PUBLIC INTEREST
- Timeframe: The study examines cases occurring between 2000 and 2025.
- Number of Cases: It documents more than 70 suspected modern-day lynchings.
- States Involved: The cases span seven Southern states: Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee, and Alabama.
- Highest Totals: Mississippi recorded the highest number in the report, with at least 20 documented cases
Across the United States, a disturbing series of deaths involving Black men and women found hanging from trees has raised painful questions about race, history, law enforcement investigations, and the rush to classify some of these deaths as suicides.
In this public-interest commentary, journalist Malik Washington calls attention to these cases and asks a question that demands serious examination: Are these isolated tragedies, or is America failing to fully investigate circumstances that evoke one of the darkest chapters in our nation’s history?