Race questions taint tragedy of teen drowned in Mississippi

The puzzling case of 18-year-old Nolan Wells, who drowned while on an island outing with friends, has received national attention for two reasons — understandable demands for transparency by his parents, and race: Wells was Black and his friends are white.

You can read the latest in this comprehensive CNN outline.

One mystery is why his friends returned from the island where they were partying without him. Another is why they had his cell phone.

The biggest mystery to me is this: I have not seen a report of the friends‘ version of what happened.

CNN reports police interviewed witnesses, without specifying who they were, and also that the families of the other teens have hired lawyers.

Why should they need lawyers?

Well, it could be because of the race issue. In its coverage, CNN used some reporting/speculation.

“Many have looked at the photos of Wells, where he appears to be the only young Black man in group pictures, and sensed danger — a reminder of Mississippi’s fraught racist past many argue is still alive today.”

Well, “many” is used twice by CNN. And it is true. But is it the totality of the story?

Also true, I think, is many people see a picture of a Black teen comfortable with white friends. To me, the picture shows four friends completely at ease with each other. 

Everyone wants answers, and they may be forthcoming.

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I took special interest in this case because it mirrors an episode from my youth.

I am guessing I was about 12 or 13 and went to the beach with a group of friends, I am guessing 6 or 8. Memory is dim because it was like a million other summer days.

Orchard Beach is located in the northeast part of The Bronx, and known for its long beach with fine sand, and virtually no waves as it does not front the ocean.

On this particular afternoon, one of the boys was a Black kid, from one of the islands, who I barely knew. I don’t recall seeing him on my block, and, looking back, I guess he was a friend of a friend.

We got to the beach around 10 and probably got ready to leave around 4. I remember little about the day other than spending so much time in the mild green water that my skin puckered.

As we were picking up our blankets, someone asked about Lloyd. (I don’t remember his name, I am calling him Lloyd.)

I remember him as tall, skinny and mocha colored, and he was near me in the water for a lot of the day.

But as we prepared to leave, we couldn’t find him. 

We searched up and down the beach, checked the restrooms, then someone reported it to lifeguards.

I knew we hung around, a few of us, but I have no memory of any of it — until the sun was settling toward the horizon.

That’s when lifeguards pulled Lloyd from the water, no more than 20 yards from shore in water that was waist deep.

Their efforts at reviving him were fruitless.

How could someone drown in waist-deep water surrounded by other bathers?

That remains a mystery to this day.

No one made a racial issue out of it.

As to Wells, one member of the famed Cajun Navy search and rescue group was reported as saying there was a strong riptide around Horn Island, where the friends were partying.

As to why Wells gave his phone to friends, one witness said it was customary for people to hand their phones to friends if they were going in the water. 

An independent autopsy is being conducted to determine the cause of death, for which a local sheriff ruled out foul play.

Getting the autopsy out of local hands is a good idea, to eliminate suspicion of bias.

I’m not sure what conclusion will give his grief-stricken parents closure.