The Legacy of Emmett Louis Till July 25, 1941 – August 28, 1955

We often forget that the events of one person’s life and sadly, their death, can change the world.

Emmett Louis Till was born in Chicago, Illinois and largely raised by his mother after his father, Louis Till, left the family when he was one. His only legacy from his father was a ring with the initials L. T. Emmett was raised in the Chicago area, which had been known for generations of Black Americans as a kind of northern Free City. Blacks were a strong part of the city’s culture and were largely accepted there, although there were racial tensions and segregation.

On August 21 of 1955, Emmett went with a cousin to visit his great-uncle in Money, Mississippi, which is in the Delta. Now, Mississippi in 1955 was not a particularly kind place to a young Black man, especially one who had been raised to see himself as, if not exactly equal to any White person, then certainly not lesser than. In fact, Emmett had several White friends back in Chicago, so it is likely that this young man who history barely remembers saw himself as the equal to any race, color or creed.

His mother, on the other hand, knew that Mississippi might as well have been on the dark side of the Moon compared to a Chicago that was relatively racial tension free. This would not always be the case, but at this time the racial tensions that would engulf the nation had not yet found the spark that would light the fuse of justice. His mother told young Emmett to “mind his manners” with White people in Mississippi. She knew that things were different there, but she was about to find out how different and the civil rights movement was about to find the spark that would not only light the fuse, but fan the flames of equality that we seek still.

Mississippi was not yet burning, but the events that took place on that hot August night would sear the plight of southern Blacks into the consciousness of America and the world.

The years leading up to 1955 had been fraught with danger and hope for Blacks, especially in the South. Through years of inequality, segregation, Jim Crow, lynchings and socio-economic disparity the tide appeared to be turning. On May 17, 1954 the Supreme Court of the United States ordered schools throughout the nation desegregated in the landmark case of Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka. This case was largely seen in the South as interference with the rights of the states to determine their own course and as a slap in the face to the doctrine of “separate but equal” as laid down in Plessy vs. Ferguson sixty years before.