{"id":1307,"date":"2020-03-04T08:27:49","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T08:27:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/utccismcc.utk.edu\/?p=1307"},"modified":"2020-03-04T08:27:49","modified_gmt":"2020-03-04T08:27:49","slug":"long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/2020\/03\/04\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\/","title":{"rendered":"Long Overdue Justice for Emmett Till"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Emmett<\/a>
Emmett Till was only 14-years-old when he was brutally murdered by two White men over a lie. Photo from History.com<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lynching in the U.S. is now considered a federal crime. The U.S. House passed H.R. 35 or the Emmett Till Antilynching Act in a 410-to-4 vote Feb. 26, according to The Washington Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The passing of this legislation symbolizes the U.S. government\u2019s intolerance for violent crimes against racially minoritized groups, particularly Black people within the U.S.<\/p>\n

In June 2018<\/a>, Senators Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Tim Scott presented the Justice of Victim of Lynching Act, which is an older version of the current. While this is a great feat, there is still the fact that this legislation should have been passed over 120 years ago. Congress failed 200 times<\/a> to pass the bill as cited in the new version. It has been presented to seven presidents from 1920-1940.<\/p>\n

Why the Immediacy Now?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The progression for this bill occurred after the racial violence occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia. From Aug. 11-12, 2018<\/a> White supremacists and neo-Nazis arrived to Charlottesville to protest the statue removal of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. There were also counter-protesters who approved of the removal because it was a symbol of racism. After Donald Trump won the 2016 Presidential Election, racial tensions in the U.S. were amplified (they were already here, but largely ignored). Many White supremacists and neo-Nazis groups became more vocal and visible about their opinions towards minoritized after his win. Unfortunately, a car was rammed into the counter-protesters resulting in the death of Heather Heyer.
\nOn page three<\/a>, the bill read, \u201cOnly by coming to terms with history can the United States effectively champion human rights abroad.\u201d Hence, the U.S. needs to critically analyze its racial history and how it has affect countless lives in the pursuit of maintaining White supremacy. The bill implied 4,742 lives (even thought there were countless more) would have been saved if it was passed prior to 1882. One of the most prominent lynching cases was the murder of Emmett Till.<\/p>\n

Emmett Till\u2019s Murder
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Sentiment<\/a>
The negative sentiment was not about the bill being passed. Many discussions focused on why it took so long to pass. This was also the reason why top words such as \u201clong,\u201d \u201cfinally\u201d and \u201c120,\u201d were trending. Photo from Adam Brown Social Media Command Center Social Media Studio<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The act was named in honor of Emmett Till, a young 14-year-old boy from Chicago, who was brutally murdered by two White men in 1955. He was visiting family in Money, Mississippi at the time of his murder. Till was accused by Carolyn Bryant (Roy Bryant\u2019s wife), a White woman, of whistling and making sexual advances at her. Thus, her husband decided to take revenge. Bryant and his half-brother J. W. Milam, kidnapped, tortured, beat Till to the point of disfigurement and then shot him. They then tied barbed wire attached to a cotton-gin around his neck and threw his body into the Tallahatchie River<\/a>. Till\u2019s body was discovered three days later. Mose Wright, Till\u2019s uncle, could only identify him from the ring Till was wearing at the time of the murder.<\/p>\n

After Till\u2019s mother, Mamie Bradley, saw her only son\u2019s body, she decided to have an open-casket funeral to show the world how Blacks are treated in the U.S. Till\u2019s friend Henry Pettigrew, 77, recalled the day of the funeral in an interview with the Chicago Tribune<\/a>. It was also the day a 12-year-old Black boy realized the horrors of being Black in America.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I approached the casket, I remember looking at him. I remember the preacher was preaching and the choir was singing and I remember how gross his face looked. It was swollen. It was like a monster movie. I stood there a little bit and stared at him in hopes that I could recognize something. And I couldn\u2019t. I remember crying and walking away. And I remember thinking: It could have been me,\u201d Pettigrew recalled.<\/p>\n

The two White men were found not guilty by an all-White jury. Till\u2019s death was\/and still it a reminder of why there needs to be \u201cimmediate change<\/a>\u201d of racial and civil rights in the U.S. However, the information surrounding the murder did not stop after his death.<\/p>\n

The Monstrous Lie
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Carolyn<\/a>
Carolyn Bryant\u2019s confession in 2008, which was revealed in Tyson\u2019s 2017 book, prompted the U.S. Justice Department to reopen the case. Sadly, Bryant was not charged for manslaughter or perjury. Photo from Clarion Ledger<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Then in a 2017 book focusing on Till\u2019s murder, \u201cThe Blood of Emmett Till\u201d by Timothy B. Tyson, Ph.D., revealed Bryant\u2019s confession was a lie. Tyson conducted an interview with Bryant in 2008, according to The New York Times<\/a>. She stated, \u201cNothing that boy did could ever justify what happened to him.\u201d This prompted the U.S. Justice Department to reopening the case to determine if there were any charges to be made. Unfortunately, the grand jury was unable to charge Bryant with manslaughter. The reopening of Till\u2019s case was part of the department\u2019s reexamination of racially charged murder cases that did not result in prosecutions.<\/p>\n

Six Decades Later<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In the Chicago Tribune article, Pettigrew revealed he still visits Till\u2019s grave annually to \u201ctidy up a bit, trim the weeds around the pictures, pay his respects.\u201d The former police officer and substance abuse counselor believes the passing of this law is a \u201crefreshing\u201d reminder of the America\u2019s history with racial violence and to not repeat history.<\/p>\n

Sixty-five years have passed since Till was brutally murdered. However, the effect still resonates the consequences of racial tension and violence in the U.S. During those times, many focused on racial violence the South. However, racial tensions have not lessened in the U.S. The murders of Atatiana Jefferson, Botham Jean, Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland and so many others just proves racial tensions just mold into new avenues to oppress Blacks. The tension was always there, but it was just more covert.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lynching in the U.S. is now considered a federal crime. The U.S. House passed H.R. 35 or the Emmett Till Antilynching Act in a 410-to-4 vote Feb. 26, according to The Washington Post. The passing of this legislation symbolizes the U.S. government\u2019s intolerance for violent crimes against racially minoritized groups, particularly Black people within the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-absmcc"],"yoast_head":"\nLong Overdue Justice for Emmett Till - CCI Research & Innovation Center<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/2020\/03\/04\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Long Overdue Justice for Emmett Till - CCI Research & Innovation Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lynching in the U.S. is now considered a federal crime. The U.S. House passed H.R. 35 or the Emmett Till Antilynching Act in a 410-to-4 vote Feb. 26, according to The Washington Post. The passing of this legislation symbolizes the U.S. government\u2019s intolerance for violent crimes against racially minoritized groups, particularly Black people within the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/2020\/03\/04\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CCI Research & Innovation Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-03-04T08:27:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/Bio_Black-History-Month_Emmett-Till_Legacy_SF_HD.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"810\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hillary Tune\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hillary Tune\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/04\\\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/04\\\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hillary Tune\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/569f000aca9fa12bba5f8ab96c17d08e\"},\"headline\":\"Long Overdue Justice for Emmett Till\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-04T08:27:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/04\\\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1037,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/04\\\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/Bio_Black-History-Month_Emmett-Till_Legacy_SF_HD.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Adam Brown Social Media Command Center\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/04\\\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/04\\\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\\\/\",\"name\":\"Long Overdue Justice for Emmett Till - CCI Research & Innovation Center\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/04\\\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/04\\\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/Bio_Black-History-Month_Emmett-Till_Legacy_SF_HD.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-04T08:27:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/569f000aca9fa12bba5f8ab96c17d08e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/04\\\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/04\\\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/04\\\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/Bio_Black-History-Month_Emmett-Till_Legacy_SF_HD.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/Bio_Black-History-Month_Emmett-Till_Legacy_SF_HD.jpg\",\"width\":1440,\"height\":810},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/04\\\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Long Overdue Justice for Emmett Till\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/\",\"name\":\"CCI Research & Innovation Center\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/569f000aca9fa12bba5f8ab96c17d08e\",\"name\":\"Hillary Tune\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cci.utk.edu\\\/ric\\\/author\\\/htune1\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Long Overdue Justice for Emmett Till - CCI Research & Innovation Center","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/2020\/03\/04\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Long Overdue Justice for Emmett Till - CCI Research & Innovation Center","og_description":"Lynching in the U.S. is now considered a federal crime. The U.S. House passed H.R. 35 or the Emmett Till Antilynching Act in a 410-to-4 vote Feb. 26, according to The Washington Post. The passing of this legislation symbolizes the U.S. government\u2019s intolerance for violent crimes against racially minoritized groups, particularly Black people within the […]","og_url":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/2020\/03\/04\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\/","og_site_name":"CCI Research & Innovation Center","article_published_time":"2020-03-04T08:27:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1440,"height":810,"url":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/Bio_Black-History-Month_Emmett-Till_Legacy_SF_HD.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Hillary Tune","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hillary Tune","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/2020\/03\/04\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/2020\/03\/04\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\/"},"author":{"name":"Hillary Tune","@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/#\/schema\/person\/569f000aca9fa12bba5f8ab96c17d08e"},"headline":"Long Overdue Justice for Emmett Till","datePublished":"2020-03-04T08:27:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/2020\/03\/04\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\/"},"wordCount":1037,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/2020\/03\/04\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/Bio_Black-History-Month_Emmett-Till_Legacy_SF_HD.jpg","articleSection":["Adam Brown Social Media Command Center"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/2020\/03\/04\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\/","url":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/2020\/03\/04\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\/","name":"Long Overdue Justice for Emmett Till - CCI Research & Innovation Center","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/2020\/03\/04\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/2020\/03\/04\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/Bio_Black-History-Month_Emmett-Till_Legacy_SF_HD.jpg","datePublished":"2020-03-04T08:27:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/#\/schema\/person\/569f000aca9fa12bba5f8ab96c17d08e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/2020\/03\/04\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/2020\/03\/04\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/2020\/03\/04\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/Bio_Black-History-Month_Emmett-Till_Legacy_SF_HD.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/Bio_Black-History-Month_Emmett-Till_Legacy_SF_HD.jpg","width":1440,"height":810},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/2020\/03\/04\/long-overdue-justice-for-emmett-till\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Long Overdue Justice for Emmett Till"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/","name":"CCI Research & Innovation Center","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/#\/schema\/person\/569f000aca9fa12bba5f8ab96c17d08e","name":"Hillary Tune","url":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/author\/htune1\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1307\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/ric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}