White women’s lies, Black men’s deaths
With the recent death of Emmett Till’s accuser Carolyn Bryant, it’s an opportune time to reflect on how White women’s lies have caused the deaths or the near deaths of Black men.
Most of us know the story of 14 year old Emmett Till, a young boy from Chicago who begged his mother to spend part of his summer down in Mississippi with his family. Northern American Blacks often sent their children down South to spend time with the parts of their family who didn’t migrate during the Great Migration. It was an opportunity to connect with other family members, with the land, the Southern culture and to get away from the urban concrete that consumed Northern cities.
Unfortunately, Emmett had Northern-like ways unlike the Southern ones that kept Black folks in check with White Southerners as he was accused of flirting with the White woman who was Carolyn Bryant. She along with her husband owned a local store in the area where Blacks frequented and worked. When news broke out about a northern Black boy flirting with Carolyn, her husband Roy Bryant and his half brother J. W. Milam harassed Black people for days leading them eventually to Uncle Mose’s (Emmett’s uncle) house where they abducted Emmett on the promise that they would teach him a lesson and bring him back.
