The Case of Lennon Lacy: Suicide or Lynching?
Race is a hot topic in the United States these days, especially in the run-up to the presidential election. It’s hard to imagine that just a few decades ago, black people had to ride in the back of the bus and couldn’t intermingle with white people in public. We’ve come a long way since then, but we still have so far to go.
In 2014, Lennon Lacy was a handsome 17-year-old African American teenager who was a star football player. He had the world at his fingertips and plenty to live for. But he was growing up in the predominantly white town of Bladenboro, North Carolina, where the young man was sometimes on the receiving end of racial slurs and harassment.
When Lacy was found hanging from a swing set by a leash and a belt that didn’t belong to him on August 29, 2014, local and federal investigators ruled his death a suicide, but Lacy’s family and friends say there is no way he would have killed himself, and there are plenty of reasons to believe he was murdered simply because he was a black man dating a white woman.
Racist Residents Can’t Hold Back Their Hatred
If Lennon Lacy intended to die on August 29, 2014, it was impossible to tell by his actions on the 28th. The West Bladen High School student laid out his football uniform on his bed, knowing he would take…
