Emmett Till and The Civil Rights Movement Essay -- Racism, Civil Right

Emmett Till and The Civil Rights Movement The murder of a fourteen year-old Chicago boy named Emmett Till sparked the fire that was the Civil Rights Movement. Prejudice still exists in the world today; but because of his death , many people that have heard about or know of it, have changed the way that they think, the way they live their lives, and what their outlook is on other races. Born in 1941 on the rough streets of Chicago, Illinois, Emmett Till had never experienced the extremes of racism or violence, his mother tried to keep him away from bad things. Mammie Till had told him stories and life experiences of racism. When Emmett decided to travel to Mississippi with his cousin, Wheeler, to visit his uncle Moses Wright in the summer of 1955, he thought that it was just going to be a regular trip, and that he would stay the summer helping out Moses on his farm. While waiting at the train station to leave for Mississippi, Emmett's mother Mammie gave him a stern warning about most people in the South, and that things were very different there then how they were in Chicago. Emmett's father past away years before, but he left behind a gold ring; Mammie gave this ring to Emmett just as he left, she was worried but thought that he would take care of himself while in the southern city of Money. After a sixteen hour train ride Emmett and his cousin arrived in Money. Wheeler about his trip to Money with Emmett: We went to the South, near the beginning of cotton-picking time, late August and we picked cotton for a half a day and we would go swimming, run the snakes out the river. We had a lot of fun. Money was a little town ... ... acquittal, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam sold their story of how they kidnapped and killed Emmett Till to "Look" magazine, and since they were acquitted, they couldn't be tried for the murder again. Exactly 100 days after the murder of Emmett Till, Rosa Parks wouldn't give up her seat, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott began. This murder has impacted blacks in America greatly and the way that we are treated by others. Works Cited "The Lynching of Emmett Till." nd. Heroism.org. February 4, 2003 <http:// www.heroism.org/class/1950/heros/till.htm> "The Murder of Emmett Till." nd. PBS. February 4, 2003 <http://www.pbs.org/ wgbh/amex/till/fillmore/index.html> 3, Dylan, Bob. "The Death of Emmett Till." nd. Special Rider Music. February 4, 2003 <http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/emmetttill.html>