Civil Rights Essay

Sierra Taylor

U.S. History III

Mrs. Christie

4/22/16

Disturbing Aspect of Movement:

Emmett Till

The story and legend of Emmett Till is only known by a few, and only a few of us know his murder was very gruesome and an eventful tale of sorts because of the events that took place on August 24, 1955. Emmett Till was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 25, 1941, to Mamie Till and Louis Till. Emmett lived with his mother Mamie who often went by Mae. On, August 24, 1955 Emmett Till went to visit family in Money, Mississippi. Upon arrival, it was made clear that he’d be staying with his uncle Moses Wright. A couple of days later, Emmett met up with his cousins and some of their friends in front of a small grocery store that was being ran by 21-year old Caroline Bryant at the time. Emmett was talking and bragging about how he had a “white” girlfriend back home. In disbelief of the statements that Till was making, his cousins and their friends dared him to go into the small grocery store and ask the white woman (Caroline Bryant) out on a date. Feeling man enough to do so and up for the challenge, Emmett goes into the store and does exactly that. Except, it is said that he made lewd remarks, grabbed her and wolf-whistled at Caroline. While, leaving it is also stated that Emmett said “Bye, baby” to Caroline right before he went out the door. A couple days later, Caroline Bryant’s husband Roy Bryant returns home from a business trip and Caroline explains to him exactly what had happened. This enraged Roy to the point where he called up Caroline’s brother J.W. Milam and they sought out to kidnap Emmett Till later that night. Roy and J.W. first asked around to gather a little background information on Emmett Till, like where he lived and who he stayed with. Once, they figured out that Emmett was in fact living with Moses Wright, they waited until the sun set to actually go and carry out their plan. When they arrived at Moses’ house they banged on the door, telling him...