March 25, 2011

Coroner Says Hanging of Frederick Jermaine Carter Was 'Not a Suicide'

It appears that Mississippi is still burning. Villagers may recall that 26-year old Frederick Jermaine Carter was found hanging from an oak tree in Greenwood, Mississippi late last year. The local authorities tried to cover-up this lynching with the idea that Carter committed suicide.

The story didn't make sense. Why would a young Black man go into a predominantly white community in a small Mississippi town and tie a rope around a tree to hang himself? Many villagers joined us in questioning authorities on this matter.

Well, it turns out we were right! The deputy medical examiner for the state of Mississippi confirms that Carter did not commit suicide.






We need to continue to agitate for a full and complete investigation into the lynching of this young man. We need to make sure that the people of Mississippi clearly understand that we will never again allow lynching to run rampant in this country as it did back in the day.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Sad it has come to this conclusion BUT "WE" are not surprised at the findings. Interesting to see where things go from here.
Thanks for sharing.

Unknown said...

Regina - I agree that there is not much surprise for folks in the Black community. The idea that any young Black man would commit suicide by hanging himself in a predominantly white community was ludicrous from the start.

The question that is now open is whether a robust and comprehensive investigation will take place to uncover what really happened to this young man.