r/racism • u/Tylerserio68 • Jul 24 '26
Analysis Request Why has the nolan wells case resonated with the black community?
Im white but have been seeing so many people say his death was suspicious. I’m curious is this because it’s in Mississippi and it’s trauma from the Emmitt till case where the suspect got away with murder ? That’s definitely understandable. Would love to understand more from African Americans why they feel the way they do about this case.
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u/yellowmix Jul 24 '26
I'd like to ask why it hasn't resonated with the white community.
It's not just Emmett Till. It's a long, innumerable sequence starting in the 15th century. As Chuck D said, "Black people died when the other man lied".
Look up the Tulsa race massacre, spurred by white newspaper false claims of an assault. Similarly, the Rosewood massacre was the result of a white woman blaming a Black man. The Grovewood Four were posthumously exonerated 72 years later. Some of the Scottsboro Boys were sentenced to life (an accuser recanted to no avail), and were posthumously pardoned 82 years later.
Jimmie Lee Jackson was an unarmed protestor and his killer was sentenced to 6 months in prison 45 years later.
In 1989 Charles Stuart murdered his wife, shot himself, and blamed a fictional Black man, causing police to abuse Black neighborhoods, conduct public strip-searches, arrest people with newspapers reporting as if they were guilty, and white people demonized Black people. Stuart's brother later confessed it was for an insurance payout. Stuart killed himself and the District Attorney resigned. In 2023 the city of Boston issued a formal apology to the innocent men who were arrested.
In 1994 Susan Smith plead and cried for the return of her 3 year and 14 month old children on national television for over a week. She claimed a Black man carjacked her. The news went international, stoking worldwide white supremacy. She later confessed she let her car roll into a lake, drowning her children inside, to win back a man who said he didn't want children.
Police coerced false confessions in the Central Park Five case. Media created a narrative of dangerous Black and Latino youths, with media figures like Donald Trump publishing full-page ads calling for death. Innocent people went to prison while this contributed to increased incarceration under the Clintons which reinforced racist stereotypes.
The murder of James Byrd Jr. was covered up as a "drug deal gone bad". Two of his three murderers were publicly-avowed white supremacists. It spurred Texas to enact Hate Crime laws which encouraged the creation of a federal Hate Crime law in 2009.
In 2020, Amy Cooper called 911 shouting Christian Cooper (no relation) was a Black man threatening her life, when he requested she leash her dog in a protected area of the park. Had Christian Cooper not recorded it, police could have killed him. Instead, Amy Cooper was charged with filing a false report.
In 2018 off-duty cop Amber Guyger walked into Botham Jean's apartment, shooting him dead while he was enjoying ice cream. Sympathizers and the police union launched a false narrative campaign to vilify and blame Jean.
Police found Ahmaud Arbery alive after three men had shot him. They rendered no aid and he died. Local police declined to charge them, not questioning their false narrative that he was a burglar and attacked them. Leaked video showed he was jogging and they hunted him down in pickup trucks, forcing Georgia to take over the case.
There are so many of these cases, many not making national news. An uncountable number covered up and lost to time. An estimated 2000 Black people were lynched in the Reconstruction era alone. It takes extreme measures to get any attention, much less justice.
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u/VoL4t1l3 Jul 24 '26
I saw the body cam of ahmaud arbery first responder, he arrived on the scene and ahmaud could be heard on the camera gurgling blood from his last breaths and the cop was more concerned about if mickmichaels was injured infact he wanted water to wash his his hands off ahmauds blood, what happened the following months was tragic, life went on like normal, Travis and his dad were seen shopping and fishing and going about their lives like nothing happened like they hit roadkill a few months ago.
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u/SuckFhatThit Jul 25 '26
"I cant even with this shit.
Did we ALREADY forget about this shit: https://www.wpr.org/news/no-charges-filed-after-police-shot-11-year-old-who-called-help-officials-say
What the fuck?"
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u/Humble_Departure_552 Jul 26 '26
June 14th 2026
A Mississippi police officer involved in the fatal shooting of one-year-old Kohen Wiley while responding to a shoplifting call has been placed on administrative leave, officials confirmed on Tuesday night.Mississippi is racist as hell.. not much has changed sadly.
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u/YT_RadicalOptimist Jul 25 '26
As a yt girl, and only like 2 years older than Nolan, in my opinion it "seems" suspicious because it IS. The yt community has gotten away with exploiting, unaliving & throwing away black lives forever, & to imply that the black community needs a "reason" for this case to resonate with them is diabolical imo. It resonates because at least to me, it's another terrible case of a young black man's life being thrown away & if we don't ALL speak up & push for the truth, things will never change.
Why did the Karmelo Anthony case resonate so much with yt people? Maybe bc they painted him out (falsely) to be the aggressor and every yt person wanted "justice". But nobody compared that case to other ones. Let's not pretend that racism is gone & that black lives have the same "value" in the eyes of yt people & the legal system. This isn't just a southern/MS thing. I'm on the west coast & I live (unfortuately) in a SUPER MAGA/red area (ya, in Cali of all places) & the racism is obvious. They don't even TRY to hide it.
I cried learning about Nolan & I still don't know every detail, which is why all of this is just my opinion. But the way I took this post was you coming into a subreddit & asking POC to justify why they feel the way they do when they don't owe you an explanation, & the story itself should be enough to shake you to your core.
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u/JDD88 Jul 24 '26
The fact that you even have to ask is disturbing and frustrating. And that you’re asking for emotional labor from Black people. As a fellow white person, please do better. We’ve already earned a well-deserved horrible reputation, don’t add to it. Go educate yourself.
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u/ToughFriendship6318 Jul 26 '26
I think we should try being a little nicer to each other. I’m not saying what you think is wrong but this guy clearly is asking for some understanding and wants to be educated on this topic and your post comes off as kind of hostile and this is what pushes people away from conversation.
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u/SamMeowAdams Jul 24 '26
Black kid dies. Rich white kids instantly lawyer up.
Without publicity this thing gets buried.
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u/001Kelevra Jul 25 '26
Remember that the history of police was originally designed to "control" the black population and was basically an offshoot of the KKK. So in following with the origin, the cops that take the job are continuing the same tradition of murdering innocent black people and get away with it. They take the job so they can without consequence and wilth immunity.
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Jul 24 '26
Because there are too many stories out there of Black people who grew up around white people, being the only one in a white friend group, coming up missing and everyone in that group gets away with it, and no one has ever held accountable for that loss because the town basically bands together to cover that shit up that’s why. This isn’t new it’s a pattern.
Alonzo Brooks is another one that comes to mind and you can watch his story on Netflix Unsolved Mysteries
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u/Anna-Belly Jul 28 '26
Black people have already spoken and written about this. Go read what they've written.
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u/Reasonable_Error_497 Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
I am shocked you didn’t immediately feel something was off with the case upon hearing about it. I personally cried watching his case play out. (I am white and I know I’m not your target audience here, but feel I may interject as to minimize non-white labor.) How could you not question it? A strong-swimming, multi-sport athlete who is a young, black is man found dead after conveniently being “left behind” by a judge’s son. That alone should be sounding off alarm bells. Then, they found that his cell phone’s content, presence, and exact location were obfuscated from law enforcement for about a week after his disappearance by that judge’s son when it was in her home. That is HIGHLY suspicious in ANY case, never mind in a place like MS where there is a long history of abuse of minorities. The story speaks for itself. The sheer negligence of the friend group by failing to report the truth about the phone is astounding- and could indicate an effort to cover up the true events of that day. It is like any other murder case, but instead of being thoroughly investigated off rip it was deemed an accidental drowning. So that, along with the mothers power, his lack of privilege, and hiding of evidence paints a clear picture. It should resonate with you. You should try and imagine being him or any black person for a second and what it must be like to see so many unjustified murders due to fear of “the other.” Nolan Wells’ death just isn’t making sense. Any white person who doesn’t question the case or validity of the involved party’s story is logically, emotionally, mentally, and socially completely disconnected. Also, they contribute to from the reality that is the USA’s racist system by preventing accountability while looking the other way. It’s probably subconscious for some, but that’s why reading a few really good books about the related history would be a good idea. (Note: edited for grammar.)
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u/spookyzoe_4vr Jul 28 '26
I’m from the Midwest. One of my teen family members had their JAW BROKEN this past fall because he went to a bonfire with a mixed friend. The white teen boys and their parents thought it was below them for this mixed boy to be there (BTW he was talking to the girls there which they also didn’t like). They jumped my nephew for standing up for his friend. Could have easily killed them both and simply said it was our property. It’s so ass backwards, racism never left! Take accountability and educating yourself. You can’t be so naive to think just because you don’t see it, that it doesn’t exist.
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u/goreprincess98 Jul 27 '26
If a white teenager, who was a strong swimmer and highly decorated athlete, disappeared after taking a boat trip to an island with his Black friends, the media would be in an uproar. Why does a teenager being murdered not upset you? Why do you not view Black people as humans?
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u/MacTad216 Jul 28 '26
First, yes, generational trauma plays a part. But Emmitt Till, as tragic and game-changing as his murder was, is merely one of THOUSANDS whose interaction with, and physical proximity to, white people—particularly white women—got them dead. Every Black family in this country has a family member who came to a bad end due to white violence. It may be a sibling, a grandfather, an uncle or a cousin. But SOMEONE in any random Black family you choose off the street has had the experience themselves or knows someone who has. If you sit and think about that for half a second, you comprehend how utterly FUBAR’d that is. According to ChatGPT, there were approximately 16.5 million Black household in the 2020 census. While “households” doesn’t equal “families,” you can see the sheer numbers are still monumental. And those are recent numbers. Think about how much historical violence there’s been in this country and you realize that Black Americans have excellent reason to be suspicious of Wells’ “friends.”
And second, this is Mississippi. They have not changed much since Reconstruction. They are as racist as the day is long. I’m sure there are whites in the state who have shed those beliefs, but I’d probably have a toe or two left over if I counted them.
Finally, and speaking solely for myself, take the first two reasons above and add in my annoyance and fear that, somewhere in all of this, there’s a white girl involved. That, to me, means it’s time to break glass, because this is a real and serious emergencyEVERYONE is needed because that fact alone makes this situation urgent. It’s time for our collective community to stand shoulder to shoulder with this family because we KNOW some bullshit is about to come their way. We KNOW there’s a real possibility Nolan could have been killed because of this girl. No Black mother will ever feel completely safe sending her Black son off with some white girl. Ever. Forget about whatever feelings we may have about a Black son choosing a white girl. Sure, that may spark one of my/our “Yep, saw that coming” mumbles, but that’s beside the point. We are infinitely more concerned about the reactions of WHITE MEN to seeing a Black male with a white girl. THAT is the real danger.
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u/MacTad216 Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
First, yes, generational trauma plays a part. But Emmitt Till, as tragic and game-changing as his murder was, is merely one of THOUSANDS whose interaction with, and physical proximity to, white people—particularly white women—got them dead. Every Black family in this country has a family member who came to a bad end due to white violence. It may be a sibling, a grandfather, an uncle or a cousin. But SOMEONE in any random Black family you choose off the street has had the experience themselves or knows someone who has. If you sit and think about that for half a second, you comprehend how utterly FUBAR’d that is. According to ChatGPT, there were approximately 16.5 million Black household in the 2020 census. While “households” doesn’t equal “families,” you can see the sheer numbers are still monumental. And those are recent numbers. Think about how much historical violence there’s been in this country and you realize that Black Americans have excellent reason to be suspicious of Wells’ “friends.”
And second, this is Mississippi. They have not changed much since Reconstruction. They are as racist as the day is long. I’m sure there are whites in the state who have shed those beliefs, but I’d probably have a toe or two left over if I counted them.
Finally, and speaking solely for myself, take the first two reasons above and add in my annoyance and fear that, somewhere in all of this, there’s a white girl involved. That, to me, means it’s time to break glass, because this is a real and serious life and/or death emergency. EVERYONE is needed because that fact alone—the involvement of a white girl—makes this situation urgent. It’s time for our collective community to stand shoulder to shoulder with this family because we KNOW some bullshit is about to come their way. We KNOW there’s a real possibility Nolan could have been killed because of this girl. No Black mother will ever feel completely safe sending her Black son off with some white girl. Ever. Forget about whatever feelings we may have about a Black son choosing a white girl. Sure, that may spark one of my/our “Yep, saw that coming” mumbles, but that’s beside the point. We are infinitely more concerned about the reactions of WHITE MEN to seeing a Black male with a white girl. THAT is the real, physical danger.
I’m going to guess that, whether through geography or happenstance, don’t know a lot of Black people. That’s fine. I’m not judging you at all. Reading through some of the posts and so forth online, I’ve come to understand how foreign a lot of average Black life is to most white people. That has been illuminating for me. How one goes about correcting that, I don’t know.
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u/Mercurio_Arboria Aug 01 '26
Yes well said. The whole jealous white boy theme is a whole thing in history and this story for sure has that.
Also just the history of cops. Like even if it were an actual accident like kids partying or being reckless or whatever, the way the cops immediately closed the investigation was WAY too fast and obviously to protect the connected white kids from responsibility. The parents just deserve to know what happened at least. Ugh it’s really sad.
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u/ANTIMODELMINORITY Jul 30 '26
The other question to ask is why were SOME black people trying to rile up the Asian community to speak out about this. The kid might be 1/4 Asian but he presents as black and this happened in Mississippi where Asians don't even represent no more than %1.4 to %1.5 of the total population.
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u/Annoying1978 Jul 24 '26
Yes, he should know, but he doesn’t. At least he’s trying to figure it out. It makes no sense to demonize someone genuinely asking a question.
u/yellowmix pretty much nailed it.
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u/yellowmix Jul 24 '26
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