Emmett Till

Emmett Till was a fourteen-year-old black boy born and raised in the so-called Black Belt of South Side Chicago. He naturally would have been exposed to racism as a product of the urban Midwest, but his mother cautioned him to observe the most proper etiquette as he journeyed to Mississippi to visit his great-uncle and cousins. She instructed him to say “yes, sir” and “no, sir,” and to be most wary of the way he interacted with white women.

Emmett arrived in Money, Mississippi in August 1955. He visited one of the local grocery stores owned by the Bryant family. Behind the counter stood Carolyn Bryant. He wanted to buy some candy but, according to multiple, conflicting accounts, he, at best, talked inappropriately to her, and, at worst, tried to manhandle and rape her. As he left, he told her goodbye while she marched out to her...