We often forget that the events of one person's life and sadly, their death, can change the world.
Emmett Louis Till was born in Chicago, Illinois and largely raised by his mother after his father, Louis Till, left the family when he was one. His only legacy from his father was a ring with the initials L. T. Emmett was raised in the Chicago area, which had been known for generations of Black Americans as a kind of northern Free City. Blacks were a strong part of the city's culture and were largely accepted there, although there were racial tensions and segregation.
On August 21 of 1955, Emmett went with a cousin to visit his great-uncle in Money, Mississippi, which is in the Delta. Now, Mississippi in 1955 was not a particularly kind place to a young Black man, especially one who had been raised to see himself as, if not exactly equal to any White person, then certainly not lesser than. In fact, Emmett had several White friends back in Chicago, so it is likely that this young man who history barely remembers saw himself as the equal to any race, color or creed.
His mother, on the other hand, knew that Mississippi might as well have been on the dark side of the Moon compared to a Chicago that was relatively racial tension free. This would not always be the case, but at this time the racial tensions that would engulf the nation had not yet found the spark that would light the fuse of justice. His mother told young Emmett to “mind his manners” with White people in Mississippi. She knew that things were different there, but she was about to find out how different and the civil rights movement was about to find the spark that would not only light the fuse, but fan the flames of equality that we seek still.
Mississippi was not yet burning, but the events that took place on that hot August night would sear the plight of southern Blacks into the consciousness of America and the world.
The years leading up to 1955 had been fraught with danger and hope for Blacks, especially in the South. Through years of inequality, segregation, Jim Crow, lynchings and socio-economic disparity the tide appeared to be turning. On May 17, 1954 the Supreme Court of the United States ordered schools throughout the nation desegregated in the landmark case of Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka. This case was largely seen in the South as interference with the rights of the states to determine their own course and as a slap in the face to the doctrine of “separate but equal” as laid down in Plessy vs. Ferguson sixty years before.
Leading members of the White establishment vowed to fight the ruling, including many members of the judiciary such as Mississippi Circuit Court Judge Tom P. Brady. His denigration of the ruling would lead credence to such racist organizations as the Mississippi Citizen's Council, especially after he published the racist and race baiting screed known as “Black Monday”.
While these Citizen's Councils did not support the activities of violent groups like the KKK, the fact that many prominent White citizens were members of the Councils lent an air of respectability to such groups and often led members to look the other way when acts of terror were perpetrated on the Black community.
One such act was the brutal murder of the Reverend George Lee, an activist with the NAACP, on May 7, 1955. Reverend Lee who was active in voter registration drives in the Mississippi Delta, was shot at point blank range in his car after receiving threats about being registered to vote. His brutal murder was never solved and was determined a “car accident” by the sheriff of Humphreys County, Mississippi. Another such act was the equally brazen and brutal murder of Lamar Smith. Mr. Smith was a WW II veteran and an activist involved in voter registration drives in the Delta of Mississippi. He was murdered on the lawn of the Lincoln County Court House in Brookhaven, Mississippi in broad daylight on August 13, 1955. There were many witnesses to the crime, both Black and White and they may have even included the local sheriff, but although three men were put in jail, they were all eventually set free and no charges were filed.
Now these brutal murders sparked outrage throughout the Black population of the South, but largely were unheralded in the North and the world. It would take the vicious murder of a young man to spark the nation to action.
On the hot afternoon of August 24, after spending the day picking cotton with his great-uncle, Emmett and a few friends went to Bryant's Grocery and Meat Market to buy some candy and cold drinks. The kids, all teenagers, were goofing around as teenagers will. Emmett had shown some pictures around to his friends of Chicago including some pictures of himself and a few of his White friends. One of these White friends happened to be a White girl he jokingly referred to as his “girlfriend”. The other teens couldn't believe that a Black teen and a White teen would even be allowed to socialize much less date, so they razzed Emmett about it. Egging him on to say something to the White woman in the grocery store.
