Emmett Till is to Black’s what 9/11 is to White America:
How the recent defacement of a Till monument speaks to America’s history of hate
Imagine being a 14 year-old Black boy from Chicago visiting family in Mississippi in 1955. While at a grocery store you say hello to white lady. An innocent interaction in most civilized societies; but this is America in the Jim Crow south where race relations were not and still are not civilized.
Now imagine a few days later you are abducted from your uncle’s house and then you are beaten, mutilated and then shot in the head; all for merely speaking to a white woman.
But that is not the end of the Emmett Till story. The accuser (who 62 years later confessed to fabricating the story) lies in court saying that Emmett made sexual passes at her, and an all-white jury acquitted her husband and father in law of all charges connected to the murder.
This should be of no surprise to any American since lynchings and the murdering of Black people in America are a common social theme, even today. From 1882–1968 it is estimated that 3,446 Blacks were lynched. Surely these numbers are low as lynchings occurred before and after these dates and many were not “recorded.”
With the brutal facts of this case and prior racist history of America known to the public, it is still not a shock that in 2016 an Emmett Till monument was riddled with bullets and in 2017 another Till monument was completely destroyed. Understand that this is happening in the same United States that has citizens fighting and protesting to keep monuments recognizing racist confederate statues and monuments; but frown upon and destroy the monument of a slain child.
When these occurrences of white hatred towards Blacks happen it is only a micro-action that is a symptom of the macro white supremacist state that is America. Emmett Till is indeed to be mourned. Emmett, along with Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Dontrae Hamilton, Eric Garner, John Crawford, Ezel Ford, Dante Parker, Tamir Rice, Tanesha Anderson, Akai Gurley, Walter Scott, Philando Castille-to name a few-were all lynched and their murderers walked free; sometimes without even facing criminal charges.
America set a precedent of abusing Black bodies the moment they brought the first slaves on American soil. The hatred of Black bodies did not magically leave the psyche of white folks simply because they “freed” slaves, allowed some to vote, let some hold office, let some get educated, etc. Rather, an invisible and ignored caste system has been systematically put in place that allows the brutal treatment of Black bodies, minds, and culture to be destroyed right in the public eye with wide acceptance; even from other Black’s.
Never forget. White America loves to use that phrase when it comes to wars, terrorism (9/11 particularly), and other forms of American heroism or exceptionalism. Indeed, never forget. Never forget that Black/African history in America is hidden and kept out of public schools and even most private schools. Never forget that Blacks were by law less human in America; slaves to be owned like cattle. Never forget that Black leaders both peaceful and militant were murdered by America. Never forget that every revolutionary Black movement was systematically dismantled by the US government with their leaders either imprisoned or murdered. Never forget that Black communities were created by zoning laws and redlining while being flooded with liquor stores and drugs. Never forget that the US justice system has always shown racial bias in sentencing and convictions of Black’s. Never forget the countless murders executed by police and vigilante citizens that never saw a conviction and sometimes never even a charge. Never forget how media portray Black bodies, replay killing Black bodies, and glorify Black violence and aggression. Never forget how Black progress was burned to the ground in Rosewood, FL and in Tulsa, OK. Never forget how Black bodies fought in wars for a country that didn’t give them natural human rights when they returned home.Never forget decades of marches and protests only to be in similar conditions generation after generation. Never forget. Black People…never forget where you are!
-Umoja N. Black
