Emmett Louis Till (1941 – 1955) was a 14 year old African-American boy who was lynched in Mississippi. Originally from Chicago, his mother Mamie Till-Mobley, sent him to Mississippi to vacation with extended family members who were sharecroppers. Emmett, his cousin and some local teenager boys went to the corner store for candy. It was there that he was accused by the store owner, a white woman, of flirting and making lewd comments to her. The woman’s husband and his half-brother kidnapped Emmett out of his uncle home in the middle of the night. Emmett was beaten, pistol-whipped, shot, and his body was thrown in the local river after being weighted down with a 70 lb. fan. He was lynched in Mississippi after being there only 7 days.
Emmett Till’s mother demanded an open-casket funeral for her son to show the world how her son suffered before his death. To show society an example of the hatred inflicted upon black society during those times. Emmett Till died in the mist of Jim Crow laws where its rules were separate at all times and never equal. Blacks had to enter through back doors, and use the water fountains and restrooms labeled for coloreds. If there weren’t any restrooms labeled for colored, you either held it or you went to the fields. Blacks could not eat in white owned restaurants, could not say no to white society, and had no protections through law enforcement and the judicial system. Black adults, regardless of their age, were addressed as boys and girls by white society – a tactic used to reflect their superiority over blacks. This is the period of which Emmett Tilled lived, died, and of which his murderers were acquitted by a jury of which only white men could serve.
According to Emmett’s mother, he was good in art, science, and spelling. He was a typical teen-aged boy. It took more than 50 years for the accuser, Carolyn Bryant, to admit that the accusations against Emmett Till were false. It has been 65 years since the death of Emmett. Sixty-five years later, white women lies and tears still invoke the hatred of white men and the indifference of police and law enforcement. What would have become of Emmett if he was not lynched? His potential and his future, the descendants he may have had, and the work he may have completed as a man was killed with him. Lynching not only kills the victim, it affects their friends, family, and any future impact the victim may have had in society. Lynching is evil and the way it destroys is insidious. It is said that Emmett Till’s murder was the catalyst of the civil rights movement. Culture Blurb acknowledges the murder of Emmett Till, the persistence of his mother, and their unintentional sacrifice to move forward the civil rights movement.