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Why Is Emmett Till Important In World History

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Emmett Till was a 14 year old boy who was murdered by two white men in Mississippi in 1955. Emmett was killed because a white woman stated Emmett whistled at her and behaving inappropriately. The murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955 brought local and global attention to the racial violence and injustice in Mississippi. The brutal lynching of an Emmett helped shape the civil-rights movement and became the first Black Lives Matter case. Emmett's murder is important because it inspired activism and resistance that became known as the Civil Rights movement. It impacted the world history because the sight of his brutalized body pushed many people that were silent to directly fight for justice. Medgar Evers was an influential activist who was …show more content…

Locally, people rallied that Mississippi should take the blame for not finding the murders guilty of the crime. African American and white people who sympathized were upset to see the murders on pictures smiling, showing no sorrow that they were rejected, threatened and attacked by a local resident. Although the state of Mississippi was the focus, globally many events took place as well. Emmett's mother wanted an open casket for her son to show the world what racism did to her son. It was said that Tens of thousand people came to his funeral viewing his mutilated body which attracted national attention. Emmett's murder was published in magazines, newspaper and across the U.S., and the state of Mississippi was frowned on because of the lack of black civil …show more content…

There were warnings of a second civil war if no accountability was taken for killing black people for no reason. Emmett's murder "aroused feelings about segregation, law enforcement, relations between the North and South, the circumstances of Mississippi, the activities of the NAACP and the White Citizens' Councils." There was no compromise Emmett faced because he never had a chance to sacrifice one thing for another because he was kidnapped from his family and murdered. However, because of Emmett's brutal death, David Halberstam a reporter, called the trial "the first great media event of the civil rights movement.” which feels like his death was traded for awareness to protect the lives of black

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175 Words | 1 Pages

Emmett Till was a 14 year old African American boy who was brutally murdered. Emmett Till was visiting relatives in Money, Mississippi and went into a small store but no one knows what really happened in the store. Some people believed that his friends dared him to ask the white clerk out. Others might say that there was a misunderstanding about Emmett Till who had speech problems. It was said that his mom taught him to whistle before a hard word.

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The Emmett Till case should be taught in 2018 as not just a murder that triggered the civil rights movement, but as a case that still reflects the injustices that African American men face in the American Justice system. Not only should Emmitt till’s murder reflect the injustices in America today, but retaught since new information has recently surfaced which shows a different side to the whole case. Emmett Till was murdered on August 28, 1955 in Money, Mississippi and found beaten and floating in the local river. Emmett Till was murdered by Carolyn Bryant’s husband Roy Bryant and her brother-in-law Milam Bryant.

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Both of these incidents revealed darknesses inside of our great country. These darknesses have been long hidden and need to be brought to light just as they did in 1956. Trayvon Martin is the next Emmett Till and should be seen as such. Emmett Till’s death was seen as a symbol. Emmett Till’s death was one of the main symbols of the civil rights movement that followed his killing.

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The men accused of this murder were found not guilty by an all white jury but later told a Look Magazine that they did commit the crime. This murder is believed by some to be what fuel the flames of the Civil Rights movement. Emmetts mother insisted on an open casket service so that everyone could see what had be done to her son. People began to see more clearly the brutallity of Jim Crow laws in the South and they

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277 Words | 2 Pages

Emmett Till was a loving, fun fourteen year old boy who grew up on the Southside of Chicago. During 1955, classrooms were segregated yet Till found a way to cope with the changes that was happening in the world. Looking forward to a visit with his cousins, Emmett was ecstatic and was not prepared for the level of segregation that would occur in Money, Mississippi when he arrived. Emmett was a big prankster, but his mother reminded him of his race and the differences that it caused. When Till arrived in Money, he joined in with his family and visited a local neighborhood store for a quick beverage.

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608 Words | 3 Pages

Thousands of people went to Emmett Till's burial or saw pictures of his burial in magazines and daily newspapers. The two men that were accused of murdering Emmett Till will be acquitted after a five day trial with an all-white male jury.

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813 Words | 4 Pages

The media covered Emmett’s story extensively. Emmett’s murder showed a racism that ran very deep in the South and outlined what a terribly unjust state our society was in. Two men had brutally murdered a boy for literally just being a boy. White people in the South at this time felt that they were way better than blacks and took the law into their own hands at times. Emmett’s mother told his story on national television and exposed to the world what problems laid in the South which garnered sympathy from many who recognized the terrible reality.

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Although there are doubts about who was involved in Emmett Till’s death, the only perpetrators that were tried in court were Roy Bryant, and J.W Milam (Anderson). August 28, 1955 was the day Till was kidnapped and murdered (Emmett Till Biography). Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam went in Mose Wright`s house and demanded the Chicago nigger (Linder).Till was wake up out of his sleep to be dragged to the back of a pickup truck (Linder). He was shot in the right ear, beat with a 45. Colt, and had a gin fan wrapped around his neck with barbed wire (Huie).

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611 Words | 3 Pages

Manslaughter is defined as “a homicide committed without intent, although there may have been an intention to cause harm” (CBC News). Although Carolyn Bryant may not have had the end goal of Emmett ending up dead, she knew exactly what she was doing to explode the situation. Black Americans face discrimination daily, but in the 1950’s it was to the extent that if a white person were to come out saying a black person had caused them harm in any way, there inevitably would be a terrible ending. Ms. Bryant had prejudices and these prejudices caused her to wish harm against the people whom she had these judgments against. It just so happened to be that Emmett Till was the person she decided to inflict pain onto, and any type of inflicted pain should come with discipline and consequences.

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The brutal abduction and murder of fourteen year old Emmett Till on August 28, 1955 galvanised the emerging Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s. Emmett Louis Till was an African American teen whose savage murder in the late 1950’s sparked a fire in the hearts of others, inspiring them to join the fight for civil rights. Despite the fact that his childhood was cut short, he had a very tough but enjoyable childhood. Emmett Till was an only child of Louis and Mamie Till, however his father who served in the military was executed while serving in Italy for “Misconduct.”

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After the funeral and public outcry had somewhat dies down the trial for his murder would begin , all involved admitted to different parts of the story some to the kidnapping others to the beating and also the discarding of Emmett 's body . All were known to the community to be of lesser education perhaps a certain class and rough . There was no denying they kidnapped and beat him or even murdered him but piecing it together was difficult and ultimately the prosecution could adequately prove a case in a southern state that was known for its dislike of what they believed to be a black young man stepping out of his place and speaking forwardly to a white woman . Some thought that Mr.Bryant acted out of defense for his wife 's position and his manhood that if he hadn 't done something that he would look foolish . It would have been very hard to convict case ,the jury would have been saturated with personal opinion and prejudice false truths and ignorant ways .

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967 Words | 4 Pages

After being kidnapped and brutally murdered, it was mandatory for a trial to be held. The case of Emmett Till was a terrifying occurrence which contained a large sum of treachery in the act, an unusual trial, and a long-term effect on the

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609 Words | 3 Pages

The Death of Emmett Till was the Catalysts to the Civil Rights Movement Till was brutally murdered for whistling at a white girl. His killers were set free by an all white jury even tho his killers admitted to killing Till. This was an eye opener to many Americans and made people anxious for change. Emmett Till’s childhood experience with racism and violent murder led to an awakening of America on the treatment of blacks.

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“Emmett Till and I were about the same age. A week after he was murdered . . . I stood on the corner with a gang of boys, looking at pictures of him in the black newspapers and magazines. In one, he was laughing and happy. In the other, his head was swollen and bashed in, his eyes bulging out of their sockets and his mouth twisted and broken.

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750 Words | 3 Pages

As a class requirement, we were obligated to watch a documentary about Emmett Till. The documentary, titled “The Murder of Emmett Till” was a tell-all about a tragic story of a fourteen-year-old boy from Chicago. Emmett Till was sent to Money, Mississippi to spend the summer with some relatives. In the 1950s, life in Chicago was different than life in Mississippi. Racism was stronger in the south than in the north and Emmett Till was walking into an environment he had never encountered before.

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