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La generación Z se viste como si nunca antes hubiera usado ropa
Por Thomas Morton (*). Como un joven que trabajaba en una revista de moda urbana, que entonces era popular, solía deleitarme clasificando a la gente por lo que llevaba puesto. Podía decirte de un vistazo qué tipo de música escuchaban, si trabajaban, cómo serían en la cama, qué tipo de cerveza beberían, todo por el corte de la pernera de su pantalón o el número del peine de la máquina de cortar cabello.
¿Suéter de lana y gorra blanca que le tapa demasiado los ojos? Ese es un deportista. ¿Sudadera gris con capucha rota sobre unos jeans enormes cuyos dobladillos están absorbiendo el agua de los charcos? Esa persona fuma marihuana. ¿La misma sudadera con capucha, pero con las mangas arremangadas más allá de los codos? ¡Cuidado! Ese es el indicador universal de metanfetamina.
Hoy en día soy un hombre de mediana edad que trabaja en la puerta de un bar en Chicago que es razonablemente popular entre los jóvenes, y siempre me deja perplejo el desorden de ropa que termina mezclado sin orden ni concierto. BC-OPINION-MORTON-SUBCULTURES-DEAD-ART-NYTSF — Young New Yorkers and their detailed outfits in Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York, on July 24, 2026. (Elinor Kry/The New York Times) — ONLY FOR USE WITH ARTICLE SLUGGED — BC-OPINION-MORTON-SUBCULTURES-DEAD-ART-NYTSF — OTHER USE PROHIBITED..
La otra noche entró un tipo con el cabello hasta los hombros peinado con una raya en medio y su camiseta fajada en sus pantalones de mezclilla. “He aquí un bobo”, pensé. Podría haberlo detectado desde la otra cuadra. Pero no. Una hora más tarde salí, y se estaba besando apasionadamente en el callejón con una supermodelo de 1,82 metros… y ella era gótica. O al menos estaba vestida como lo que yo considero que es un estilo gótico; hoy en día ya ni sé.
En la recesión de la década de 1990 en la que crecí, no había moda rápida y barata. En cambio, los adolescentes estadounidenses acudían a las tiendas de segunda mano y rebuscaban en el pasado disponible. Los teóricos sociales como Dick Hebdige se referirían al panorama general como un bricolaje de épocas anteriores y subculturas de la moda juvenil: un cajón de sastre de viejos estilos descartados reorganizados en una nueva combinación. Si bien los jóvenes sabíamos lo que significaban estas nuevas combinaciones (una camisa de vestir vieja con pantalones de cartero para los chicos de indie-rock, vestidos babydoll de los años cincuenta con botas para las chicas riot), para un observador externo, estoy seguro de que todos parecíamos locos. BC-OPINION-MORTON-SUBCULTURES-DEAD-ART-NYTSF — Young New Yorkers in their detailed outfits in Soho in New York, on July 25 2026. (Elinor Kry/The New York Times) — ONLY FOR USE WITH ARTICLE SLUGGED — BC-OPINION-MORTON-SUBCULTURES-DEAD-ART-NYTSF — OTHER USE PROHIBITED..
Aunque desconcertar a las personas mayores nunca fue el objetivo, de todos modos se sentía bien tener una oportunidad legítima para decir: “Simplemente no lo entiendes, anciano”.
Pero ahora yo soy el anciano que simplemente no lo entiende. En serio y de verdad: ¿por qué todo el mundo menor de 30 años se viste hoy en día como un verdadero lunático?
Parece que nadie siquiera ha usado ropa antes. ¡¿Pantalones de mezclilla holgados con un blazer, un suéter tipo cárdigan fajado en pantalones de camuflaje sin cinturón, una camiseta sobre un vestido campesino con las mangas por debajo y un cinturón?!
Y para una época en la que la gente les pide a extraños en internet que califiquen sus atuendos, es genuinamente una locura lo mal que le queda la ropa a todo el mundo. Los jeans de talle alto se abomban sobre los ombligos de las mujeres mientras que los dobladillos acampanados o de corte para botas chocan alrededor de sus pantorrillas; las camisas por fuera cuelgan de los lados como ropa de muñecas de papel; nadie usa los zapatos correctos. BC-OPINION-MORTON-SUBCULTURES-DEAD-ART-NYTSF — Young New Yorkers in Washington Square Park in New York, on July 26, 2026. (Elinor Kry/The New York Times) — ONLY FOR USE WITH ARTICLE SLUGGED — BC-OPINION-MORTON-SUBCULTURES-DEAD-ART-NYTSF — OTHER USE PROHIBITED..
Verás a un joven de muy buen aspecto con una camiseta de la NFL y pantalones cortos de gimnasia, y luego llevará un par de mocasines sobre calcetines deportivos.
Lo peor de todo es que todo está limpio. Increíblemente limpio, limpio y con pliegues, como si acabara de salir de un sobre de envío directo. Y cuanto menos se hable sobre los cortes de cabello, para ser sincero, mejor.
Una broma de adultos en las décadas de 1980 y 1990 era referirse, a menudo de forma nasal, a cualquier cosa que su hijo o hija llevara puesto como hacer una declaración de moda. Y aunque el objetivo era solo molestar a su hijo, había un grano de verdad escondido ahí. El atuendo más desconcertante y variopinto expresaba, no obstante, algo sobre quien lo llevaba, y la aplicación más común de este semáforo de vestimenta era señalarnos a los demás qué cosa era o aspiraba a ser la persona.
Ayudaba que solo hubiera unas 10 cosas que podías ser, aunque para finales de la década de 1990, las cosas se estaban multiplicando. El punk engendró al crust punk, al skate punk, al hardcore, al post-hardcore y al ska de la tercera ola (mucho ska). Los góticos se dividieron en góticos regulares, spooky kids de Florida e industriales, que se dividieron en dance industrial y rivet.
BC-OPINION-MORTON-SUBCULTURES-DEAD-ART-NYTSF — Young New Yorkers in their detailed outfits in Soho in New York, on July 25 2026. (Elinor Kry/The New York Times) — ONLY FOR USE WITH ARTICLE SLUGGED — BC-OPINION-MORTON-SUBCULTURES-DEAD-ART-NYTSF — OTHER USE PROHIBITED..
Incluso los chicos de teatro se dividieron en facciones opuestas de intérpretes y técnicos de escenario, cada uno con sus propias señales de moda discernibles. Aquí tienes una regla útil para eso: si hay una corbata en una camisa sin cuello, tienes a un técnico.
Hacer un seguimiento de todas las tribus y subculturas divergentes requería una fluidez intuitiva en la semiótica adolescente, y la única forma de adquirir este lenguaje implícito era a partir de los chicos que te rodeaban en tu pueblo o suburbio y los rastros que podías encontrar en los principales medios de comunicación, las carátulas de los CD y alguno que otro fanzine. Sin embargo, era importante. Por ejemplo, no querrías preguntarle a un fanático del death-metal de Tampa con una camiseta de Terrorizer qué pensaba sobre el artista noruego de black-metal Mortiis. Ese sería el fin de tu credibilidad. Del mismo modo, no querrías pedirle ayuda con tu tarea de matemáticas a un nerd de los videojuegos. Ese es el tipo de nerd equivocado.
Entonces ocurrió algo notable. Con la llegada de internet, las tribus comenzaron a converger. Napster y las primeras redes sociales como Makeoutclub y Friendster eliminaron la barrera financiera de entrada para desviarse de tu subcultura. Podías probar música sin gastar 16 dólares en un CD que terminaras odiando. Podías basar tu estilo en lo que vestían los chicos de la costa oeste sin tener que esperar a que un estudiante de intercambio llegara a tu escuela a mitad del semestre o ver a Braid tocar en tu club local para todas las edades.
Los chicos de indie-rock adoptaron la música de club; los metaleros agregaron un poco de rap a la mezcla. Los pantalones de todos se encogieron. A medida que las líneas que dividían a una tribu de otra cedían de manera gradual, todos comenzaron a mezclarse e hibridarse en una sola cosa nueva y amorfa. Fue hermoso. BC-OPINION-MORTON-SUBCULTURES-DEAD-ART-NYTSF — Young New Yorkers hanging out in Herbert Von King Park in Brooklyn, N.Y., July 25, 2026. (Elinor Kry/The New York Times) — ONLY FOR USE WITH ARTICLE SLUGGED — BC-OPINION-MORTON-SUBCULTURES-DEAD-ART-NYTSF — OTHER USE PROHIBITED..
Sin embargo, a algunas personas no les gustó y extrañaban a sus tribus. Llamaron despectivamente a esta gloriosa unión de todas las subculturas juveniles anteriores hipsters. En el mismo internet que había significado el fin de la división tribal, estos amargados inventaron diferentes subculturas y subsubculturas, la mitad de las cuales ni siquiera parecían estilos de vida, sino más bien bromas estéticas internas: cosas desgarbadas hechas a la medida que tenías que abreviar por la cantidad de guiones que involucraban. Bruja-urbana-gótica-de-la-pradera. Punk-financiero-poshegeliano-de-la-costa-oeste. Esteta-literario-de-cafetería-de-aldea-global. ¿Y de alguna manera todos seguían pareciendo extras del set de Friends? Indignante.
El desvanecimiento de esta destreza se siente más amplio y más significativo que la típica pérdida de estar en la onda propia del envejecimiento. Había una coherencia en la forma en que la gente usaba su ropa que permitía al simple observador asignar todo un conjunto de rasgos de personalidad a un estilo con poco conocimiento de la moda en sí. Podías deducir no solo quiénes eran, sino también quiénes aspiraban a ser. Podías captarlo al ver diferentes versiones del mismo tipo de persona una y otra vez. Y luego, una vez que te sentías cómodo con el panorama, podías decidir a qué tribu ibas a intentar pertenecer.
Una parte de mí quiere simplemente culpar a internet y dar el asunto por terminado. Y por cierto, sí es culpa de internet: cuando puedes pedir una réplica barata de cualquier prenda de vestir de la que hayas visto una foto (de cualquier periodo de la historia humana, te la entregan en días), se necesita una disciplina tremenda para no salir de casa luciendo como el equivalente de moda del helado suave de un niño de 10 años en el Tasti D-Lite donde está toda esa pared de coberturas. BC-OPINION-MORTON-SUBCULTURES-DEAD-ART-NYTSF — Young New Yorkers and their detailed outfits in New York on July 22, 2026. (Elinor Kry/The New York Times) — ONLY FOR USE WITH ARTICLE SLUGGED — BC-OPINION-MORTON-SUBCULTURES-DEAD-ART-NYTSF — OTHER USE PROHIBITED..
Pero creo que todo este asunto duele en más que en los ojos. Las subculturas de mi juventud eran una especie de familia extendida sustituta. En una sociedad que desecha el tipo de organizaciones y comunidades que la mantuvieron unida durante el siglo XX, encontrar a alguien o a un grupo de personas que fueran lo mismo que tú servía como un baluarte contra la fracturante sensación de atomización. Inventar una subcultura cada dos meses básicamente hace lo contrario, te mantiene de forma permanente distanciado de los chicos que te rodean. Quiero decir, la mitad de estas cosas apenas suenan como grupos de nada. ¿Qué diablos es un chico matcha performativo? ¿Algún tipo que bebe una cosa? ¿Cómo va a ser esa tu tribu?
Las subculturas y la moda en sí mismas se descartan como un patio de recreo para los jóvenes. Sin embargo, incluso en mi vejez, sigo encontrando amigos y compañeros por nuestras afiliaciones adolescentes compartidas. Justo la otra noche logré que un exgótico -un gótico de verdad- me pasara corriente al auto porque le hice un cumplido por su corte de cabello estilo Clan of Xymox antes de pedírselo.
BC-OPINION-MORTON-SUBCULTURES-DEAD-ART-NYTSF — Young New Yorkers in Washington Square Park in New York, on July 26, 2026. (Elinor Kry/The New York Times) — ONLY FOR USE WITH ARTICLE SLUGGED — BC-OPINION-MORTON-SUBCULTURES-DEAD-ART-NYTSF — OTHER USE PROHIBITED..
Por más sometidos y resignados que parezcamos los veteranos, todavía puedes distinguir los rastros de la juventud descarriada de la gente en el corte de sus pantalones y el arremangado de las mangas de sus camisas y, obviamente, cuando corresponde, en los tatuajes. Todo el mundo sigue siendo legible, incluso si tienes que leer más de cerca.
Pero estos chicos, lo juro. Me van a llevar a enterrar con una cara de tonto.
(*) Thomas Morton es escritor y creador de la serie documental de televisión Balls Deep. Trabaja en un bar en Wicker Park en Chicago, que ya no es un vecindario hípster.
The New York Times, data-cc, data-cc-nyt
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House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., remembers exactly where he was when the World Trade Center was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001.
«I was a senior in high school. I was in Mr. Ponzi’s government class. And that’s when the first plane hit. And one of the other teachers came in and was telling Mr. Ponzi about it,» he told Fox News Digital. «We all thought it was a little plane. And then we went to the next class. And then the second plane hit, and everybody realized that stuff was wrong.»
Twenty-five years later, Garbarino leads a congressional committee that oversees a Cabinet department created explicitly after the terror attack. He’s warning that Congress needs to change how it deals with potential threats to avoid another tragedy of that scale.
«Being chairman of the committee, being a New Yorker, it’s one of those things you focus on, and you want to make sure another 9/11 doesn’t happen, and doesn’t ever happen again. And that’s my goal. That’s my priority,» he said.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., is sounding the alarm against congressional «complacency,» 25 years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. (Newspix via Getty Images)
9/11 IS BECOMING HISTORY. MY GENERATION MUST MAKE SURE AMERICA NEVER FORGETS
«Congress is very good at being reactive… We don’t want another 9/11. So if I could leave my fingerprints on something here, it’s the fact that the focus, Congress’ focus on national security, Congress’ focus on homeland security or safety, is that we address an issue before something happens.»
HOW 9/11 TRANSFORMED SYNAGOGUE SECURITY INTO A NEW REALITY FOR THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
He said Congress needed to get into the habit of passing laws ahead of time, «instead of being like, ‘Oh my God I can’t believe this happened, how did this happen, let’s fix it now.’»
«That’s why 9/11 happened. 9/11 happened because our intelligence agencies, they were siloed, they were not sharing information. I don’t know if it was a complacency or whatever, but there were a lot of problems,» Garbarino said. «I don’t want to fall into that same complacency.»
Garbarino represents New York’s 2nd Congressional District, part of Long Island’s south shore. As a suburb of New York City, its residents are deeply attuned to that tragedy 25 years ago.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Andrew Garbarino presides over a hearing in the Cannon House Office Building in Washington on Dec. 11, 2025. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
«We have people that lost loved ones that day that are still dealing with it 25 years later,» Garbarino said. «So the scar is still there.»
His district and others are also still dealing with illnesses stemming from that day, including first responders who bravely rushed to the collapsing twin towers.
«There are now more people that have died from 9/11-related illnesses than died on the actual day. So it’s a day that keeps taking people away from us,» Garbarino said.
«You have firemen who, 9/11 was their first call. They were 21, 22 years old. They’re now 47… And a lot of these, some of these cancers, they take a while to take hold, and they’re now just getting sick.»
SCIENTISTS DISCOVER POSSIBLE LINK BETWEEN 9/11 AND ACCELERATED AGING
People rush away from the collapsing World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, after two hijacked airplanes hit the twin towers in New York City in a terrorist attack. (Getty Images)
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed legislation led by Garbarino and others to address a projected funding shortfall for the World Trade Center Health Program, which helps survivors pay for their medical treatment.
He said nearly all congressional districts across the country have at least one person participating in the program, a testament to how widespread the tragedy’s effects are.
«People moved out of New York, people who came from all over the country after 9/11 to help, they all went back home, they also got sick. So this does affect the entire country,» Garbarino said.
september 11, politics, new york city, homeland security, terror
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John Byrnes was swimming in a pool beneath Hunter College in Manhattan on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when he stepped outside for coffee and heard sirens blaring down Lexington Avenue.
He learned that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. Minutes later, he saw the North Tower collapse on a campus television and immediately headed toward his National Guard armory.
Byrnes spent the next two weeks helping secure Ground Zero. And spent the following years in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Each of the five veterans who spoke with Fox News Digital ahead of the 25th anniversary of 9/11 remembers where they were when they learned the nation had been attacked — and how Sept. 11 changed the trajectory of their life and service.
Some were already in uniform. Others, including a successful businessman and a teenager who watched the attacks unfold on television at his school, felt compelled to enlist.
Looking back 25 years later, Byrnes draws a sharp distinction between the wars, including the decision to respond to the terrorist attacks and the choices that followed to continue the war on terror.
«The decision to go to Afghanistan, that was absolutely necessary,» Byrnes, who is now a strategic director at Concerned Veterans for America, told Fox News Digital. «The decision to go to Iraq, which was not necessary.»
«The decision to stay in Afghanistan for so long was unfortunate, but it all came down to that day.»
ARMY VET LAWMAKER MARKS ABBEY GATE ANNIVERSARY WITH BLISTERING MESSAGE FOR BIDEN-HARRIS: ‘ABJECT FAILURE’
«The decisions that didn’t seem wrong at the time were just pebble after pebble into an avalanche,» he said.
Veterans who spoke to Fox News Digital all went to war believing they were protecting Americans by keeping the fight «over there.» Twenty-five years later, they remain proud that they answered that call. Their harder questions are about what came afterward: how the mission expanded, what two decades of war accomplished and whether the country ultimately made good on the sacrifices it asked of them — and the people of Afghanistan.
Chris Hoff was working for the state Department of Corrections while studying to become a special education teacher in his post-military service life. For him, the decision to return to service came as he watched the towers fall from the New Jersey shoreline.
Michael Matthews was already serving in the Army when the attacks happened that fateful day in 2001. He deployed to Iraq in 2003 with one of the first divisions to cross the border from Kuwait. His team was later hit by an IED. (Michael Matthews)
«When September 11 happened, I knew right then and there that I was going back in the military,» Hoff told Fox News Digital.
He returned to the reserves and deployed to Afghanistan twice. During his second deployment, he suffered multiple concussions and was ultimately forced to end his military career.
«For 20 years, all I knew was prison and war,» Hoff said. «And I was good at both of them.»
When he could no longer continue in either career, Hoff said he felt as though he had failed. But he credits connecting with the Wounded Warrior Project and beginning equine therapy for ultimately saving his life.
Hoff now shares his story in hopes other veterans will seek help sooner.
«If I can help just one soldier… get help,» he said, «it’s okay to get help. It truly is. I’m glad I did.»
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
John Byrnes was swimming in a pool beneath Hunter College in Manhattan on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when he stepped outside for coffee and heard sirens blaring down Lexington Avenue. He learned that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. Minutes later, he saw the North Tower collapse on a campus television and immediately headed toward his National Guard armory. (John Byrnes)
Rep. Troy Downing, R-Mont., now serving his first term in Congress, was moose hunting in remote Alaska when he first learned that the World Trade Center had been attacked.
He had been dropped in the bush with only an aviation radio, and no planes had flown overhead for days. When a pilot finally reached the hunting party, Downing learned that both towers had fallen.
«This country has been good to me,» Downing recalled thinking at the time when learning about the attack on U.S. soil. «What have I ever done to deserve it? We’re being attacked right now. Everything that this country stands for is being attacked. And I’ve never done anything to deserve this.»
Downing, the son of a single teenage mom, grew up poor. He went on to teach at New York University and help build a technology startup that became Yahoo.
He was 34, with no prior military service, when he returned home and walked into a recruiter’s office the next day. Downing joined the Air National Guard and served in combat search and rescue, including during two deployments to Afghanistan.
The way the war ended did not change Downing’s view of the decision to serve. But it did shape how he viewed what the country ultimately did with that service.
Downing called the withdrawal under former President Joe Biden «a blemish» that «squandered everything that we gained there.» He urged veterans not to conclude that their own sacrifices had been in vain.
«I just want to make sure that my brothers and sisters in arms, the folks that have served this mission, understand that they served this country and they served honorably,» Downing told Fox News Digital. «And not think just because of that one misstep that it was in vain because you stepped up to the dotted line when your country asked you to.»
MAMDANI TO RELEASE DOCUMENTS ON 9/11 HEALTH IMPACTS BEFORE 25TH ANNIVERSARY
Brandon Newberry has wrestled directly with that question.
Just 16 years old when he walked out of gym class and saw news coverage of the World Trade Center falling on a TV in his Spanish classroom, Newberry said: «I just felt lost and hopeless.»
«I wanted to do something,» he went on. «I wanted to help. I knew there were people suffering, people dying, and it hurt me really bad.»
Newberry joined the Marine Corps in 2006 because he believed the branch would put him closest to the fight. He deployed to Iraq in 2007 and later served two tours in Afghanistan.
«My whole philosophy behind it was take the fight to them,» Newberry told Fox News Digital. «As long as I kept it in their backyard, they couldn’t put it in our backyard.»
«For 20 years, all I knew was prison and war,» Hoff said. «And I was good at both of them.» (Chris Hoff)
Newberry said he spent roughly seven years in Afghanistan, including time as a government contractor after leaving the Marines. The years there gave him a close view of the Afghan people and the changes he believed had taken place while U.S. forces were in the country.
«At the time, women were allowed to go to school. We had women doctors,» he said. «They didn’t have that fear of the unknown, as long as we were there trying to help them out.»
Newberry said the U.S. «fumbled the ball» and could have done more to establish a lasting government and security force before leaving.
«It could have definitely been done better,» he said.
He also felt the conclusion of the two-decade war was a tragedy. «The withdrawal hurt us military guys. I lost a lot of good friends, and it hurts.»
The ending, Newberry said, raised a more personal question about the years he had spent there: «I almost feel like everything that I did was almost for nothing because, again, I feel like at this point I failed the Afghan people.»
Michael Matthews was already serving in the Army when the attacks happened that fateful day in 2001. He deployed to Iraq in 2003 with one of the first divisions to cross the border from Kuwait. His team was later hit by an IED.
Matthews suffered injuries to his face, neck, head, back, arms and legs, spent three and a half weeks in a coma and remained hospitalized for nearly nine months.
He had hoped to make a career of military service, but the injuries forced him onto a different path.
«It just ultimately changed the trajectory of what my goal was, which was to, of course, do this amazing life in the military and make a huge career out of it,» Matthews told Fox News Digital.
Instead, Matthews said the experience also gave him a new purpose: «Helping veterans and helping the community.»
Michael Matthews was already serving in the Army when the attacks happened that fateful day in 2001. He deployed to Iraq in 2003 with one of the first divisions to cross the border from Kuwait. His team was later hit by an IED. (Michael Matthews)
For the men who served, questions about the wars do not necessarily translate into regret over their own decision to fight.
Byrnes said one of the central lessons of the post-9/11 wars is that military and political leaders must look beyond the immediate objective — and be willing to acknowledge when a strategy is not working.
«You can never admit failure,» Byrnes said. «You always want to, no matter how bad things were, set the positive note. You tell the boss you’re winning until somebody else comes to take your place so you can get promoted without saying that you’re not winning.»
But 25 years after the attacks, the veterans’ reflections resist a simple judgment on the wars that followed.
They describe pride in having served despite the physical and psychological wounds, expressed frustration over the decisions that prolonged or expanded the wars, and issued sharply different conclusions about what the United States ultimately accomplished in its 20-year endeavor in the Middle East.
Matthews put that tension simply.
«We’re proud of what we did,» he said. «Even though we may not have fully understood what we were doing or why we were doing it.»
september 11, us marines, national guard, patriotism, veterans, us army, politics, tunnel to towers steel across america
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AOC’s ‘modern-day lynchings’ claim torn to shreds online as Black hanging case findings tell a different story
‘Not exactly Alexandria from the Bronx’: ‘The Five’ ridicules AOC’s fake southern accent
The Five panel criticizes Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s use of a «fake Southern accent» at a Memphis rally for Justin Pearson, sparking debate about her political authenticity and policy prowess. Commentators question her ability to handle unscripted debates, highlighting past instances where her policy proposals lacked substance, like the Amazon HQ2 controversy in Long Island City.
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This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., warned Friday of «racial terror» and «widespread modern-day lynchings» in the U.S. as she joined dozens of Democrats demanding that the DOJ and FBI investigate hanging deaths of Black Americans.
Multiple official findings in several recent cases show that law enforcement or medical examiners ruled the deaths suicides, while at least one very recent death remains under a homicide investigation.
AOC alleges there is systemic racial bias at the agencies, while fellow progressive lawmaker Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., called the hangings a «national crisis» in a letter to the agencies that she spearheaded.
MS RACHEL SPEAKS OUT ON BLACK HANGING CASES AS RALEIGH DEATH IS DECLARED SUICIDE
«This year, there have already been 10 reported hangings of Black people in the U.S. I’m proud to have signed onto Rep. Pressley’s letter to address these widespread modern-day lynchings and put a stop to this racial terror,» Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X in support of the call.
Pressley warned in her letter that «Black folks are being found hanged in America» and insisted: «We cannot stand by while strange fruit hangs from trees across the country.»
The letter, addressed to Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel, was signed by Pressley, Ocasio-Cortez and about 50 Democrats. They demanded a «thorough, transparent, and comprehensive federal investigation into every hanging death of a Black individual across the United States,» arguing that federal agencies have failed for decades to adequately investigate such deaths.
FAMILY IDENTIFIES YOUNG WOMAN FOUND FATALLY SHOT IN HOME OWNED BY REP AYANNA PRESSLEY’S HUSBAND
One 2026 case involved the death of a 21-year-old Atlanta man who had gone missing. He was later found hanging from a tree in a Cobb County park, where officials ruled out foul play and deemed the death a suicide, according to Atlanta’s NBC affiliate.
Another 2026 case involved Delta State University student Demartravion Reed in Mississippi. Officials «determined the cause of death to be a hanging and the manner of death as suicide.»
At the time, the case reopened old memories of the murder of Emmett Till, according to reports. Till was a Black teen kidnapped and murdered by White men not far from the site after he was falsely accused of flirting with a White woman in 1955.
15-YEAR-OLD BLACK TEEN’S MURDER REVEALS THE UGLY TRUTH ABOUT WHITE GUILT IN AMERICA
A Grio report on Pressley’s letter also referenced the hanging deaths of a 58-year-old man in Albany, N.Y., and a 39-year-old man in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
The Albany Police Department said Earl Smith’s death was «ruled a suicide» and investigators found «no evidence» of criminal activity.
«The Albany Police Department is aware of concerns posted on social media suggesting that criminal activity was involved with this incident, which has understandably caused public concern,» the department said.
A preliminary investigation of the Wisconsin man’s death also indicated suicide, according to Brookfield’s police chief cited by the Waukesha County Freeman.
At least one case remains under homicide investigation, according to reports.
Tasia Fortune was found hanging outside an abandoned house in Jackson, Mississippi, CNN reported Thursday. Authorities later questioned Terence Bernard Anderson, the father of one of her children, and arrested him on unrelated weapons charges, according to several reports.
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., talks with reporters outside the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 11, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The lawmakers’ characterization also drew criticism on social media.
«Those community notes are stacking up,» one critic said, as X’s crowdsourced correction indicator included several wire reports and media links disputing Ocasio-Cortez’ claims.
«There should be some sort of penalty for willfully lying on social media, especially for a politician,» another claimed.
Former Energy Department official Matt Van Swol posted to X, «In the last ‘lynching’ of a Black woman, the media conveniently left out the prime suspect in the case was her Black boyfriend. Zero White people are lynching Black people in America today.»
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Former Senate staffer Matt Whitlock added that «every death is a tragedy, but what do you think ‘widespread’ means if only one of these was actually a homicide. Not sure you’ve landed the point about ‘racial terror’ with this.»
Ayanna Pressley at the Featured Session «Repro Revolution: A Conversation with Rep. Ayanna Pressley» during the SXSW Conference & Festivals held at the Austin Convention Center on March 9, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (Amy E. Price/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images)
X’s crowdsourced Community Notes feature also pointed readers to law-enforcement and medical-examiner findings in several of the cases, stating that most high-profile hanging deaths it identified in 2025 and 2026 had been ruled suicides and that one remained under homicide investigation.
When reached for comment, Pressley spokesperson Ricardo Sanchez directed Fox News Digital back to the lawmakers’ letter to Blanche and Patel, specifically a line reminding them that «Congress enacted the Emmett Till Antilynching Act in 2022 to ensure the DOJ and FBI are empowered to fully investigate suspicious deaths and hold individuals accountable.»
Fox News Digital reached out to Ocasio-Cortez, the DOJ and the FBI for comment.
alexandria ocasio cortez, hate crime, homicide, controversies state and local, politics, the squad, democrats
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