The video is about Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American boy from Chicago who was brutally murdered in Mississippi in 1955. The video highlights the historical context in which the events took place, as well as the impact they had on the civil rights movement. Moreover, it contains the words of people involved in the whole accident, including his cousin Simeon Wright.
When visiting family in Mississippi, Emmett Till was charged with “whistling at” a white woman named Carolyn Bryant in a nearby grocery shop. A few days later, Till was kidnapped by Bryant’s husband and his half-brother. Till was badly beaten and then fatally shot before being thrown into the Tallahatchie River. Till’s body was discovered three days later, and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, insisted on an open-casket funeral to show the world the brutality of her son’s murder (Beauchamp, 2017). The video highlights the fact of the open casket as it made a significant impact on mass media and society.
The murder of Emmett Till, which brought national attention to the persistent violence and discrimination experienced by African Americans in the South, is discussed in the video as a catalyst for the civil rights movement. The trial of Till’s murderers, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, was highly publicized, and a jury, entirely consisting of white people, found them not guilty despite the overwhelming evidence. The video also highlights the role of media coverage and activism in shaping public opinion and pressuring the government to take action on civil rights issues.
In addition to telling Till’s story, the video emphasizes the importance of remembering and contemplating America’s legacy of racial injustice and brutality. It argues that while progress has been made in the decades since Till’s murder, systemic racism and inequality continue to be major issues in American society. It challenges viewers to accept the harm done to underrepresented populations and to acknowledge the difficult truths about America’s past and present. The video contends that by identifying this pain, we can start to address the structural problems that support racial injustice and inequality.
References
Beauchamp, K. (2017). Emmett Till special 60th anniversary [Video]. YouTube. Web.