Poem Analysis: The Death Of Emmet Till

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In 1955, a fourteen year old black boy from Chicago named Emmet Till was murdered. The young child was on trip to see his family to help and learn to be a hard working man. He was just fourteen when he allegedly flirted with a white woman, Carolyn Bryant in a convenient store in Money, Mississippi. Days later her husband, Roy Bryant returned home from a business trip and word spread around town like rapid fire. When Mr. Bryant heard about the incident he rounded up his brother-in-law, went to the house where Emmet Till was staying and dragged him out against his will. They took him to the bank of the Tallahatchie River where Carolyn’s brother and Roy Bryant made Emmet Till carry a cotton gin fan, made him strip and beat him unconscious. Then, …show more content…

She uses this poem to reach out to the readers to make us believe that the death of Emmet Till was cruel and unusual, which as present day Americans we should agree. Nelson speaks on the behalf of Emmet Till because back then not only was he only fourteen, he was black and couldn’t defend himself. Emmet Till’s death sparked the civil rights movement. In todays society, the reason for Emmet Till’s death would not excuse Mr. Bryant and his half-brother of their decisions. In fact, today it would be consider a hate crime and would cause riots and lots of publicity, jail time, even the death sentence. Unfortunately, racism still exist today but not like it did back then. Today people try to justify what was wrong and what was right. People have different opinions but at the end of it all, there is always justice. For example: the Ferguson incident. The Ferguson incident happened on August 9, 2014 when a white officer, Daniel Wilson was found shooting an unarmed black teenage boy, Michael Brown. This incident was like a present day Emmet Till murder except the jury and the way things are handled today is definitely different. A big factor in both cases are definitely two boys age, the victims were black, and the convicted were white. Nelson emphasizes his age when she …show more content…

She’d given him a note for the conductor, waved to his chubby face, wondered if he’d remember to brush his hair, (lines 9-13) The importance of these lines is the fact that Emmet Till was so young and Nelson captures his innocences and young age by describing the what his mother was packing and how she worried if he was going to be able to take care of himself. When I was fourteen, I was definitely packing my own clothes but I was very dependent on my parents. Think about it this way, at age fourteen you’re either in seventh or eighth grade. You are still discovering who you are and where you fit in the world. A child’s decision should not be punishable by death or threatening, especially at this age. The brutality against Emmet Till was unnecessary. In the song, ”Young and Crazy” by Frank Ballard he says, “In order to be old and wise, you must be young and crazy.” This quote perfectly describes the point I am trying to make. When we’re young we should be able to make decisions and except the consequences that come along with them, whether it’s good or bad. Young people should be able to realize and learn from the mistakes made, but definitely not the way Emmet Till had to learn his. Mr. Bryant and his half-brother were trying to make an example out of Emmet Till. It may have been “ok” back in 1955, but reading and thinking about it today makes me question how these people lived with

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