The Case of Emmett Louis Till

Emmett Till, who was born on July 25, 1941, was 14 years old when he was lynched in Mississippi after allegedly flirting with a white woman. He had traveled from his hometown of Chicago to visit his relatives in the South when two white men arrived at his family’s home and dragged him out at gunpoint.

His death was the result of numerous violent acts that followed. He was beaten, and shot in an eye, an ear and most of his teeth were gouged out before his body was thrown into the Tallahatchie River, weighed down by a 70-pound cotton gin.

Hundreds attended the open casket funeral, which was a decision made by Till’s mother who hoped to bring more attention to her son’s death by displaying his mutilated body and the brutal crimes committed against him.

Segregated South had begun the struggle for justice. Emmett Till's murder was a spark

In the upsurge of activism and resistance that became known as the civil rights movement. The sight of his brutalized body pushed many who had been content to stay on the sidelines directly into the fight.

Months before Emmett's death in 1955, two African American activists in Mississippi had been murdered. An NAACP field worker, the Reverend George Lee, was shot and killed at point blank range while driving in his car after trying to vote in Belzoni. A few weeks later in Brookhaven, Lamar Smith was shot and killed in front of the county courthouse -- in broad daylight and before witnesses -- after casting his ballot. Both were active in black voter registration drives. No one was arrested in connection with either murder

. Emmett Till's death had a powerful effect on Mississippi civil rights activists. Medgar Evers, then an NAACP field officer in Jackson, Mississippi, urged the NAACP nation...

... middle of paper ...

..., what do you see that was unfair and would not be tolerated in today’s society? It is clear to see that racism ran rampant in the South and little was done to enforce the rules of the land. Over the past half-century, we have brought a great deal of change and equality in regards to civil rights. However this was not an easy or fast process. Many gave their time and lives to bringing about equality to African Americans.

Emmett Till was just the beginning of a long line of movements and people to create change in America. People sat at lunch counters when they weren’t allowed to sit inside of restaurants. Others protested and were beaten by police, had police dogs unleashed on them and were injured with water cannons. Still countless others who will never be known supported the movement silently through protest and their own personal actions of support.