The internet has made our world a lot smaller. I lived about 20 miles from where Till was killed in the late 1980s, then about 25 years after his death. To find a copy of the Sunday New York Times, I had to wait until Monday afternoon. Now, the best news organizations and journalists in the world, including our esteemed Dan Rather, are just a click away.
People need to search their souls to decide what side they will stand on when such heinous acts are carried out.
The film The Body of Emmett Till uses archival footage and extremely effective narration by the justice fighter Bryan Stevenson to remind us this is still recent history of this country.
Over four hundred years of inequality punctuated by Civil War, our nation is still trying to live up to the founding documents, to bend the moral arc of the universe toward justice.
Mamie Till decided her only child would not suffer and die in obscurity. Yet still to this day, families must have "the talk" with their CHILDREN. Trying to do anything to keep them safe.
One hundred days after the murder, after the all-male, all-white jury spent just over an hour before handing down its acquittal, Rosa Parks courageously took her stand by staying seated. Others had challenged the system before, many paid the ultimate price for their actions. But thousands responded this time, to say "no more." The new preacher in town became the resulting boycott spokesperson and persisted in developing strategies that later led to nonviolent action to bring the inhumane systems of segregation and Jim Crow down. Even he was cut down, one day in Memphis, not yet to the Promised Land.
The work is not done. In fact, powerful forces are attempting to undo what progress has been made.
Excellent article...thank you for posting such a poignant piece! It is disturbing, but a history that needs to be kept alive. I frankly don't know how Mrs. Donham has lived with herself for the last 66 years of her life. Even with lynching having been an all-too-familiar activity where she lived back then, that doesn't justify the tragedy that she was such a vital part of perpetrating. Star, I have not seen the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, AL, but I will look for it if I travel there.
I have heard about Emmett Till being murdered, and his murderers getting off. But I have never seen anything as horrific as these images....and that the same kind of anger and evil persist is unconscionable...
Thank you for posting. I have never seen how brutally these white men attacked this poor black boy. It sickens me to think about how white had such asinine beliefs and still do. Keep reminding everyone and maybe something will change
and to add to the already fraught nature of the present - in many schools Emmett Till’s story will not be allowed to be told … along with any critical look at the past … we will truly become a society of UNtruths … it is terrifying .
Please watch Dr. Carr of Howard University tell the part of Emmett Till’s story that is left out. His biological father was also killed in similar way for similar reason in another country as WWII VETERAN. In class with Carr Ep 77. https://youtu.be/7sK9xSAwXEU
The following quote speak to your mission and your recent posts.:
"No history is mute. No matter how much they own it,break it, and lie about it, human history refuses to shut its mouth. Despite deafness and ignorance, the time that was continues to tick inside the time that is."
Dan, I always read Steady - your knowledge and journalistic skills make me remember and THINK!
I am so sickened by Emmit Till's story, tne hangings- our history- our present and the existing hatred. I am 74- it was an unknown part of my life and times. We must find ways to resolve that hatred. MLK said love is the only way.
It’s important that things like this crime be in the history books. Taught in our schools to our children, and, more importantly, why crimes like this occurred to begin with.
I we, as a society don’t, or can’t, figure out how to confront racism in our society without wiping everything about it out of societies eyes, or memory, we will never ever solve the issue. It shall continue to grow and fester like a thorn in your foot.
Why were, are, all statues of civil war soldiers, generals, confederate army officers, flags, all removed from societies eyesight? Because it reminded us if a part of history we all want to forget? Or, because it’s part of history part of society wants to forget? Just exactly why? Is the Civil War still taught in schools? Or is it being wiped away from the history books as well? Maybe, we just need to do away with teaching anything about slavery, WW1, WW2, Korean War, Vietnam War, and all the other conflicts America has been involved in. Why teach it if it hurts others feelings, or is part of societies memory someone wants to forget?
We, as a society, are making a grave mistake. The same mistake we’ve made for decades. We are not tackling this issue head on. We haven’t talked about it. We haven’t had open discussion about it. We don’t discuss it in our schools, colleges and universities, no place. People are afraid to step on somebody’s toes, hurt somebody’s feelings, cause riots where people die and property destroyed. (Which is another “Steady” writing all in itself.) No, it’s much easier to just look the other way and forget about it. Maybe the issue will just go away. Do you really, really, think so? I’ll answer this for you. I think not!
And wait. Here comes another mass shooting. Or, another shooting involving a white law enforcement officer and a black (African American) person. Or, a black is arrested, tried, convicted, for a heinous crime, that draws National news coverage. Then you have riots, property destroyed, National Guard deployed in every major city in the country, people injured, killed. For what?
Because society is afraid to tackle this racism issue head on! Wake up, people. Coffee is on, and it’s burning in the pot!
I was 4 years old when that happened to Emmett Till. I only remembered bits and pieces but later on in life, I learned what his mother did by allowing people to view the brutality that lay in a casket. Our history, as white people, unconscionable. We have an opportunity to make major changes politically and in our hearts. We cannot let the insane, the unsympathetic, the hate mongers, destroy what we have been working on for these past 4 and a half years. Speak out against injustices! Protect your fellow man! Get involved…don’t just do armchair bitching! Be strong!
Thank you for sharing the story of Emmett Till's brutal lynching with your audience. I suspect some have only heard of him and, perhaps, this is the first time they've seen the images. It is important to keep these stories and images in full view for all to see and consider. We are living in dangerous times.
Thank you for honoring this young man and his mother and remembering their story today. The news is filled with armchair strategists going on about Afghanistan. Another tragedy that people have forgotten the real history of. We must not forget Till's story and how it connects to our culture right now.
The internet has made our world a lot smaller. I lived about 20 miles from where Till was killed in the late 1980s, then about 25 years after his death. To find a copy of the Sunday New York Times, I had to wait until Monday afternoon. Now, the best news organizations and journalists in the world, including our esteemed Dan Rather, are just a click away.
We must remember Emmett Till.
People need to search their souls to decide what side they will stand on when such heinous acts are carried out.
The film The Body of Emmett Till uses archival footage and extremely effective narration by the justice fighter Bryan Stevenson to remind us this is still recent history of this country.
Over four hundred years of inequality punctuated by Civil War, our nation is still trying to live up to the founding documents, to bend the moral arc of the universe toward justice.
Mamie Till decided her only child would not suffer and die in obscurity. Yet still to this day, families must have "the talk" with their CHILDREN. Trying to do anything to keep them safe.
One hundred days after the murder, after the all-male, all-white jury spent just over an hour before handing down its acquittal, Rosa Parks courageously took her stand by staying seated. Others had challenged the system before, many paid the ultimate price for their actions. But thousands responded this time, to say "no more." The new preacher in town became the resulting boycott spokesperson and persisted in developing strategies that later led to nonviolent action to bring the inhumane systems of segregation and Jim Crow down. Even he was cut down, one day in Memphis, not yet to the Promised Land.
The work is not done. In fact, powerful forces are attempting to undo what progress has been made.
Silence is complicity.
There is still work to do.
Excellent article...thank you for posting such a poignant piece! It is disturbing, but a history that needs to be kept alive. I frankly don't know how Mrs. Donham has lived with herself for the last 66 years of her life. Even with lynching having been an all-too-familiar activity where she lived back then, that doesn't justify the tragedy that she was such a vital part of perpetrating. Star, I have not seen the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, AL, but I will look for it if I travel there.
I have heard about Emmett Till being murdered, and his murderers getting off. But I have never seen anything as horrific as these images....and that the same kind of anger and evil persist is unconscionable...
Thank you for posting. I have never seen how brutally these white men attacked this poor black boy. It sickens me to think about how white had such asinine beliefs and still do. Keep reminding everyone and maybe something will change
Til so sad and infuriating. Keep reminding us Dan.
and to add to the already fraught nature of the present - in many schools Emmett Till’s story will not be allowed to be told … along with any critical look at the past … we will truly become a society of UNtruths … it is terrifying .
Please watch Dr. Carr of Howard University tell the part of Emmett Till’s story that is left out. His biological father was also killed in similar way for similar reason in another country as WWII VETERAN. In class with Carr Ep 77. https://youtu.be/7sK9xSAwXEU
The following quote speak to your mission and your recent posts.:
"No history is mute. No matter how much they own it,break it, and lie about it, human history refuses to shut its mouth. Despite deafness and ignorance, the time that was continues to tick inside the time that is."
Eduardo Galeano
Dan, I always read Steady - your knowledge and journalistic skills make me remember and THINK!
I am so sickened by Emmit Till's story, tne hangings- our history- our present and the existing hatred. I am 74- it was an unknown part of my life and times. We must find ways to resolve that hatred. MLK said love is the only way.
It’s important that things like this crime be in the history books. Taught in our schools to our children, and, more importantly, why crimes like this occurred to begin with.
I we, as a society don’t, or can’t, figure out how to confront racism in our society without wiping everything about it out of societies eyes, or memory, we will never ever solve the issue. It shall continue to grow and fester like a thorn in your foot.
Why were, are, all statues of civil war soldiers, generals, confederate army officers, flags, all removed from societies eyesight? Because it reminded us if a part of history we all want to forget? Or, because it’s part of history part of society wants to forget? Just exactly why? Is the Civil War still taught in schools? Or is it being wiped away from the history books as well? Maybe, we just need to do away with teaching anything about slavery, WW1, WW2, Korean War, Vietnam War, and all the other conflicts America has been involved in. Why teach it if it hurts others feelings, or is part of societies memory someone wants to forget?
We, as a society, are making a grave mistake. The same mistake we’ve made for decades. We are not tackling this issue head on. We haven’t talked about it. We haven’t had open discussion about it. We don’t discuss it in our schools, colleges and universities, no place. People are afraid to step on somebody’s toes, hurt somebody’s feelings, cause riots where people die and property destroyed. (Which is another “Steady” writing all in itself.) No, it’s much easier to just look the other way and forget about it. Maybe the issue will just go away. Do you really, really, think so? I’ll answer this for you. I think not!
And wait. Here comes another mass shooting. Or, another shooting involving a white law enforcement officer and a black (African American) person. Or, a black is arrested, tried, convicted, for a heinous crime, that draws National news coverage. Then you have riots, property destroyed, National Guard deployed in every major city in the country, people injured, killed. For what?
Because society is afraid to tackle this racism issue head on! Wake up, people. Coffee is on, and it’s burning in the pot!
I was 4 years old when that happened to Emmett Till. I only remembered bits and pieces but later on in life, I learned what his mother did by allowing people to view the brutality that lay in a casket. Our history, as white people, unconscionable. We have an opportunity to make major changes politically and in our hearts. We cannot let the insane, the unsympathetic, the hate mongers, destroy what we have been working on for these past 4 and a half years. Speak out against injustices! Protect your fellow man! Get involved…don’t just do armchair bitching! Be strong!
89 Y/O New Yorker. Columbia '54. Air Force Lt Korean war vet. Ad/mktg career, Revlon 2yrs,
Interpublic 45yrs. Worked in Atlanta; Japan, London, NY for 14,10,3 and 22 yrs respectively.
Business took me to 61 countries and 32 states.
Thank you Dan
Thank you for sharing the story of Emmett Till's brutal lynching with your audience. I suspect some have only heard of him and, perhaps, this is the first time they've seen the images. It is important to keep these stories and images in full view for all to see and consider. We are living in dangerous times.
Thank you for honoring this young man and his mother and remembering their story today. The news is filled with armchair strategists going on about Afghanistan. Another tragedy that people have forgotten the real history of. We must not forget Till's story and how it connects to our culture right now.