The mysterious death of Mississippi teenager Nolan Wells remains under investigation. But the response to it has already served as an indictment of racism in America in some ways.
Authorities in Mississippi are investigating the circumstances by which the 18-year-old college student, who was Black, died after visiting an island off the Gulf Coast on the Fourth of July. A photo on social media, purportedly from the boat ride to the island, shows Wells and three white friends.
There’s no evidence to date that race played a role in Wells’ death. But as Capital B noted, the case “immediately drew national attention, along with a surge of misinformation, unverified allegations and skepticism by some Black online commentators … who question whether Mississippi officials will be transparent in their investigation.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton, host of MS NOW’s “Politics Nation,” appeared at a news conference Friday in his activist capacity, alongside Wells’ family and civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, and alluded to some of the speculation while demanding a thorough investigation.
“We’re not bringing in race, but we’re not discounting race either,” Sharpton said, adding: “This smacks of some of the worst fears that we’ve had historically, not only in Mississippi, but in this country.”
Sharpton’s point about not immediately “discounting” race seems apt — for all scenarios, really.
Because in the United States, particularly these United States under this administration, such a presumption is foolish. Some might say willfully ignorant.
Amid the speculation surrounding Wells’ death, I’ve thought back to a 2024 report from the Pew Research Center that garnered fierce blowback. As I wrote at the time, the report’s headline — “Most Black Americans Believe Racial Conspiracy Theories About U.S. Institutions” — was a bit more provocative than the actual findings supported.
The report’s author told me she “struggled” with using the term “conspiracy theory,” saying that she used its broad definition in this case to “highlight the suspicions that people have about U.S. institutions, based on historic treatment and personal experiences of discrimination.”
Ultimately, Pew changed the headline — to “Most Black Americans Believe U.S. Institutions Were Designed To Hold Black People Back” — and added an editorial note to boot.
Essentially, the initial headline kind of implied that Black people who are reasonably suspicious of U.S. institutions are on the same intellectual plane as flat-earthers and moon landing deniers.
And the adjustments Pew made can be instructive for all of us as we assess the Wells situation and the skepticism surrounding it.
Trust is earned, after all — not just by people but by institutions, too. From presidencies to police departments and prosecutors’ offices.
And for many Black people, earned trust feels hard to come by in a country steeped in white supremacy and one where the highest official in the land and his allies promote racism and racist violence.
So while it’s potentially harmful in a variety of ways for anyone to assume that nefariousness or even racism was a factor in this case, anyone dismissing it as a possibility seems intent on ignoring reality.
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