the murder of emmett till
The Murder of Emmett Till
The murder of Emmett Till was probably the event where black people fully united and decided they were not going to allow white people to continue to treat them like trash. Emmett Till was not just his mother’s son, instead, he was every black person’s son—meaning every black person was affected by his death. If one were to pinpoint a single event that catapulted the Civil Rights Movement, it could be the murder of Emmett Till.
The Emmett Till documentary was very powerful and it evoked several emotions. Emmett Till’s mother, Mamie, was an extremely strong woman and was able to maintain her composure during the investigation and the interviews. I was actually astounded by the amount of strength she possessed. Despite the fact that her son was brutally murdered and was unrecognizable afterwards, she still decided to hold an open-casket funeral because she knew it was necessary to show to world how unjust American law was.
Unfortunately during this time the life of a black person was worth nothing. White people were able to lynch black people and get away with it. To them, black people were just niggers and segregation and subordination was the only valid option for the future.
It is very ironic how Till was killed while visiting a town with the slogan, “a good place to raise a boy”. Obviously not a very good place if the town was saturated with racism and a justice system that does not understand justice.
One can compare the Emmett Till case of 1955 with the Trayvon Martin case of 2012 or the Oscar Grant case of 2009. Although not nearly as severe as Till’s murder, these cases still address the same issue. Both involved the unnecessary killings of a black child. Both boys’ killers were tried in the court of law and were acquitted and found not guilty. Both boys were killed without actually committing a true crime. It is sad that more than 50 years later we are still discussing racism and cases based on race. One can also compare
The murder of Emmett Till was probably the event where black people fully united and decided they were not going to allow white people to continue to treat them like trash. Emmett Till was not just his mother’s son, instead, he was every black person’s son—meaning every black person was affected by his death. If one were to pinpoint a single event that catapulted the Civil Rights Movement, it could be the murder of Emmett Till.
The Emmett Till documentary was very powerful and it evoked several emotions. Emmett Till’s mother, Mamie, was an extremely strong woman and was able to maintain her composure during the investigation and the interviews. I was actually astounded by the amount of strength she possessed. Despite the fact that her son was brutally murdered and was unrecognizable afterwards, she still decided to hold an open-casket funeral because she knew it was necessary to show to world how unjust American law was.
Unfortunately during this time the life of a black person was worth nothing. White people were able to lynch black people and get away with it. To them, black people were just niggers and segregation and subordination was the only valid option for the future.
It is very ironic how Till was killed while visiting a town with the slogan, “a good place to raise a boy”. Obviously not a very good place if the town was saturated with racism and a justice system that does not understand justice.
One can compare the Emmett Till case of 1955 with the Trayvon Martin case of 2012 or the Oscar Grant case of 2009. Although not nearly as severe as Till’s murder, these cases still address the same issue. Both involved the unnecessary killings of a black child. Both boys’ killers were tried in the court of law and were acquitted and found not guilty. Both boys were killed without actually committing a true crime. It is sad that more than 50 years later we are still discussing racism and cases based on race. One can also compare