Black History Month: The Murder Of Emmett Till

If anyone were to ever ask the question of when exactly did the American Civil Rights movement begin, they would probably receive multiple responses. Perhaps the best response that one could give would be August 28th, 1955. It was on this day that one of the most senseless and brutal murders in American history took place, the murder of Emmett Louis Till. This was also the day that darkness was brought to the light in a way that would change the world forever.

Emmett Louis Till was born on July 25th, 1941 to Mamie Carthan Till-Mobley and Louis Till in Chicago, Illinois. Emmett’s parents separated when he was just two years old after his mother discovered that his father was having an affair. After joining the United States Army, Louis Till was jailed and later executed for the rape and murder of several Italian women. Emmett Till spent most of his life being raised by his mother and grandmother in Chicago.

On August 21, 1955, Emmett took a trip to Money, Mississippi to stay with relatives. Three days later Emmett’s cousin Maurice Wright drove him to a local grocery store owned by a man named Roy Bryant and his wife Carolyn. Claims were made that Emmett made whistling gestures at Carolyn Bryant and when word of this made it back to Roy Bryant, he and his half-brother James William Milam sought Emmett Till out in the late night hours, eventually tracking him down at the house of his relatives whom which he was staying. Rousting him from his sleep, Bryant and Milam abducted Emmett and took him to a location inhabited by one of the African American employees of Milan's brother where they severely beat Emmett and eventually shot him in the head, killing him.

The aftermath following Emmett's murder was heartbreaking beyond measure. Emmett's body was severely mutilated when it was found in the days following his murder. Emmett's mother, Mamie decided to make a bold choice in the time leading up to his funeral. She decided to give Emmett an open casket and have his mutilated body on full display to show the entire world the brutality of racism that not only Emmett endured, but what African Americans go through every day. Tens of thousands of people went to the viewing of Emmett Till's body. Thousands more would eventually attend his funeral. The images of Emmett's body as well as the image of Mamie and her husband Gene standing over Emmett's mutilated body would become some of the most iconic images in world history.

Following his death and funeral, Emmett's murder gained national attention and led to a social and political outcry that moved the nation. Not surprisingly Emmett's murderers were acquitted for his killing. Countless people fought and prayed for his justice, but of course it would never come. The painful truth is that Emmett Till was a 14 year old Black male and in the eyes of the prejudice individuals who had the authority over his case, a Black life did not deserve justice and to have a Black life ended was justice. It was noted that the state of Mississippi made a conscious effort to make sure there were no female or African American jurors as a part of his trial. they wanted to make sure that the acquittal of his attackers was a guarantee. Many of Mississippi's citizens put a lot of effort into funding his defense. Some of the jurors of the case even openly admitted that they knew his attackers were guilty, but did not feel that punishing White men for the murder of a Black child was justified. In the decades since Emmett's death many claims that Carolyn Bryant fabricated her story have come out along with revelations that he never made any gestures or interacted with Bryant aside from being a customer and yet Emmett still has not been given justice. The men who murdered him have done interviews in which they have talked about why they felt justified in brutally killing him:

"Well, what else could we do? He was hopeless. I'm no bully; I never hurt a n*gger in my life. I like n*ggers—in their place—I know how to work 'em. But I just decided it was time a few people got put on notice. As long as I live and can do anything about it, n*ggers are gonna stay in their place. N*ggers ain't gonna vote where I live. If they did, they'd control the government. They ain't gonna go to school with my kids. And when a n*gger gets close to mentioning sex with a white woman, he's tired o' livin'. I'm likely to kill him. Me and my folks fought for this country, and we got some rights. I stood there in that shed and listened to that n*gger throw that poison at me, and I just made up my mind. 'Chicago boy,' I said, 'I'm tired of 'em sending your kind down here to stir up trouble. Goddam you, I'm going to make an example of you—just so everybody can know how me and my folks stand.''

—J. W. Milam, Look magazine, 1956.

In the months following Emmett Till's murder many rallies and protest for justice took place. One sentiment that really stuck out was how effective Emmett's story was on White Americans, many of which felt compelled to join the fight for justice for not only Emmett, but every Black American who has to feel the sting racism's brutality and oppression. Between the many protest and political meetings that would take place in the aftermath of Emmett's murder, a new movement was born. A movement that was dedicated to the freedom, justice and equality of African Americans, this movement became known as the Civil Rights Movement. Some of the earliest events of this movement were The Montgomery Bus Boycott launched by Rosa Parks, along with a rally led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and The Greensboro Sit-in of 1960. Mamie Till would use the impact of her son's death to become a civil rights activist. She became a beacon of hope, strength and solidarity for so many people who knew her story and were following a similar path of activism. Even though Mamie died without ever receiving justice for her son's murder, she lived a remarkable life that promised that his death was not in vain.

What does all of this mean to me as a Black male? Emmett Till is an ancestor of my existence and his story is a painful lesson on where I stand in this country. Emmett Till's legacy is the prime example of what so many African Americans not only went through, but are still going through on a daily basis. The injustices, the death and the heartache of seeing those individuals who are responsible for our suffering walking around and living full lives with no punishment granted for their evil deeds. This is why we kneel, this is why we march, this is why we rally and unfortunate as it is, this is why we riot. From Trayvon Martin to Tamir Rice, the bloody legacy of Emmett Till still lives larger than ever. Though that bloody path is perpetually being paved, those of us who reject it will never stop fighting for justice.

~~For Emmett and Mamie. We will never stop fighting for you both.