Emmett Till Murder - Case Study Example

According to Thornton (2010), “Till was killed by two white half-brothers for allegedly whistling at the wife of one of the men as she tended [a] store in Money, Mississippi” (p. 96). The two killers later confessed in Look magazine that they had no intentions of killing Emmett but were “forced” to beat, shoot him dead, and dump his body in the Tallahatchie River because the teenager did not show fear (Anderson, 2015). The killing generated national shock and anger among most Americans as individuals and mainstream newspapers attacked the acquittal of the murderers as an affront to democratic rights and evidence of incurable racism in the deep South (Thornton, 2010).

However, it is clear that a substantial number of white Americans and writers in the Southern press failed to show any concern for the killing of Till and subsequent acquittal of the killers. It is documented that this group of the population “praised the judge and the orderly judicial process he followed while criticizing Northern agitators and attacking the defense’s arguments” (Thornton, 2010, p. 96). The two conflicting attitudinal perceptions related to Emmett’s murder are credited for propelling the civil rights movement.

As acknowledged in the literature, the killing of Emmett Till and subsequent trial not only shocked most Americans by revealing the wicked underbelly of racism and the violence that reinforced the U.S. apartheid system (Thornton, 2010) but also prepared the ground for the movement toward racial equality on a national level (Young, 2008). Indeed, the killing of Till and acquittal of the main suspects (1) encouraged a newfound self-awareness among African American communities that they were “black” and therefore susceptible to violence, (2) provided additional motivation to engage in mass boycotts and form political entities such as the Black Panther Party, and (3) raised civic awareness and mobilized a new movement for social reform.

The non-remorseful nature of some whites who had changed their allegiance from Till to the boy’s killers caused more African Americans to unite toward a new movement for social reform which aimed at addressing economic and racial inequalities, monitoring the police and other constitutional offices, and establishing community-based social service programs to benefit blacks (Anderson, 2015; Kolin, 2013; Young, 2008). This marked the beginning of the American civil rights movement. Judging by the many books, films, articles, and poems that have been produced in Till’s memory, it can be argued that the attitudes that people developed toward the gruesome murder continue to act as a rallying call for racial justice in the United States and other Western countries (Anderson, 2015).

  This paper has used a public attitudes angle to argue that the national shock, disbelief, and anger that followed Till’s murder and the subsequent acquittal of the teenager’s killers galvanized the civil rights movement and continues to serve as a rallying call for racial justice. It is evident that Till’s murder will forever trigger an awakening call for Black civil rights and liberties in America and beyond.