Historier som Emmett Tills er forankret i amerikansk historie. Hans død tente en viktig brann for støtet til den amerikanske borgerrettighetsbevegelsen.
Da jeg vokste opp, lærte jeg detaljer om Tills liv og død, og dens innvirkning, som de fleste ikke får oppleve.
Denne uken får du "INside story" fra Wheeler Parker Jr., Tills fetter, og fra Dan Wakefield, en innfødt og prisvinnende skribent og journalist i Indianapolis. De malte et sårt tiltrengt, levende bilde som fortsatt er virkningsfullt nesten 70 år senere.
(ØNSK) - Emmett Till, kjærlig kalt «Bobo», var en sjarmerende og munter 14 år gammel gutt fra Chicago-forstaden Argo. Han elsket å få andre til å le og var morens og bestemorens øyne.
I 1955 skulle Parker reise til Mississippi for å tilbringe sommeren med familien og hjelpe til med å jobbe på landet. Det var da Emmetts ønske om å også oppleve sommertid i Mississippi ble en uskyldig trang til å være «bare en av guttene».
«(Emmett) fant ut at jeg skulle, og han ble ballistisk! Fordi han ikke hadde noen søsken. I tillegg var Emmett et privilegert barn og enebarn. Bestemoren hans var glad i ham, moren hans, alle sammen. ‘Bobo, Bobo.’ Da moren hans tok ham plass, tok hun meg også med. Fisketurer, hvor som helst. Vi skulle reise sammen, så vi kan bli sånne venner," sa Parker.
Mamie Till var nølende med å la sønnen Emmett dra til Mississippi, hovedsakelig fordi levemåten og sosiale forventninger hadde stor forskjell mellom sør og nord på 1950-tallet. Emmett hadde tilbrakt hele livet i Chicago. Moren hans, derimot, hadde bodd i Syden og visste hva hun kunne forvente.
"De ville ikke at han skulle gå fordi de visste hva som kunne skje. Hvis du aldri bor sørover, ante du ikke. Selv om jeg forteller deg historien, har du ingen anelse om hvordan det var, sa Parker. "Han var en spent gutt. Han elsket moro og spenning. Du vet, han bare nøt livet.»
Den 20. august 1955 skyndte Mamie Emmett til 63rd Street-stasjonen i Chicago for å ta toget til Money, Mississippi, for å tilbringe tid med familien.
Dagen etter ankom Emmett Mississippi sammen med Parker.
"I sør der vi bodde, da det var bomullsplukkingstid, bør du være i noens felt. Så vi kom dit – det var moro for meg fordi jeg hadde plukket før jeg dro – Emmett brydde seg ikke så mye om bomullen. Det var for varmt, sa Parker.
Tre dager etter ankomsten ble Emmett med sine søskenbarn for en tur til Bryant's Grocery & Meat Market etter en lang dag med arbeid i marka. Butikken var eid av et hvitt par, Roy og Carolyn Bryant. De fleste av kundene deres var svarte.
«Onkelen min, han var 16 år gammel og hadde tilgang til en bil. For oss, for meg og Bobo er dette veldig spennende. Vi kunne knapt skaffe en sykkel!" sa Parker. «Vi dro til butikken, omtrent tre mil unna, fordi det var der vi kom sammen etter å ha plukket bomull. Det var der vi møttes. Folk hang utenfor butikken, spilte dam og snakket. Det største i sør var å fortelle en vits.
«Jeg kom til butikken og etter en stund bestemte jeg meg for at jeg ville kjøpe noe, så jeg gikk inn for å kjøpe. Jeg gikk inn og hentet noe, og jeg husker veldig tydelig … han (Emmett) kom inn mens jeg var der inne. Jeg sa «Mann, jeg håper Emmett fikk det.» Jeg visste at det var søren. Det var mine formasjonsår. Jeg ble der til jeg var ca 8 år gammel. De forteller at du vil gjøre for å holde deg i live, sa Parker.
"Så jeg dro og absolutt ingenting skjedde. Min onkel Simeon kom etter meg. Han var 12, og Emmett var 14. Jeg var 16, sa Parker. «Gutten (Emmett) stammet hele tiden. Jeg vet ikke om han var der inne et minutt alene. Onkel Simeon stakk innom. Vi kjente reglene. De kom ut. Ingenting skjedde der inne. Ingenting skjedde. Han elsket å få folk til å le. Så hun kom forbi, det er ikke som om hun kom opp eller at hun ikke kom ut i raseri eller ingenting.»
«Det var normalt. Da hun kom ut - gikk hun den veien forbi oss og Emmett plystret. Han plystret i butikken for å rydde opp i stammen. For å si «gummiboble». Denne gangen – denne fløyten var en ulvefløyte,” sa Parker. "Det var en uttalelse. Det var helt utenfor linjen. Mer oversikt som du kan forestille deg ... jeg forteller deg. Vi visste det. Han visste ikke. Han så at vi var redde og så ble han redd. Vi har akkurat gjort en rett linje for bilen. Vi visste at han hadde brutt en alvorlig (uskreven) lov.»
«Mann, vi kom oss ut derfra! Vi skal ned denne grusveien. Støv fløy overalt, og en bil var bak oss! Han sa: ‘Mann, de er etter oss … de er etter oss!’ Jeg tenkte: ‘Hvordan kan de være etter oss allerede?’ Onkelen min skyndte seg selvfølgelig. Vi stoppet bilen og løp gjennom bomullsmarkene, sa Parker.
Dette er den første av en serie i fem deler som diskuterer drapet på Till og hans innvirkning på amerikansk historie.
FAQs
24, 1955, when Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Black boy from Chicago, went to Bryant's Grocery & Meat Market to buy some candy and then whistled outside at the white woman working behind the counter. Four days later, he was abducted and lynched.
What day did Emmett Till go to the grocery store? ›
On the evening of August 24, 1955, Emmett Till went with his cousins and some friends to Bryant's Grocery for refreshments after picking cotton in the hot sun. The boys went into the store one or two at a time to buy soda pop or bubble gum.
Where did Emmett Till visit in 1955? ›
In the summer of 1955, 14-year-old African-American Emmett Till had gone on vacation from Chicago to visit family in Money, Mississippi. He was shopping at a store owned by Roy and Carolyn Bryant—and someone said he possibly whistled at Mrs. Bryant, a white woman.
What did Emmett Till say to Carolyn Bryant? ›
When Bryant placed the candy on top of the counter, Till grabbed her right hand tightly and asked, "How about a date, baby?" When Bryant pulled her hand free and started to walk away, Till grabbed her by the waist near the cash register and told her, "You needn't be afraid of me, baby I've [slept] with white women ...
What did the bryants do to Emmett Till? ›
That night Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam ran into Emmett's uncle's home where he was staying, dragged Till from his bed, beat him to the point of disfigurement, and shot him before tossing his body into the Tallahatchie River with a cotton-gin fan attached with barbed wire laced to his neck to weigh him down.
Is the Bryant store still standing in Mississippi? ›
The ruins of the Bryant's Grocery & Meat Market storefront are all that remain of the store itself, but a historical marker stands at the site and is part of the Mississippi Freedom Trail. To navigate the map with touch gestures double-tap and hold your finger on the map, then drag the map.
Where is Emmett buried? ›
The forensic exam determined that the body in Burr Oak Cemetery was in fact the body of Emmett Till. While this may seem obvious, it is important to remember that there was a dispute over the identity of the body that, in 1955, provided the jury the legal cover with which to acquit the murderers.
What happened to Bryant's grocery store? ›
While the brutal murder may have galvanized the movement, the grocery store has been allowed to fall into ruin. After the acquittal, the black sharecroppers that once kept Bryant's Grocery in business refused their patronage, and the store was put up for sale less than a month after the trial.
How old would Emmett Till be today? ›
July 25 is remembered as Emmett Till's birthday. In 2023, he would have been 82 years old. In 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till left Chicago to visit family in the Mississippi Delta, where he was abducted and lynched on August 28.
Was Emmett Till embalmed? ›
Although Smith did not suggest an alternative, many believe that Till's body was actually prepared by Malone's black assistant Woodrow Jackson. If it was Woodrow Jackson who embalmed the body in Tutwiler (and most historians now agree it was), this means that a key witness for the defense was lying on the stand.
Carolyn Bryant Donham, the White woman whose accusation set off Emmett Till's lynching, has died at the age of 88, the coroner for the Parish of Calcasieu in Louisiana confirmed. Donham died late Tuesday night in her home in Westlake, Louisiana, coroner Terry Welke confirmed in a fact-of-death letter.
Why was Emmett Till at his uncle's house? ›
But Emmett desperately wanted to spend time with his cousins in Mississippi, and in a fateful decision that would have grave impact on their lives and the course of American history, Emmett convinced his mother to allow him to travel with his great uncle Mose Wright and Wheeler Parker to visit relatives and stay at the ...
Why did Emmett Till whistle? ›
According to both Simeon Wright and Wheeler Parker, Till wolf-whistled at Bryant. Wright said, "I think [Emmett] wanted to get a laugh out of us or something," adding, "He was always joking around, and it was hard to tell when he was serious." Wright stated that following the whistle, he became immediately alarmed.
What did Emmett Till's mom call him? ›
Nine months later, their only child, Emmett Louis Till, nicknamed "Bobo," was born at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. The boy was the apple of his mother and grandmother's eyes.
Why did Emmett Till's mother insist on open casket? ›
Emmett Till's mother declined an offer from the mortician to “touch up” her son's body, and she made the decision to have an open casket funeral. “I think everybody needed to know what had happened to Emmett Till,” she said. Mamie's decision would make her son's death a touchstone for a generation.
What does I saw Emmett Till at the grocery store mean? ›
“I Saw Emmett Till This Week at the Grocery Store” imagines the sort of ordinary life Emmett Till might have had if he had not been killed for the color of his skin.
What grocery store did Emmett Till go to? ›
On August 24, 1955, Emmett Till arrived at Bryant's Grocery around 7:30 pm along with several cousins and friends. The primary attraction was the checkers game on the front porch. With his companions thus engaged, Till followed his cousin Wheeler Parker into the store.
Where did Emmett Till shop at? ›
The Mississippi Freedom Trail Marker is located in Money, about nine miles north of Greenwood. Fourteen-year-old Emmett Till came to this site to buy candy in August 1955.
Did Emmett Till whistle at Bryant? ›
Although what happened at the store is a matter of dispute, Till was accused of flirting with, touching, or whistling at Bryant. Till's interaction with Bryant, perhaps unwittingly, violated the unwritten code of behavior for a black male interacting with a white female in the Jim Crow-era South.
