(Bubba Wallace, driver of the #43 who found a noose hanging in his garage last week, waves to fans at Talladega Superspeedway on June 22, 2020 in Talladega, Alabama. Photo by Chris Graythen, via Getty Images.)
NASCAR completed an investigation into the garage pull rope formed as a noose that was found in Bubba Wallace's garage at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend. NASCAR President Steve Phelps publicly stated that "the noose was real [and] our initial reaction was to protect our driver" and they released an accompanying photo that was not cropped to show what the rope in question looked like.
On Tuesday, the F.B.I concluded their investigation into the alleged hate crime by determining that Wallace was not the victim of a hate crime because the noose had been on that garage door since October 2019.
NASCAR and the Noose
NASCAR issued a statement clearing the investigation that emphasized, "the garage door pull rope fashioned like a noose had been positioned there since as early as last fall. This was obviously well before the 43 team's arrival and garage assignment…[therefore] this was not an intentional, racist act against Bubba.”
This statement does not address the fact that both the FBI and NASCAR have admitted that the hanging rope was in fact a “noose,” therefore it was directed at someone even if not intentionally put in Wallace’s garage. Wallace said, "It wasn't directed at me, but somebody tied a noose, that's what I'm saying. It is a noose."
(Above is the un-cropped photo provided by NASCAR of the noose that was found in the garage stall of the No. 43 team and driver Bubba Wallace at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday. Via NASCAR.)
Alarming instances of racist behaviors seem to be increasing all over America following the energized Black Lives Matter protests in reaction to the murder of George Floyd. The events are are also being glossed over by main stream media, who is failing to cover what is happening; or if they do, just accepting excuses by law enforcement who are very interested in mitigating the damage done to their image following so many accusations of racism.
Hangings that Look Like Lynchings
Since Since May 27, at least six people of color have been discovered hanging in trees in California, Georgia, New York, Oregon and Texas. Let me rephrase that: since the recent activism in which millions have begun to speak out about disproportionate police brutality against people of color that often ends in murder, black people across America have been found hanging from trees as if they were lynched in the night.
Two weeks ago a Black male teenager was found hanging from a tree in a back corner on Ehrhardt Elementary School property in Houston, Texas. This case not did get much media coverage even though it followed the Floyd protests and recent pushes for law enforcement reform.
Instead, the Harris County Sheriff's Office issued a statement almost immediately that the incident “appear[ed] to be a suicide,” after reviewing surveillance footage, talking to neighbors and considering other evidence. The department also made a public statement saying that said there were no signs of foul play, even before the autopsy had begun and there was still a pending cause of death.
Based on their quick assessment of the evidence described above, as well as the teen’s recent previous attempt at suicide, police concluded that there was no reason to conduct further investigation, even though another Houston man had also been found hanging from a tree just a day earlier.
Houston police confirmed that a Latino man was found hanging from a tree on June 17th and the case was quickly dismissed as a likely suicide before officially determining the cause of death, again.
Two Black men, Malcolm Harsch and Robert Fuller, were found hanging from trees just days apart and in neighboring cities of Victorville and Palmdale, California. Again, the police were quick to dismiss both deaths as suicides, even though this region has a strong presence of White nationalist activity.
Harsh was a homeless man which leads many to believe he will not get the same level of dedication from police in determining his true cause of death. Harsch’s family members in Ohio said they found it hard to accept that his death was a suicide. Harsch had apparently had recent conversations with his children about seeing them soon and he didn’t appear to be depressed. “The explanation of suicide does not seem plausible,” the family wrote. “There are many ways to die, but considering the current racial tension, a Black man hanging himself from a tree definitely doesn’t sit well with us right now.”
(Makeshift memorial at the site where the body of Robert Fuller was found last week at Poncitlán Square in Palmdale, California. Photo by Philip Cheung, via The Washington Post.)
Fuller’s family agrees that ruling his case a suicide makes no sense, and community members are "enraged" that "the Sheriff's Department immediately declared his death a suicide.” Perhaps even more disturbing is the news that Robert Fuller’s half-brother, Terron Jammal Boone, was shot and killed by police just days after 24 year-old Fuller was found hanging from a tree outside of the Palmdale City Hall. Boone was being tailed by police during a traffic stop after he appeared to meet the description of a suspect at large.
Manner of Suicide Unlikely in this Community
The cultural aspects surrounding these methods of supposed suicides are highly suspect. According to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the suicide rate for Black people is 60 percent lower than for White people. Suicide is also not considered to be a viable option in Black American culture, and when it happens, it is generally a private act.
Moreover, the method of hanging oneself in a public location from a tree late at night is not something that often occurs within the Black community, especially given events of the past and the many instances of Black men and women being murdered by lynching.
Raymond Winbush, a psychologist since 1976, who has treated hundreds of black men and boys and is the director of Morgan State University’s Institute for Urban Research, spoke to the Washington Post about this issue. Raymond said, “It is very uncommon for young black men to commit suicide, let alone by hanging.” Moreover, the American Association of Suicidology conducted a report that found that firearms are the predominant method of suicide among African Americans, which is consistent with the preferred method of suicide for all other races in the United States.
Black bodies are now being discovered hanging from trees after the recent national uprising against police — this should lead any reasonable person to wonder what is really going on. This is compounded by law enforcement agencies quickly dismissing lynching allegations before autopsies have even begun and are processing the investigations so slowly.
(View of French Charley's Playground in The Bronx, New York where Dominique Alexander was found hanging. Via NYC Gov. Parks.)
Some of the victims’ families have also claimed that those who were found hanging were not suicidal, but it has fallen on deaf ears as far as the investigations are concerned. In addition to this, vital witness testimony is being ignored by police in their investigations, and the idea that people would chose to kill themselves in a way that was identified with the racist violence of the KKK during the Jim Crow era is especially offensive.
Dominique Alexander, a Black man from the Bronx, was discovered hanging from a tree in upper Manhattan after nooses began to appear in a New York City park the night before Juneteenth. This is no coincidence and given the data that we have on cultural tendencies, the idea that Alexander killed himself with a method reminiscent of lynching is so ludicrous it is offensive. What is even more problematic is the willingness by police to quickly determine a cause of death that is so contrary to all of the obvious evidence, before attempting to even conduct a real investigation.
Law enforcement has every motivation to temper outrage that could explode over more suspicious deaths of Black people during this time. Considering the reasons now for the recent protests against the police, you would think that local investigators would see the benefit in making sure that every inquiry surrounding these recent deaths was conducted officially — yet this looks like the same old cover-ups.
Amee Vanderpool writes the “Shero” Newsletter and is an attorney, contributor to magazines and newspapers and analyst for BBC radio. She can be reached at avanderpool@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter @girlsreallyrule.
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Sounds a lot like the suspicious BLM activist’s deaths that have occurred since the Ferguson uprising. There has been very little reported on about those deaths as well but there are too many to dismiss. Ask .@beautybind about them if your interested
This country has lost its collective mind.