Killing of Emmett Till

In the series, Eyes on the Prize, the death of a young boy, Emmett Till, was detailed in Episode 1: Awakenings. Before watching Episode one of Eyes on the Prize, I knew the basics of Emmett Till’s death and that one white man got away with the murder of the young boy. As I watched the segment about Till, I realized that the killing was even worse than I remembered it. Only visiting Mississippi to see family, the 14-year-old from Chicago was murdered and body mutilated for ‘talking fresh’ to a white woman in a store. One might think it is best not to voluntarily talk to a white individual while in the South during this era. The best thing to do is to keep it moving and to not pay much mind if you can help it. But according to the woman that Till interacted with, it was enough for two white men to up and lynch, and throw the boy’s body into a river. Not only was Till killed, but when found by authorities, only Mose Wright, his great uncle, could positively identify him. This made a major statement at the time and on a whole generation of enraged Black Americans living in 1955.

For a major statement made, like on JET magazine with a picture of Till’s body, another statement was made when it was revealed that Till never did such a thing and his death was only a result of a racist South out to disarm and harm Black Americans.

https://wooster.kanopy.com/video/awakenings

 

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