I knew the story of Emmett Till like thousands of black boys growing up in the rural South who suppressed it in our minds. It traumatized us, unlike any of the murders of African American men, women, and children of Apartheid America that I am coming to grips with today.
Till's disfigured body lying in a coffin for the world to see has awakened in me a need to tell his story and fight for redemption. He is crying out from the grave, asking us to right an injustice over half a century old. To do less or not step up to the plate is not an option.
The boy, who would be brutally murdered for allegedly whistling at a white woman in a country store in Mississippi, lived like most black boys in inner city Chicago during 1950s America. He attended school and church regularly and was well dressed, as customary for black males of that era. He was also described as a leader, especially by his mother, Mamie TIll, who told reporters he agreed to do the shopping, cleaning, and cooking to show his appreciation for the long hours she worked as a clerk overseeing secret and confidential files for the U.S. Air Force. (1) Till enjoyed a measure of freedom many African-American youth in the South did not have.
Mrs. Till, like all African-American mothers in the North, prepared their sons for what to expect on a possible trip South since the societies were radically different. Many blacks who migrated North during the Great Migration left loved ones behind and made clandestine visits to see them whenever possible. Emmett made the faithful journey in August of 1955 when his great Uncle Moses White visited the family from Money, Mississippi. When he decided to return, the fourteen-year-old begged his mother if he could go with him and a cousin to meet family in the Delta. After careful consideration, she offered him her blessing.
When Emmett arrived in the small town of Money in the Mississippi Delta, he found life much different than his hometown of Chicago. Emmett could breathe fresh air, fish, or walk barefoot to the store. Days later while buying snacks at Bryant's Grocery and Meat Market with his cousins after working in the fields, he was accused of flirting with or touching the hand of Carolyn Bryant, the white cashier, and owner's wife, something a black man dared do in the Jim Crow era South. Whether it happened or was an innocent mistake has been debated for years. He left for his uncle's home unaware of the seriousness of the matter.
Four days after the alleged incident occurred, Carolyn's Bryant husband, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother, J.W. Milan, abducted Emmett, who had never experienced such hate in Chicago, from Uncle Moses White's home at approximately 2:00 a.m. August 28, and carried him to an isolated location. "They then beat the teenager brutally, dragged him to the bank of the Tallahatchie River, shot him in the head, and tied him with barbed wire to a large metal fan and shoved his body into the water," according to History.com. (2) Till was also lynched before being drowned.
Three days later on August 31, a body was discovered floating downriver in a nearby jurisdiction by a fisherman, who quickly notified authorities. When word reached the black community, Moses White, who had recently reported his nephew missing, speculated it could be Till, as did other African Americans familiar with the case. White made a positive identification of Till's mangled corpse based on a ring he was wearing, given to him by his late father, and made the heartbreaking call to his mother.
Hearing of her son's demise, Mrs. Till demanded his remains be shipped to Chicago over the objections of local authorities. Devastated but unbroken, she hastily made funeral arrangements and opted to have an open casket ceremony to show the world what they did to her son.
On September 6th, the day of his funeral, Thousands filed past Till's coffin at Roberts Temple Church of Chicago. They wanted "to see evidence of the hate crime," recalls history.com. Women fainted at the sight of him as men looked on in horror. By now, Till's face and head were bloated beyond recognition due to the trauma he experienced in the final days of his life and from being submerged underwater. One of his ears and an eye were also said to be missing, prompting speculation they were taken as a souvenir.
Days later, two black publications, the Chicago Defender and Jet Magazine, published "graphic images" of Till's corpse, invoking outrage and indignation throughout the country. (3) They arouse indignation even to this day and sparked the modern Civil Rights Movement.
On September 19, two weeks after Emmett was laid to rest, his trial commenced with high hopes for a conviction. Mrs. Till made the risky trip from Chicago to attend every session and spoke out on her son's behalf. However, an all-white male jury acquitted Roy Bryant and J.W. Milan of Till's slaying despite "overwhelming evidence of the defendant's guilt, including eye witness testimony from Emmett's great uncle, Moses White, who courageously identified the men as having kidnapped Till from his home. (4) A local African-American male also testified to having seen the deceased riding in the vehicle belonging to the accused the night he disappeared. It was typical of Southern juries in the Jim Crow era not to convict white defendants accused of murdering blacks, even if there was irrefutable proof a crime took place.
Nearly seventy years after Till's senseless murder, the U.S. Senate, on March 7, 2022, followed the House and passed the Emmet Till Antilynching Act. On March 29, President Biden Signed the historic measure into law during a special ceremony in the White House Rose Garden, which African-American leaders had fought diligently to pass. Till's mother, who spent the balance of her life fighting to bring her son's killers to justice and keep his memory alive, would have been proud.
We must keep her dream alive by spreading the word of this young man because he lives in all men who have or may one day suffer a tragic event and because we love the child he represents.
Sources:
1. History.com.
2. History.com.
3. History.com
