I knew the story of Emmett Till like thousands of black boys growing up in the rural South, which 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, displayed 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, half a century old. To do less is not an option.
Till, who was 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, and dressed immaculately as customary for black males of that era. He was also described as a leader, especially by his mother, Mamie Till, who admitted to reporters that 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 that 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. He could breathe fresh air, fish, or walk barefoot to the store. A few days later, while buying snacks at Bryant's Grocery and Meat Market with his cousins after a long day of working in the fileds, 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.
Less than a week later, Carolyn's 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. on 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.
On August 31st, three days after the brutal abduction, a body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River by authorities in a nearby jurisdiction, who were alerted by a fisherman. When news reached the black community, Moses White, who had recently reported his nephew missing, and others familiar with the case, speculated it could be Till. White made a positive identification based on a ring Till was wearing, given to him by his late father, and made the heartbreaking call to his mother.
Over the objection of local authorities, Mrs. Till demanded that her son's remains be shipped to Chicago. 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 the day of the 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. An ear and an eye were also missing, prompting speculation that they were taken as souvenirs.
Two distinguished black publications, the Chicago Defender and Jet Magazine, carried "graphic images" of Till's corpse, invoking outrage and indignation throughout the country, and sparking the modern Civil Rights Movement. (3)
On September 19th, two weeks after Emmett was laid to rest, his murder 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 eyewitness 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 that a crime had taken 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 an innocent boy whose life was snatched from us on a technicality or breach of social norms, who lives among us still.
Sources:
1. History.com.
2. History.com.
3. History.com
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