Strange Fruit

Southern trees bear strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

A United States Citizen, adult male was found hanging from a tree in Mississippi. It’s 2015! 

Suicide or murder? The FBI is investigating. 

Retaliation? It's reported, in 1980, Byrd, the man found hanging from the tree, was convicted of murdering a woman in the same county for $101. Byrd served 25 years in prison and was paroled in 2006.
 
I’ve long been disenchanted with the idea that everyone must get along. However, it seems with each passing day that I grow more resolved to engage to establish policies that will provide the opportunity for all citizens of the United States to share in opportunity and thrive despite the individuals (all races) who dwell in hate (retaliation) and racism (hung because he was black). To be clear, I don't know what happened, this could have been suicide (my assumption: unlikely). 

Still, a man hanging from a tree sends a clear implicit message, and it is not acceptable.  Suicide or otherwise.

Update 21 March:

The Daily Beast Reported:

On Friday, a federal law-enforcement official told the Los Angeles Times that preliminary autopsy results point to suicide as the cause of death for the black Mississippi man found hanging from a tree.  Otis Byrd was found Thursday hanging about two feet off the ground by police who were searching for him. (Byrd was last seen at a casino almost two weeks ago.) The FBI, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation are all investigating the incident. Autopsy results are expected next week.

My assumption, suicide was unlikely.  I am shocked and saddened that a man of the South would take his life — should suicide be the final autopsy result — by hanging himself from a tree knowing the historical significance and symbolism of men hanging from trees in the South. Then, surely, if he committed suicide that was likely the last thing on his mind. Nevertheless, a man hanging from a tree sends a clear implicit message, and it is not acceptable.  Suicide or otherwise. Come on people, let's get it together.