Javion McGee. | Source: X screenshot
A viral TikTok video has the internet on high alert after a Black man from Chicago was reportedly found hanging from a tree in North Carolina.
A woman who goes by the handle @scottieprimpin on TikTok shared the video reporting that her cousin, 21-year-old Javion McGee, a truck driver from Chicago, was found hanging in Henderson, N.C., although, the Henderson Police Department noted in a Facebook post that the Vance County Sheriff’s Office is conducting the investigation into McGee’s death, and that “the incident did not occur in the city of Henderson.”
“The police officers are trying to say he went to a Walmart and purchased a rope and hung himself…we obviously don’t believe that and we are just asking for your help to push this story out there,” the woman who identified herself as McGee’s cousin said, adding that his story “isn’t covered on any local platforms.”
The TikTok user also expressed frustration with the coroner’s office, claiming that McGee’s mother has not been allowed to identify her son’s body “due to COVID restrictions.”
Let’s be real about one thing: When a Black person is mysteriously found hanging from a tree, Black people are not likely to buy that they did it to themselves. There’s just too much history there — including recent history.
In 2020, there was a series of incidents in which Black men were found hanging from trees and the local authorities appeared to be all too eager to immediately rule out foul play and determine that these men committed suicide. In 2021, we reported that in Mississippi — arguably the first state that is likely to come to mind in regard to America’s history of anti-Black lynchings — there had been eight suspected lynchings since 2000, all of which were ruled as suicides despite the objections of the victims families.
In late February, 29-year-old Trevonte Jamal Shubert-Helton was found hanging from a tree in Georgia, the state that holds one of the highest records in reported lynchings in America, second only to Mississippi. By March, his death was also ruled a suicide.
And, of course, we can’t forget Sandra Bland.
So, yeah, the history, the mystery around these deaths, and the apparent rush to sweep them under the rug as suicides will always leave us suspicious and seeking answers that we may never receive.
So, what happened to Javion McGee?
SEE ALSO:
Republican State Rep. Who Attended Trump’s Jan. 6 Rally Mocks Lynchings, Defends Racist 3/5 Compromise
Justice For Omari Bryant: Black Teen In ‘Suspicious’ Hanging Was Not Suicidal, Friends And Family Say
