The hanging death of a Black man in Brookfield, Wisconsin has led to questions from his family and community members.
Torrance Medley, 39, was found hanging from a tree near the Brookfield Hills Golf Course in early November. The Brookfield Police Department said there was no indication of foul play. The investigation is ongoing.
But some have questioned whether Medley’s death could have been caused by a racially-motivated crime. His death has led to comparisons to an era of American history where lynchings of Black people were common. The NAACP defines a lynching as the public killing of an individual who has not received any due process.
According to research from Tuskegee University in Alabama, from 1882-1968, close to 5,000 people were lynched. The majority of them were Black, and often their killings went uninvestigated.
Dr. Robert Smith is the Harry G. John Professor of History at Marquette University. He shares his perspective on how that history, and the current political climate, contribute to fears of a racially-motivated hate crime.
"I do think it is absolutely fair to question how this person died," Smith says. "And I think we have to be mindful of the political moment that we're in, that is heightened around issues associated with bigotry — racism, sexism and various forms of xenophobia."
Smith adds that southeastern Wisconsin's own history with these issues matters too.
"We are also home to our own versions of this kind of hostility. A political climate that we feel and witness just with our neighboring urban and suburban and exurban, what we might call, geopolitics," Smith says. "That there is a very clear, steady feel of hostility that sits in this environment."
