During class today, students presented events throughout history that either advanced or weakened the Civil Rights Movement. One event that stood out to me as particularly impactful is the lynching of Emmett Till. After hearing his story, I believe it’s an important one to explore further and share.
Emmett Till was a young, African American man who grew up in Chicago, Illinois. Upon moving to Mississippi in 1955, he was faced with a deeper level of racism than he used to.
When Emmett was in his family grocery store, he was accused of catcalling a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, in some way. Stories of what he did range from whistling to flirting with her. However, when Carolyn talked about her interaction with Emmett, she distorted the interaction by saying there was unwanted physical contact.
Days later, Carolyn’s husband, Rob Bryant, and half-brother, J.W. Milam, kidnapped Emmett. They beat him terribly until he was fully mutilated. Once Emmett was only barely hanging on to life, they shot him in the head.
Emmett’s body was found three days later at the bottom of the Tallahatchie River. His corpse was so disfigured that the only way the body was identified was by the ring he wore.
Despite all of the damage to Emmett’s body, his mother still wanted him to have an open casket. She wanted the world to see and hear the story of her son.
Later, a trial was held to determine who murdered Emmett. Many witnesses suggested the names of Bryant and Milam as the killers. It didn’t even take an hour before the jury ruled “not guilty” to the clearly guilty murderers.
Many years later, Carolyn confessed that Emmett never touched, threatened, or harassed her. She exclaimed that what he did was not justifiable for what happened to him.
Sources:
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-death-of-emmett-till
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/emmett-till-murderers-make-magazine-confession
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