"We had averted our eyes for far too long, turning away from the ugly reality facing us as a nation. Let the world see what I’ve seen."
-Mamie Till Mobley
The quote by Mamie Till Mobley, Emmitt Till's mother, exemplifies the civil rights response to the publications that followed the murder of 1955. Just under 60 years later it seems too recent to be a part of this nation's history. With the kidnap and brutal murder of Emmett Till on August 28, 1955 the true horror of racism was exposed to a massive degree and the nation saw itself all too clearly. The efforts made for civil rights throughout history have been aided by the black press and others who spoke out against the bigotry of racism and violence. No one could ignore the facts as large publications like Look Magazine, Jet and the Chicago Defender displayed the hatred and violence of racism for all to see in uncensored detail. Large papers like the New York times published articles about the murder and trial that brought the issues of racism to the forefront while many tried to downplay it.
It would be hard to underscore the brutal and inhumane way that Emmett Till and others like him have been treated. Pictures of Lynchings and torture published at the time are a painful reminder of the very dark part of our nation's past.
Throughout history media has been he vehicle for change and advancement of society. The nation was shocked and sickened by it's reflection displayed in publications like Look and Jet leading to huge gains for civil rights.
"Nation Horrified by Murder of Chicago Youth"
-Jet Magazine(Sept. 15 1955)
The first of many publications by jet magazine
quoted the NAACP as they demanded action. Many were horrified by the act and hundreds of letters were sent to the governor. He eventually responded saying, "Mississippi does not condone such conduct."
Some white papers wrote of the murder saying it went, "way, way beyond the bounds of human decency."
A Brief Recap...August 1955
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| Bryant's Grocery |
Till had gone to visit his uncle, Moses Wright, in Money, Mississippi. He and a group of friends went to Bryant's Grocery and Meat Market for refreshments after a day in the cotton fields. Till lived with his mother in Chicago where he attended an integrated school and enjoyed the more modern mindset of the north. His mother would later explain that she warned him that people acted and thought differently where he would be going, and to be careful. Till had a determined and strong personality and didn't try hide it. It's debated what Till actually did but the most common story is that upon leaving the store he whistled at the white owner's wife, Carolyn Bryant, and said something flirtatious as he was leaving, deeply offending her. She described to one of the local papers that she was scared stiff.
What followed was described by Jackson Daily News as, "Brutal and senseless crime."
This is a link to a detailed discussion about
the significance of Emmett Till's death to
Christopher Benson, an author who helped
Mamie Till write a book about her experience.
Why Was Emmett Till Murdered
"The Shocking story of Approved killing in Mississippi"
-Look Magazine 1956
Till was kidnapped late at night a few days later by Roy Bryant and his half brother J.W. Milam. After being found not guilty by a jury of all white men Milam gave a full confession to Look Magazine.
Look gave Milam's account; they had meant to beat Till and scare him half to death but not kill him. After kidnapping him they took him to a barn and beat him severely with a souvenir pistol from WWII. Milam and Bryant had become angry when Till wouldn't get scared by them, "We were never able to scare him, they had just filled him so full of that poison that he was hopeless." Milam said, "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." They finally became so enraged with Till that they gave up beating him and shot him in the head before tying a 74 pound fan used for picking cotton around his neck and throwing him in the Tallahatchie River. He was found three days later, identified by his ring with the initials of his father engraved on it.
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| Look Magazine(Jan 24, 1956) |
"This boy's dreadful tragedy I can still remember well,
The color of his skin was black and his name was Emmett Till."
- Bob Dylan
A short segment of the clip is Till's uncle, Mose Write, recounting the events of the night as the kidnappers came to take Till from the home. Even with Write's testimony the court trial fell apart.
In 1962 Bob Dylan sang this song for the Congress of Racial Equality. The Lyrics retell the painful story and mimic the emotions of much of the nation. He spoke of the ills of society reflected in the results of the trial and the killers happily getting away with murder saying, "To see the brothers smiling, On that courthouse stairs, For the jury found them innocent, And the brothers they went free, Whilt Emmett's body floats the foam Of a Jim Crow southern sea."
Sickened by Ourseleves
"I think the picture in Jet magazine showing Emmett Till's mutilation was probably the greatest media product in the last forty or fifty years because that picture stimulated a lot of interest and anger on the part of blacks all over the country." -Congressman Charles Diggs
The significance of the mangled and beaten face of Emmitt Till echos through time. The readership of magazines who published the picture of Till's grotesque body were confronted head on by the horrible picture of Racism.
Till's mother understood the importance of showing her son to the public. She wanted everyone to see the terror of racism. In an interview with Martin Kent, Mamie Till Mobley said, " I wanted the world to look in and see [...] because it was something that I could not handle alone."
On September 22, 1955 Jet Magazine wrote an article on the funeral of Emmitt Till in which it reported that Mamie Till demanded his death be avenged. It later went on to say, "thousands of other Americans began to wonder if Mississippi would whitewash its latest and most fiendish atrocity." Many accused killers had gotten away with murder of African Americans and predictions were that the trend would continue.
This short film by PBS gives another recap
of the Emmett Till Murder and trial. It
Is unique because most of the ten minute
film has footage of the funeral and Trial
which was take at the time.
"It's the biggest farce I've ever seen..."
-Mamie Till Mobley in the Chicago Defender referencing the trial of her son's killers.
The death of Emmett Till caused an upheaval in the civil rights movement and became a huge story in many publications. The failure of a jury to carry out a sentence on Willam and Bryant showed the degree of power that racism still held in that area of the south. The Memphis Commercial Appeal said, "Evidence necessary for convicting on a murder charge was lacking." The truth was very contrary to that statement and it enraged the many. A year after the killing Look Magazine wrote,
"The majority -- by no means all, but the majority -- of the white people in Mississippi 1) either approve Big Milam's action or else 2) they don't disapprove enough to risk giving their "enemies" the satisfaction of a conviction."
The jury returned with a ruling in favor of the defendants after only an hour of deliberation and announced that they would have returned more quickly had they not stopped to buy soda. Of the almost 65 percent African American population at the time not one was a registered voter, not for lack of patriotism but for fear of the violence inflicted upon anyone who might try to perform their rights as a citizen. On August 20, 1955, 63 year old Lamar Smith who was an advocate for voting had been killed carrying election ballots.
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| The five Mississippi attorneys for the defense worked free of charge. |
In the October 3rd edition Jet displayed the nonchalant trial of the killers. Jet shows just how much of a mockery the trial was with headlines like, "Spectators drank coke, beer in court." The accused had their children on their lap and were sent merrily on their way after a five day trial ended in a jury deliberation of just over an hour. Moses Wright, despite the dangers implicated, testified against Bryant. His first hand testimony did no good and he was forced to go into hiding as a lynch mob sought after him. The court case was held in a segregated court room with a table for the black press .
The way that the trial was approached enraged people then and still enraged them today. The NAACP put on a mass meetings to protest and demand federal protection for civil rights. The president of the NAACP said to a crowd of 10,000 people, "The jurors who returned this shameful verdict deserve a medal from the Kremlin for meritorious service in communism's war against democracy."
After the trial many publications gave a loud cry against the mockery of democracy, including the Chicago Defender which said,
"How long must we wait for the federal government to act? For too long it has been the device, as it was in the Till case, for the President to refer such matters to the Department of Justice."
Mamie Till Mobley was quoted in The Defender saying,
"It's about the biggest farce I've ever seen, it is unbelievable and fantastic."
These kinds of outcries fueled the passion and the fight against inequality and racial violence. The historical Montgomery Bus Boycott lead by Rosa Parks occurred just three months after the trial and subsequent outraged media. From the stand that Rosa Parks took blossomed many more enormous gains for civil rights, especially Martin Luther King Jr. who helped in the citywide bus boycotts that followed.
Despite the outcry of the masses, the views of the south were persistent and reflected in the publications of papers like the Jackson Daily News in saying,
"Practically all the evidence against the defendants was circumstantial evidence, it is best for all concerned that the Bryant-Milam case be forgotten as quickly as possible. It has received far more publicity than it should have been given."This comment was made despite the several eye-witness accounts given for the prosecution in the trial.
Emmet Till: Civil Rights Movement History
"The southern News papers said all the right things; that Till's murder was brutal and senseless[...]yet, when Roy Briant and J.W. Milam were arrested in order to stand trial, some of those white southerners who were "shocked" would find a way to take care of their own."
The clip below from Martin Kent's film, "Emmett Till: Civil Rights Movement History" depicts the reality of views of the south at the time of Till's death. The Emmett Till killing seems to be the final straw in the serious violence against African Americans. In the film, Mamie Till Mobley says that the picture of Emmett shows us the, "Ugliness of racism. and because the world was able to see Emmett in that state, it brought on what we call the modern civil rights movement."
The film points out that though papers cried out against the violence, calling it disgusting and beyond human decency, the trial of the killers showed the true standing of the whites in the south. Raising $10,000 for the defense, the southern public who cried out against the violence would not take action; it just wasn't done.
"The history of Mississippi and in the south in general was that no whites had ever been convicted for killing blacks." -Jerry Mitchell
The Written Word Has Power
The death of Emmitt Till was just one of thousands of acts of racial violence and hatred that had been, for too long, the normal way of thinking. History shows that when someone tries to change the mindset of a society they will be abused, hated and cast out. Publications like Jet and individuals such as Mamie Till Mobley who stand up in times where it seems so hopeless are the ones that are pivotal in history. The decision to hold an open casket funeral may have been the crucial element in inspiring people like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.
The importance of a free, active and honest press is essential for the continuation of this nation. When the few stand against the many, if their cause is worthy, they can make a difference through the aid of the press.
Bibliography
Death of Emmett Till. Bob Dylan. 1962. MP3. Web. 3 March 2014.
"Emmett Till Civil Rights Heroes." HBCU Buzz Inc. HBCU Buzz Inc., 28 Aug. 2011.
Web. 03 Mar. 2014
Emmett Till - Part 2, Civil Rights Movement History Documentary. MartinKentFilms, 26 Jan. 2010. Web. 3 Mar. 2014.
PBS. "EmmettTill 1955 (PBS)." Youtube.com. N.p., 14 Dec. 2012. Web. 6 Mar. 014.
Gado, Mark. "Mississippi Madness: The Story of Emmett Till." Crimlibrary.com. Web. 4 Mar. 2014.
Hule, William B. "The Shocking Story of Approved Killing in Mississippi." Look Magazine
(1956) Pbs.org. Web. 3 Mar. 2014.
Jet Magazine. "Nation Horrified by Murder of Kidnapped Chicago Youth." (Sept 15, 1955):
Jetcityorange.com. Web. 1 Mar. 2014.< http://jetcityorange.com/emmett-till/> .
PBS. “Timeline: The Murder of Emmett Till 1921-2003.”
The Book Archive. "Why Was Emmett Till Murdered? Biography, Case, Civil Rights, Death,
Funural, History, Trial." Youtube.com. N.p., 6 Aug. 2013. Web. 6 Mar. 2014.
"The Web's Best Recource on the Emmett Till Story." EmmettTillMurder.com. N.p., Oct. 2004. Web.
3 Mar. 2014.
UMBC. "The Power of a Photograph: The Lynching of Emmett Till." For All the World to See. Web. 3
Mar. 2014.
