Why was Emmett Till murdered?
1 Answer
Emmett Till reportedly spoke inappropriately to Carolyn Bryant, the owner of a small grocery store. A few nights later Carolyn's husband Roy and his half-brother J.W. Milam abducted Emmett from his uncles home and they beat and mutilated the young man. They then shot and killed Emmet Till .
Explanation:
Emmett Till was a fourteen year old African American young man who was visiting family in Money, Mississippi in the summer of 1955.
Till was not accustomed to the bigotry and racial tension of the south. He reportedly spoke inappropriately to Carolyn Bryant, the owner of a small grocery store. A few nights later Carolyn's husband Roy and his half-brother J.W. Milam abducted Emmett from his uncles home and they beat and mutilated the young man. They then shot and killed Emmet Till and dumped his body in the Tallahatchie River where it was found three days later.
When Emmett's body was returned to his mother in Chicago, she displayed the remains of his mutilated body in an open casket as a means of showing the world what they had done to her son and brining light to the hatred and bigotry of these racial tensions. More than 10,000 people passed by Emmett's open casket.
Bryant and Milam were eventually tried but were acquitted.
Till murder became a major catalyst in the Civil Rights movement in Mississippi.
