Emmett Till speaks from the grave
31st July 2023 · 0 Comments
Forty-six monuments to African Americans, excluding monuments of Martin Luther King Jr., are included on an incomplete list that pays homage to courageous African Americans who made significant contributions to American society.
Many statues honor Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Denmark Vesey, Benjamin Banneker, and events such as slavery and emancipation; however, fewer statues commemorate African-American martyrs like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But that changed last week when President Joseph R. Biden signed a proclamation calling for the creation of the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument on the day that would have been Emmett Till’s 82nd birthday.
Fourteen-year-old Emmett Till was murdered by J.W. Milam and his half-brother Roy Bryant, in Money, Mississippi, in 1955 for allegedly whistling or making a pass at Bryant’s wife, Carolyn Bryant, at their grocery store.
The murderers dragged Till out of his grandparents’ home; they beat the teen until he was unrecognizable, tied a fan around his neck, and dumped him in the Tallahatchie River.
Given the nature of the complainant and her family, it’s hard to believe Till whistled at that white woman. His mother and his grandparents warned him of the racist nature of whites in Money, Mississippi.
In 1956, J.W. Milam gave an interview to Life magazine. He claimed Till grabbed Carolyn’s hand and said, “How about a date?” He claimed Till had been bragging to his cousins about having a white girlfriend. While they were beating Till, Milam asked the youth if he thought he (Till) was as good as a white man. Till allegedly said “yes.”
When asked why they killed Till, Milam told the Life journalist, “He thought he was as good as a white man.”
Milam went on to say, “Well, what else could we do? He was hopeless. I’m no bully; I never hurt a nigger in my life. I like niggers – in their place – I know how to work ‘em. But I just decided it was time a few people got put on notice. As long as I live and can do anything about it, niggers are gonna stay in their place. Niggers ain’t gonna vote where I live. If they did, they’d control the government. They ain’t gonna go to school with my kids. And when a nigger gets close to mentioning sex with a white woman, he’s tired o’ livin’. I’m likely to kill him. Me and my folks fought for this country, and we got some rights. I stood there in that shed and listened to that nigger throw that poison at me, and I just made up my mind. ‘Chicago boy,’ I said, ‘I’m tired of ‘em sending your kind down here to stir up trouble. Goddam you, I’m going to make an example of you – just so everybody can know how me and my folks stand.’ He thought he was as good as a white man. What else could I do?”
Milam and Bryant were indicted for Till’s murder but were acquitted by an all-male, all-white jury. In 1981, Milam died of cancer of the bone. Roy Bryant died of cancer 13 years later. Carolyn Bryant Donham died in April 2023 at 88 years old.
A group from the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation, working with filmmaker Keith Beauchamp uncovered a decades-old, unserv-ed warrant for the arrest of Carolyn Bryant Donham. The team discovered the warrant on June 21, 2022, in an archived file folder in the Leflore County Courthouse.
In October 1955, Mamie spoke in 33 cities across 19 states. She told every crowd that she was no longer sad, “just plain angry.” Mamie later enrolled at Chicago Teachers College and became an educator in 1960. She taught until she retired in 1983. Sadly, Mamie died of cancer on Jan. 6, 2003, but what she did in response to her son’s murder was ever-growing, according to the New York Historical Society.
Till’s murderers were never held responsible. But the historic results of his mother allowing the world to see her son in an open casket touched off the Civil Rights Movement and made Emmett a martyr for all time. His name remains etched in history as a warning of what happens when white terrorists go unpunished.
Now the new national monument will tell the story of the events surrounding Emmett Till’s racially-motivated murder, their significance in the Civil Rights Movement and American history, and the broader story of Black oppression, survival, and bravery in America, according to a White House statement.
Mamie never stopped telling Emmett’s story; now, we’ll also hear hers.
Unlike other statues that memorialize the legacy and actions of freedom fighters, abolitionists and civil rights leaders, the designation of a monument honoring Emmett Till focuses on the white terrorism which launched the Civil Rights Movement and Mamie Till-Mobley’s bravery in making sure the world knew about what happened to her son.
The National Park Service will manage the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, comprising 5.70 acres across three historic sites in Chicago, Illinois; Sumner, Mississippi; and just outside Glendora, Mississippi.
The new national monument will also encourage and enable partnerships between the Department of the Interior, the National Park Service, and local communities and organizations to help conserve and interpret a broader network of historic sites that help tell the story of Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley.
The memorial monument will be more than a telling of what happened to Till and his mother’s civil rights journey. The memorial will be a permanent reminder of the horrors of white terrorism used against Blacks that still exists today. When we see Emmett Till, we see Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Jordan Davis, and countless other young Black men who were killed by Whites who killed them because they were Black and worthless in their eyes.
But the day of reckoning is coming for white terrorists who kill Black people. They will be held accountable. It may take a long time, but it will happen. It must happen if America is to live up to its creed that all men are created equal.
This article originally published in the July 31, 2023 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
