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The lynching of Emmett Till started the climax of the Civil Rights Movement. His death and the stance his mother took by showing his mutilated body to the press in Jet magazine was a catalyst to the direct action campaigns of the SCLC and the NAACP and other groups in the mid 20th century.
It was a worldwide known case. It is always surprising to me that many American adults have never heard of the case. It is sad and tragic.
In regards to Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, it was a planned event. Mrs. Parks was on the bus with 2 other people. She was asked to move first. She gave an interview about her comment of being "tired" meant that she was just tired of dealing with racism and oppression.
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People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was forty-two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.
Also, a young black woman had a similar event happen months before. The young woman; however, was a teen, pregnant black woman and so her case was not seen as one that would be helpful to the movement. Just like today, if the "wrong" type of black person is a victim, the public will not respond with empathy. So Mrs. Parks was chosen since she had a very good reputation, looked respectable, and she was also a civil rights veteran and knew what to do versus a newbie.
I understand, but did it shock anyone outside the US? Michael Jackson's death shocked the world, Princess Diana's death shocked Europe at least, but I doubt this poor kid did.
I have studied history quite extensively, and I've never heard of Emmett Till.
You must not study American History of the 20th century forward. If you did, they must not have covered the Civil Rights Movement in your studies because his death really was global news. His mother allowed photographers to photograph his mutilated body so that the public could see what a lynching was and what they did to her son. The photos were printed worldwide and caused shame to the US.
I do feel though that when Americans don't know of this incident, it should show how lacking our country is in teaching the bare basics of history of this country from all perspectives. I didn't learn of Emmett Till until an AP class in high school, but I'd already read about it due to developing an intense interest in black American history as a child after I read the autobiography of Frederick Douglass. I read everything about black history after reading his story. So much of black history had a direct impact on this country that is not readily taught and Till's lynching is one of them so it is very well known amongst black academia in particular and I would dare say a majority of American history scholars who focus on the 20th century. Civil Rights was a huge issue in this country during the 20th century.
You must not study American History of the 20th century forward. If you did, they must not have covered the Civil Rights Movement in your studies because his death really was global news. His mother allowed photographers to photograph his mutilated body so that the public could see what a lynching was and what they did to her son. The photos were printed worldwide and caused shame to the US.
I do feel though that when Americans don't know of this incident, it should show how lacking our country is in teaching the bare basics of history of this country from all perspectives. I didn't learn of Emmett Till until an AP class in high school, but I'd already read about it due to developing an intense interest in black American history as a child after I read the autobiography of Frederick Douglass. I read everything about black history after reading his story. So much of black history had a direct impact on this country that is not readily taught and Till's lynching is one of them so it is very well known amongst black academia in particular and I would dare say a majority of American history scholars who focus on the 20th century. Civil Rights was a huge issue in this country during the 20th century.
I might not remember correctly but I don't think they taught the Emmett Till story when I was in school. Just the Rosa Parks story. It's possible at the time they thought the story was too violent I don't know. I think more stuff was censored back then due to different reasons. They might very well teach it now, I really have no idea.
I might not remember correctly but I don't think they taught the Emmett Till story when I was in school. Just the Rosa Parks story. It's possible at the time they thought the story was too violent I don't know. I think more stuff was censored back then due to different reasons. They might very well teach it now, I really have no idea.
As violent, barbaric, & senseless as Emmett Till's murder was, the reason for censorship from the history lessons was most likely equally due to the light shed on the systems of Justice.
The perpetrators admitted their crimes after the jury found them innocent, it was a sham, a mockery, a travesty ...
Emmett Till's trial revealed what had gone on too many times before. & had been accepted.
Even in the present day there are some who prefer the cover up:
Historical Marker of Civil-Rights Icon Emmett Till Vandalized in Mississippi
I didn't learn about Emmett Till's murder until I was an adult reading about the Civil Rights movement. As pointed out above, one of the reasons it had such an impact on the movement was that his mother insisted on an open casket funeral and his body was on display for five days, during which time thousands of people paid their respects.
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Till's mother said that, despite the enormous pain it caused her to see her son's dead body on display, she opted for an open-casket funeral to "let the world see what has happened, because there is no way I could describe this. And I needed somebody to help me tell what it was like."
Also, if you've never heard of the Groveland Boys, I urge you to read Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys and the Dawn of a New America by Gilbert King. King won a Pulitzer Prize for the book and once you start it, you won't be able to put it down.
I read in another book about a year ago that with an interview with Ms parks that she claimed, she was just too tired to move to the back of the bus.
Parks reflected to herself on how giving up her seat “wasn’t making it light on ourselves as a people.” She thought about her grandfather keeping his gun to protect their family. She thought about Emmett Till. And she decided to stand fast. “People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day … No the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.” https://www.salon.com/2013/02/03/ros...i_could_stand/
I understand, but did it shock anyone outside the US? Michael Jackson's death shocked the world, Princess Diana's death shocked Europe at least, but I doubt this poor kid did.
I have studied history quite extensively, and I've never heard of Emmett Till.
This was a global news story, at least in every western nation.
Emmett Till is emphasized too much in the American media. While he did not deserve his fate, I just get tired of hearing about him over and over constantly. Talk about somebody else for a change.
I don't agree. I never heard of Emmett Till until a few years ago. I certainly wasn't taught about him in my school history classes. Lynchings were never really discussed at all in American History, either college or high school. But it should be discussed and talked about.
His accuser, Carolyn Bryant, is still alive and this nasty old woman has never even apologized to Till's family, as far as I know.
Emmett Till is emphasized too much in the American media. While he did not deserve his fate, I just get tired of hearing about him over and over constantly. Talk about somebody else for a change.
What a joke
Who has talked about him? Nobody does
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