigation showed no evidence of foul play, conspiracy theorists got busy, alleging a cover-up and fabricating a claim that Reed’s legs were broken and thus he would have been physically incapable of taking his own life.
A subsequent autopsy by the state medical examiner’s office came to the same conclusion as the county coroner: namely, that the cause of death was hanging by suicide. Representatives of Reed’s family say they plan to have an independent autopsy conducted, and the FBI has said it is open to investigating if facts — not fiction — warrant it.
Perhaps the family doesn’t believe Reed was experiencing such despair that he would take his own life. Such a reaction is not unusual for families traumatized by the suicide of a loved one, particularly when it’s a young person. Perhaps Reed’s family members just want to be sure. Whatever their motivation, they have a right to look further as long as they have doubts.
But as to the rest of those for whom homicide was their initial thought, they should ask themselves why. Are they not aware that suicide is now the second-leading cause of death among African Americans between the ages of 15 and 24, and that the rate of suicide is rising dramatically, especially among males? Are they so conditioned by history that’s more than a half-century old that they fail to recognize today’s real and present danger has different causes?
The rising incidence of suicide among young Black males, and the research showing that rural parts of America are particularly susceptible to it, should be of great concern, particularly in a state such as Mississippi, with its large Black and rural population.
Researchers at the University of Georgia last year reported that one in three rural Black men said they had thought about suicide in the two weeks prior to being surveyed. This manifestation of mental illness, according to the researchers, is an outgrowth of traumatic childhoods, poverty and racism. Compounding the problem, not just for African Americans but for all races, is the addiction to social media, which can be cruel and foster feelings of inadequacy.
There is no glossing over the terrible history of racial lynchings in America and in Mississippi. But statistically speaking, the crime has almost disappeared in a nation in which attitudes have been transformed and laws have been written to make it clear that should a lynching occur, the perpetrators will be pursued and prosecuted by the government.
Suicide, by contrast, has not been solved. Its incidence has only gotten worse.
The initial rush to judgment about the hanging at Delta State indicates that many are either unaware of or refuse to accept this tragic trend.
