Black Men Don't Hang Themselves From Trees
Torrance Medley. November 13.
Trey Reed. September 15.
Earl Smith. June 20.
Mario Kaiser Jr. April 26.
At least 4 Black men found hung from trees in 2025. Black men do not. *And I repeat: do not * hang themselves from trees. And yet, we have the framing of each of these deaths as suicide.
Some reports have spiraled online about grotesque injuries, broken limbs, but the police have consistently pushed back against those claims. Although I haven't found any confirmation of such injuries, it doesn't matter. We could be seeing a whole new era of the nature of lynchings. In fact I think it could be possible that these men could have done it to themselves, and it still be lynching.
Disclaimer: I have no evidence for the following theory:
What is stopping the government, or people in power in general, from weaponizing AI psychosis or some other technological manipulation tactics against Black men? I know, it sounds like a messed up conspiracy. It would be a new kind of grotesque. But would you put it past them?
The policing around these deaths is also often abysmal, and gosh—I wonder why that might be! Even if the police aren't involved directly, they have every incentive to push every case under the rug. Our ancestors have witnessed the horror that comes from social lynchings. They were normalized. The police had a hand in all of that. So tell me why they wouldn't do the same now; at the very least by letting it happen. They're not much less racist. They're killing Black men, too.
AI has a growing track record of pushing people to take their own lives. So when we see Black men hanging from trees, we must remember the history. Black men don't hang themselves from trees, so what is happening to them? And who is responsible? We have to ask these questions.