Photo: TikTok
Her reason for the false claim is disturbing.
By Alice Kelly — Written on Sep 16, 2021
TikTok users may have been shocked to stumble across one nurse’s story of a disturbing deathbed confession one of her patients allegedly made.
Dawn, aka @benzosandespresso, has since removed her viral video but claimed an elderly woman dying of COVID-19 was being haunted by her connection to the tragic lynching of a Black teen many years ago.
The nurse told TikTok her patient’s false allegation caused a Black teen to be lynched.
“She told me that when she was a teenager she told her mother that one of the local Black boys had touched her behind the grocery store,” Dawn tells her followers in a now-deleted video that was reposted in the compilation below.
The alleged incident took place in Louisiana in 1936 and led to the accused teen being lynched.
“Not only was the boy lynched, but he was beaten, and his genitals were cut off,” the TikToker continues.
“And then the family home was burned to the ground. And she watched it all happen.”
She adds that the patient had a disturbing explanation for the alleged incident.
“You wanna know why? Because she saw that his sisters had prettier dresses than she did. And she just didn’t like it. So she lied.”
The TikToker claims the woman was haunted by the alleged lynching.
“And then it clicked,” Dawn explains, “This same woman had been hallucinating for the past couple of days, saying there was a Black boy in her room watching her, would not stop staring at her, and she was scared.”
She recalled telling the woman the only way she could get forgiveness is from the family of the boy.
The nurse offered possible proof of the incident.
In a follow-up video, Dawn said she had uncovered an article that she believes matches up with the details her patient provided.
She says the report took place in the “same time period” and “same parish” as the story her patient told her.
The report retells the story of a 16-year-old Black child who was lynched in Assumption Parish in Louisiana.
The article is from 1933, not 1936 when her patient claimed the incident took place. However, this may be explained by discrepancies in reporting or confused timelines.
Dawn later shares another video after discovering another article about a lynching in the Louisiana parish her patient grew up in.
The article describes a 26-year-old man named Andrew who was killed by a mob after being accused of trying to “attack a girl.”
This article is from 1934, not 1936, according to another TikTok user who investigated the incident.
It is also not in the same parish as the original article, despite Dawn claiming both articles are from the parish her patient grew up in.
The TikToker has been accused of capitalizing on Black trauma.
Dawn’s tone and her refusal to go to the proper authorities with the details of her claims have been criticized by users of the app.
“Stop turning Black death into a spectacle for TikTok and exploiting our stories for views,” one woman, named Brie, said in response to Dawn’s videos.
“You’re chuckling, smiling, acting as if this story is a joke when in reality it is something that is extremely serious to a lot of us Black people.”
The veracity of Dawn’s particular claims has not been confirmed but the reality of historical lynching and legally-sanctioned violence against Black is far more severe than her story alone.
Historians say false sexual assault claims we often used to justify the lynchings of Black men.
Racists played on fears that Black men could corrupt “innocent” women in order to perpetuate anti-Black violence.
These claims were also used as cover for consensual interracial relationships that were, at the time, extremely taboo.
These lynchings have contributed to decades of systemic racism. Many would even argue lynching still occurs today in police violence and unjust killings of Black people.
Dawn’s claim is not unlikely or far-fetched, there are many stories like it. However, sensitivity around this issue is owed to Black communities in order to respect and appropriately handle their trauma.
Alice Kelly is a senior news and entertainment editor for YourTango. Based out of Brooklyn, New York, her work covers all things social justice, pop culture, and human interest. Keep up with her Twitter for more.