Emmett Till Thesis

Civil Rights was an important time in American history. It was a time when many people reforms how people were treating other by their skin color. One person in particular who helped with Civil Rights was Emmett Till. Emmett Till changed the course of history. Without Emmett Till, things would not be as they are today.

What happened to Emmett Till was he was lynched. Emmett Till was a middle-class black from Chicago. Over the summertime in 1955, he decided to head down on vacation with his uncle to Mississippi. On August 28, Emmett Till went into a store and wolf whistled at the white lady working behind the counter. The lady did not like that so, four days later she confessed her husband. He was furious of what happen and went to the house Emmett Till was staying at and kidnapped him(Youtube). It was not just the husband who got Emmett Till it was the husband brother as well. They took Emmett down to the river and beaten him up. Then after that, they shot him in the head. Finally, they tied barbed wire around

his neck and put a heavy weight at the other end and threw him into the river (Smithsonian). Many days later Emmett was found and was sent back to Chicago. Emmett’s mother was petrified from what happened to her son. Soon later Emmett’s mother decided to have an open casket funeral for her son to show the world what the lyncher did to her son. This is what she said,“Let the world see what I have seen.”(World book student). Over 100,000 people showed up to see what happened to Emmett Till(Biography). In the next month, the lyncher went to court and on trial for murder. The jury’s verdict was the man were not guilty of murder. So, many people were outraged about the jury’s decision. But then soon after the trial, the lyncher told the truth to a magazine for $4000. That is what had happened to Emmett Till.

With Emmett Till’s death came lots of controversies but also change in perspective. Too many people it helped ignite Civil Rights and made them want to join (Biography). This death was a motivation for many Civil Rights activist. Rosa parks during the time of her sitting in a white only section of the bus this is what went through her head, “I thought of Emmett Till when the bus driver ordered me to move to the back, I just couldn’t move.”(Biography). When Emmett Till open casket funeral happened it was one of the largest Civil Rights demonstrations at the time. Many white people realized that discrimination and lynching were erroneous after they saw Emmett Till’s Body. Civil Rights activists wanted to help the south from the lynching. Finally shedded light on the jim crow laws (“Smithsonian”). On the other hand, lots of people from the south were fine with the lynching. Some people even thought it ok what those lynchers have done.

It is very important to learn about Emmett Till because what happen to him was a leading event in Civil Rights history.

Also, do not want history to repeat itself. The first thing this event show is how dangerous the south was at the start of the Civil Rights Movement. The reason for that is Emmett Till got killed for whistling at a woman(The women admitted that Emmett did not whistle at her) which is very absurd. Next reason why people should learn about Emmett Till because the jury that trialed the case said the men were not guilty. This shows that during the time of civil rights the all-white jury favored the murders because of their skin color. The trail was a prime example of racial injustice. Next reason is many people should learn about Emmett Till is that what happened to him was a motivator for many people. The reasoning behind this is the event caused a motivation in people to help out in the Civil Right so no more people would end up like

him.

Despite the controversies over his tragic death, what should be remembered about Emmett Till is that he showed the United States how badly African Americans were treated and ignited the Civil Rights Movement. Without this spark in the Civil Rights Movement, it may have been years or decades for someone else to come along and start up the movement. This contributed to the Civil Rights Movement and help improve the lives of people being treated unfairly because of their skin color.