In the early morning hours of September 15th, a faculty member at Delta State University discovered the body of 21-year-old Black student Demartravion "Trey" Reed hanging from a tree. Given the nation's legacy of racial terror lynchings, many believed he could have been the victim of a hate crime. Although authorities quickly ruled his death a suicide, there were discrepancies in their explanation that fueled public suspicion. For example, the family lawyer pointed out that police initially claimed Reed died in his dorm room. But they later learned his body was found outdoors, near the pickleball courts, and not far from a memorial honoring Charlie Kirk, a far-right activist killed six days earlier at Utah Valley University. While police arrested a young White man as their primary suspect, some HBCUs received threats, prompting them to shutter campuses temporarily. It's under this context that Americans learned about Trey Reed's death. So, why were so many willing to dismiss this case?
Research suggests there are significant differences in how white and Black people view the criminal justice system. So, it's reasonable to assume that identity would influence perception of the case. A Pew Research study found that Black people were "half as likely as whites to have a positive view of the job police are doing." As the group that is the most likely to be stopped and frisked, arrested, beaten, and killed by the police, this mistrust is understandable. One study revealed "Black Bostonians feel a deep distrust towards law enforcement, and their distrust is strongly associated with experiences of police harassment.” There's a reluctance on the part of white Americans to truly reckon with the harm that racism causes. We're living in an era where colorblind racism is pervasive. Many claim race either does not, or should not, matter in our society. But this wall of denial doesn't change the fact that Black people endure disparate treatment, which impacts public perception.
Since Reed was known as an "upbeat, friendly person, and exhibited no signs of depression,” his family and friends expressed doubts about the official report, which suggested he committed suicide. A Black man found hanging from a tree in Mississippi is a scene that's reminiscent of the nation's legacy of lynching. It's the history of anti-black racism that weighs heavily on the present. During a congressional hearing in 2020, representatives discussed the infiltration of white supremacist groups in law enforcement. An excerpt from their subcommittee read, "We’ve seen a lot of evidence of that in the 14 years since the FBI's assessment, as officers across the country have been dismissed for active membership in the KKK and other similar groups.” The racism Black people have endured from law enforcement, as well as extremist groups, has cultivated a culture of distrust. That's why Reed's family announced they would seek a second, independent autopsy, and the "Know Your Rights Camp," a civil rights organization cofounded by Colin Kaepernick, announced they would cover the costs.
According to Andrew Joseph, a field coordinator for Black Lives Matter Grassroots, Trey Reed was found "partially hanging in a tree from a belt that was three times his size." "His roommate said he didn’t leave with a belt," that "he was wearing jogging pants and a drawstring waist, a hoodie, a doo-rag, and Crocs," when last seen. "Contrary to a lot of stuff [on] social media, he didn’t have broken bones and hadn't been beaten up," he added. There have been many conflicting statements made on social media, and it's likely speculation will continue until he results of an independent autopsy are released. This is only natural, given the nation's history of race-based hate crimes and the condition in which a faculty member found the Black student's body. Given this context, it's interesting that so many dismissed the case as a suicide, seemingly frustrated with those who shared doubts about the official narrative. It's as if they didn't see a Black person's death as worthy of further inquiry. While many want to remove race from the conversation surrounding the death of Trey Reed, that is a difficult task in American society. If not for the thousands of Black people lynched in this country, the public wouldn't feel the need to consider that possibility.
Despite evidence of racism in this country, some remain stubborn in their denials. Never mind that Black people are nearly three times as likely to be killed by police, that Black women are more than three times as likely to die from maternal mortality, or that Black children are more than twice as likely to attend severely underfunded schools. The modern-day weapon of choice is denial. It's why we see so much resistance to programs designed to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion. As my doctoral research indicated, colorblind racial attitudes significantly contributed to resistance to race-based affirmative action policies. Those who deny race effects Black people and other marginalized groups are less likely to support hierarchy-attenuating programs.
America has changed over time, but not in the ways some would hope or assume. During Jim Crow, white southerners openly segregated society, establishing whites-only restaurants, schools, hospitals, graveyards, and even water fountains. Racial terror lynchings were once common throughout the South, violence carried out in an effort to maintain social, political, and economic control. They would take souvenirs, usually postcards that depicted the tortured remains of Black bodies, and other gruesome relics. While many imagine this chapter in America's history as one that's closed, racism has merely shifted its form, not its substance. FBI data suggests Black people are still the group most likely to become victims of hate crimes in this country. And from 2015 to 2024, there was an 81% rise in anti-black hate crimes. So, while lynchings are far less common, the extrajudicial killings of Black people have continued in the modern era.
While some may criticize Black people for their skepticism surrounding Trey Reed's case, we should question why anyone, given America's legacy of anti-black racism, would readily dismiss the hanging as a suicide. There should be a thorough investigation when someone dies. Hasty assessments only inflame suspicions. Bracey Harris and Daniella Silva noted in their reporting for NBC that "families of other Black men who have been found hanging in Mississippi and were determined to have died by suicide are also questioning their official causes of death." Like Reed's family, they are dissatisfied with the investigation conducted regarding their loved ones. This distrust is rooted in the nation's legacy of systemic racism. Just last year, families found some loved ones buried in a pauper's field behind a Mississippi police station. The mother of Dexter Wade, a 37-year-old Black man, was horrified to discover that an off-duty Jacksonville police officer driving an SUV had hit her son. Authorities buried him without contacting the family, despite him having a prescription bottle and a state ID on him at the time. While Melissa Faith Payne, the city's director of communications, claimed, "it is not a secret burial ground," it certainly felt that way to some who discovered their loved ones were buried there.
Thousands of Black people became lynching victims in this country, many of them publicly tortured. This is an unfortunate part of our country's history, but it's one we should not readily dismiss, especially when Black people are still the most likely to become victims of hate crimes. While racism is often less explicit in its expression, it's still here, impacting the treatment of Black people. Ida B. Wells once wrote that "our country’s national crime is lynching. It is not the creature of an hour, the sudden outburst of uncontrolled fury, or the unspeakable brutality of an insane mob. It represents the cool, calculating deliberation of intelligent people who openly avow that there is an ‘unwritten law' that justifies them in putting human beings to death without complaint under oath, without trial by jury, without opportunity to make a defense, and without right of appeal." While some try to dismiss lynchings as isolated events, they represent a disturbing culture, one that permitted the dehumanization of Black people. Many were quick to dismiss the death of a Black student as suicide because that's easier than considering the alternative. However, the history of this country warrants a closer look.
This post originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of Allison Gaines' work on Medium.