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THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Emmett Till is Murdered in Mississippi
It took 67 years to create lynching laws after his death
A young 14 year old Black boy from Chicago was visiting his cousins in Mississippi, but what happened to him was a travesty for his family and our nation. Emmett Till was born on this day in 1941. He was lynched at the age of 14-by two white men on August 28, 1955.
It seems Emmett Till was a child of humor and wonder. He was having fun vacationing with his cousins. He was unaware of the unwritten “rules” of southern bigotry.
He and his cousins went into a store to buy candy and Emmett made the critical mistake of talking to a white woman. She made an issue out of it and later her friends kidnapped the youngster, beat him, shot him and dropped him in the Tallahatchie River.
When Emmett’s body was returned to Chicago, his mother Mamie Till, demanded retribution. She also demanded to allow an open casket, because she wanted the world to know what had been done to her innocent son.
Two men stood trial for Emmett’s murder and they both were deemed not guilty by a white court in Mississippi. Later, both admitted in detail what they had done; and benefitted financially for their story of how they abused the young boy.
