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WILL EMMETT TILL GET JUSTICE? After 67 Years, Time Catches Up to His False Accuser By Stephen G. Hall, PhD The Emmett Till case is one of the most ignominious in the history of the nation. The sheer horror, brutality and inhumanity displayed by Southern segregationists toward a black child defined the Civil Rights era and continues to echo across the decades up to our current time. The facts of the case are horrific. In 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till was brutally murdered while visiting relatives in Mississippi. His uncle, Mose Wright, had visited Chicago and returned with Till to Mississippi. During his stay in Mississippi, Till, who was unfamiliar with the strict racial codes of behavior for black people in the South, had a chance encounter with a white woman that led to lifealtering outcomes. was weighted down with a 75-pound cotton gin fan While visiting a country store with his cousins , Till
attached to his body with barbed wire.
encountered Carolyn Bryant, a white woman and wife of the owner. Reportedly, he attempted to flirt with Bryant
Determined that the world see what happened to her son,
and whistled at her. In actuality, Till did not attempt to
Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, decided to have an open-
flirt with or whistle at anyone in the store. Till whistled at
casket funeral. Till’s body was displayed at Roberts Temple
Bryant after he left the store, and at no time was he
Church of God in Christ in Chicago where tens of thousands
menacing or threatening. By all accounts, his actions
of people filed past the body. John Johnson, CEO of Ebony
were innocent. Till’s innocent violation of Southern
and Jet magazines, published pictures of the mutilated Till.
etiquette, however, was unpardonable.
The open-casket funeral and the photos brought national and international attention to the murder.
Three days later, Till was taken at gunpoint from Mose Wright’s home by Roy Bryant, Carolyn Bryant’s husband,
The outrage surrounding the case reached fever pitch,
and his half-brother J.W. Milam. Shortly thereafter, Till’s
and the state of Mississippi charged Bryant and Milam.
body was found floating in the Tallahatchie River. His
Although Mississippi officials projected an aura of concern
body was mutilated with a gunshot in the head and was
regarding the heinous crime, the actual
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