Emmett Till Thesis

The event that started the civil rights movement and forever changed american history, started with his murder. Being black in the 1950’s was hard as it is, but being black and a man was even more difficult. With having even harsher consequences for actions. Emmett Till was a fourteen year-old black boy that was brutally tortured to death for making alleged advances towards a white woman, Carolyn Bryant. Emmett Till was a kind, humorous, and caring boy known by many. At home his mother said that Emmett would cook, clean, do laundry and other household chores while she would work long hours at for the FBI. Mamie Till had decided that she was going to send Emmet to Money,Georgia for two weeks to visit relatives. Prior to his departure by train,

Carolyn's husband, Roy Bryant, soon returned from business in those next few days. He heard from others that Till had made advances towards his wife. When he later asked his wife angrily, she claimed that Emmett had grabbed her, harassed her and whispered in her ear inappropriate things. Later Roy and his brother-in-law had gone all around Money looking for him. They finally figured out that Till was the nephew of Moses, the local preacher. They arrived at his house sometime at four in the morning demanding to see Emmett. When they found Emmett asleep they awoke him and forced them into their truck despite protest. What happened after is not completely known. What was testified in court by Bryant and MIlam, was that they only meant to teach him a lesson but he kept talking back and that angered them, and he was eventually shot after a while of torture. Three days later Emmetts body was found in the Tallahatchie river. The body was so messed up that he could not be identified by facial recognition. His uncle had identified him by a ring on his hand that belonged to Till’s late father. His body was sent home to Chicago and the government tried to get his body buried right away so no commotion was made. But his mother decided to have an open casket funeral. Mammie Bradley claimed that “Unless an example is made of the lynchers of Emmett it won’t be safe for any negro to walk the streets anywhere in

After the country had realized the brutality and unjustified act of this murder, rights for people of color started falling into place. NIne years after the Death of Emmett Till and the beginning of the civil rights movement, congress passed the civil rights act of 1964 that banned discrimination and segregation in schools. Only ten years later the government outlawed discriminatory voting practices. A few year prior to all of these momentous event, famous songwriter Bob Dylan, said “ The 1955 trial of Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam is remembered as a turning point in civil rights