I like to think that I’m a citizen of the world. Truthfully, I have not been raised to have racial or ethnic boundaries, even as I’ve been socialised to appreciate the beauty of my culture and the refreshing diversity observable among humankind.
If I could poach a linguistic invention, which I first encountered through Professor Wole Soyinka’s fount of creativity (in which the noun “wife” is converted into a verb), I’d say that my adventurous father almost wifed an Irish woman in Lagos in the 40s but for his own father’s threat of disinheritance.
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“As long as I live, you shall not dilute my blood with that of white people,” his father, a traditional chief, had decreed.
The lady in question eventually left Nigeria unwed.
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But I digress!
Nolan Wells
“Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind…” (John Donne).
The recent announcement of the death of 18-year-old Nolan Wells in Mississippi, USA, triggered the above remembrances. Wells, a Black college football player and experienced swimmer, went on a boat trip with a group of white high school friends to Horn Island off the Mississippi coast and was reported missing late that evening after his white friends returned to base without him.
A US Park Service ranger recovered his body from the water near the northwest tip of Horn Island. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department said they preliminarily suspected accidental drowning and ruled out foul play. However, the final autopsy and toxicology results from the state medical examiner were still being awaited.
The friends who accompanied Wells told investigators that he chose to stay behind on the island to get a ride back with another group. His family strongly disputed that narrative. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump is representing the family. An independent autopsy and forensic digital analysis of Wells’ phone has been arranged. Investigators have also asked the public for help with any relevant photos or videos from the island that day.
It may have been an accident. Or, it may also have been a homicide. But the tragedy has kicked to the front burner of public discourse the issue of the age-old fears nursed by Black parents for the lives of their children in the United States. Those fears deeply shape everyday parenting decisions.
Perpetual Threat
From the days of the slave trade till now, some Americans simply don’t believe that all men are born equal. They would do anything to put a Black person down. Black parents widely share a deep dread of the day their children begin driving. A routine encounter with the police could turn out to be a life-threatening event. Beyond official law enforcement, there is constant worry about neighbourhood watchmen or armed civilians who might view a Black teenager as an inherent threat, an outsider, or a criminal simply for wearing a hoodie, jogging, or walking in certain neighbourhoods.
Black children are frequently subjected to what some critics have described as adultification — a bias where Black girls and boys are perceived as older, less innocent, and more aggressive than their white peers. Whereas white children are often granted the societal grace to make “stupid teenage mistakes,” one minor mistake of a Black child, or being in the wrong place at the wrong time, can result in a permanent criminal record, incarceration, or physical harm. Parents fear that no amount of academic achievement, politeness, or socioeconomic privilege can fully protect their child from a system designed to demonise them first.
The fact that most of Nolan Wells’ friends are white would not confer any immunity on him if his friends were bitten by the racist bug and felt propelled to “put him in his place.” Many Black parents worry about how constant institutional biases will impact their child’s self-esteem and mental health. Parents deeply fear the psychological impact of teaching their children to live with this hyper-vigilance, knowing it strips away a piece of their childhood peace.
Sundry Fears
Unfortunately, the usual fear of African Americans that if a Black child vanishes, the media and law enforcement will not search for them with the same urgency or resources dedicated to non-Black children seems to have been proven valid in this case.
To cope with these realities, Black parenting in America often requires balancing immense love with a protective, hyper-conscious framework — instilling a standard of behaviour that is twice as careful just to keep their children safe.
Prominent civil rights figures like attorney Ben Crump and the Reverend Al Sharpton are representing the family. The case will likely reinforce deep-seated distrust in Southern law enforcement and justify the systemic cynicism Black communities have toward local authorities, particularly in the Deep South.
As attorney Ben Crump noted, the necessity of a parallel, private investigation in Mississippi — utilising private autopsies and digital forensics — is a direct callback to eras where Black families could not rely on the state to investigate the deaths of their children. The case reinforces the belief among many Black Americans that they must secure their own justice because public systems remain fundamentally unequal.
There are indications that the Wells’ case is going to have a profound influence on racial relations in America. Going forward, Black people may become circumspect in drinking water from the well of multiracialism.
The Wells case represents an evolving strategy in racial justice advocacy in which civil discovery is used to bypass slow processes of state criminal investigation and official autopsy. By utilising the Seventh Amendment, the family can subpoena phone records, depose witnesses under oath, and force accountability ahead of a prosecutor filing charges.
Blueprint
The ongoing aggressive, multi-pronged, and swift civil action will likely serve as a blueprint for how marginalised families handle suspicious deaths moving forward. Predictably, there are two camps in the incendiary debate.
On one side, conservative or skeptical commentators often warn against “rushing to judgement” or “injecting race” into a tragic accident before an official autopsy is finalised. On the other side, civil rights advocates argue that “wilful blindness” to Mississippi’s historical and contemporary racial dynamics is a form of injustice in a class of its own.
Because Wells was a popular 18-year-old athlete with a diverse group of friends, his death is a stark reminder to Gen Z and younger Americans that the heavy, historical shadow of American racism is not merely a relic of the past. Many people of colour will testify that despite window-dressing tokenisms, racism is alive and well in America.
The extent to which America allows a transparent, thorough, and fair investigative and judicial process to determine the outcome of the case will directly determine the country’s readiness to embark on the slow, painful step toward reform. Otherwise, there will continue to be two Americas divided into racial blocs united only in the mutuality of their hate for each other and a commitment to pass on the poisoned chalice to future generations.
As a self-confessed citizen of the world, I am still colour-blind. But not so blind as to miss the slightest snub or cold shoulder, nor, indeed, the fact that if the Wells case is not handled justly, the wells of racial amity will run dry.
Wole Olaoye is a Public Relations consultant and veteran journalist. He can be reached on [email protected], Twitter: @wole_olaoye; Instagram: woleola2021
