On July 4, 18-year-old Nolan Wells died somewhere off the shoreline of Horn Island, Mississippi, while boating with his friends. This tragic story would not have sparked national attention but for the fact that Nolan was Black and his friends were White. Against the backdrop of Mississippi with its painful and violent racial history, many Black people are understandably concerned and distressed about this case.
Meanwhile, in Lexington, Kentucky, 18-year-old Tyler Jay Smith was attending a gathering on July 4 with his peers. Police were later called to the scene, where they found Tyler had a gunshot to the face. Tyler died on July 5. This tragic story has not generated the amount of national attention as the Nolan Wells case, but one fact is constant: Tyler was Black and his peers were White. Like Nolan’s family, Tyler’s family is devastated.
Why Official Narratives Fail to Reassure Black Families
In both cases, there are more questions than answers regarding the specific details surrounding the mysterious deaths, and both families have grave concerns about the handling of the cases. Among other things, the Wells family is concerned that the cause and manner of Nolan’s death could not be determined by an independent autopsy, and that drowning could not be determined because his lungs had been removed during the state’s autopsy (which is customary). Tyler’s family is concerned that the Lexington police immediately labeled the shooting “accidental and self-inflicted” when evidence was allegedly tampered with.
The purpose of this post is not to litigate the facts of these cases in a public forum. Hopefully all of the facts will eventually be uncovered, and justice, if needed, will be meted out. The purpose is to provide insight about why many Black people mistrust official accounts of Black deaths when the victim is the only Black person among a group of White peers.
Speculation on social media has run rampant among Black people. For example, there is a TikTok video indicating that Nolan’s autopsy revealed deep tissue discoloration in the back of his head (confirmed) and an alleged missing neck bone (which is not confirmed), while other videos allege that his hyoid bone was broken. The rampant speculation on Black social media reflects a pervasive mistrust among Black people toward White-owned media to care about, or accurately report, the deaths of Black people under questionable circumstances.
Racial Socialization as a Framework for Understanding Responses
In Black families, communication about race is central to how many parents socialize their children. Racial socialization is the intergenerational process by which Black parents and families teach Black youth about their culture, the significance of race, and how to navigate a society marked by racial inequities and the devaluation of Blackness. Black psychologists have provided foundational scholarship on the importance of racial socialization.
Racial socialization is often thought of in the context of racism and policing (i.e., “The Talk” that Black youth, especially Black males, receive from their parents). However, the deaths of Nolan Wells and Tyler Jay Smith underscore the racial socialization that takes place in messages about being the only Black person interacting and socializing with White peers and friends, especially the promotion of interracial mistrust. It is important to understand why the promotion of interracial mistrust (which usually means cultural mistrust of White people) is so prevalent in Black social media and in the racial socialization messages of Black parents.
