Read about the brutal murder of a fourteen-year-old boy that became a rallying point for the Civil Rights Movement.
Log in maroonfive5 8 years agoPosted 8 years ago. Direct link to maroonfive5's post “The fact that we as human...” The fact that we as human beings could (and would) do such a thing. It's horrifying to know that we would (and still do) such terrible things. To a boy-not much older then I am- at the very least. Are we really such bad people that we would do such a thing? • (46 votes) Lachesis 8 years agoPosted 8 years ago. Direct link to Lachesis's post “Western cultures, includi...” Western cultures, including the United States, and especially the South had spent centuries dehumanizing the people of Africa and of African descent. White men in the South had come to define themselves largely in contrast to "others". Their identity and self-worth were structured on not being female and not being black. The idea of not being different from and in control of black people horrified them. In their minds that terror and anger, combined with a lifetime of not considering people like Emmett Till as human made what Bryant and Milam did possible for them, and justified in the minds of their peers. This is why it is so incredibly important not to "other" groups of people and lump together an entire section of humanity by one set of features. (30 votes) arjenkins 6 years agoPosted 6 years ago. Direct link to arjenkins's post “Why wasnt till´s murders...” Why wasnt till´s murders sentenced to jail for life when they admitted to killing him ? • (17 votes) Kim Kutz Elliott 6 years agoPosted 6 years ago. Direct link to Kim Kutz Elliott's post “Great question. The reaso...” From the author:Great question. The reason is that in the American justice system, an individual cannot be tried twice for the same crime. This is what's called "double jeopardy." So if a person is declared innocent after a trial, he or she could walk out of the courtroom and announce "I committed the crime!" but still be free. (Note that it's still possible to be tried for other crimes connected to the first crime, so it's not a free pass. Also, even if a criminal case fails, a civil case might still obtain a guilty verdict.) In general, the prohibition on double jeopardy is a good thing -- imagine if you went to trial for a crime, were found innocent, and then the government could just prosecute you again and again until you were found guilty. But cases like the Till trial show how this system can protect bad actors. You can learn more about double jeopardy here: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-us-government-and-politics/civil-liberties-and-civil-rights/due-process-rights-of-accused/v/the-fifth-amendment Sam Hadding 6 years agoPosted 6 years ago. Direct link to Sam Hadding's post “What is "wolf-whistled"?” What is "wolf-whistled"? • (11 votes) 🥳 Arielle the amazing person a year agoPosted a year ago. Direct link to 🥳 Arielle the amazing person's post “that was terrible that po...” that was terrible that poor boy!! • (9 votes) L. E. a year agoPosted a year ago. Direct link to L. E.'s post “Yes. For a fictionalized ...” Yes. For a fictionalized but historically accurate account of the incident, Mississippi Trial, 1955 by Chris Crowe is "a gripping read based on... one of the nation's most notorious crimes that helped spark the Civil Rights Movement." (4 votes) brayden.ho2 3 years agoPosted 3 years ago. Direct link to brayden.ho2's post “why would they even do th...” why would they even do this? what good reason did they have to kill someone? • (3 votes) Johanna 3 years agoPosted 3 years ago. Direct link to Johanna's post “They didn't have any *goo...” They didn't have any good reason at all, but they killed Emmett Till because he was African American and supposedly whistled at a white woman. (8 votes) sharlene.kennedy 6 years agoPosted 6 years ago. Direct link to sharlene.kennedy's post “Why does the government a...” Why does the government allow this us to be treated unfairly? • (4 votes) hernanday oleary 6 years agoPosted 6 years ago. Direct link to hernanday oleary's post “It is a very complex ques...” It is a very complex question, but it seems that the federal government just doesn't want to anger southern states by taking on the issue. It was almost a decade after Brown v Board before any politician was brave enough to enforce it. (6 votes) kamado1417 3 months agoPosted 3 months ago. Direct link to kamado1417's post “reading this made me tear” reading this made me tear • (3 votes) David Alexander 3 months agoPosted 3 months ago. Direct link to David Alexander's post “It is a horrible story of...” It is a horrible story of the lengths to which some people will go to keep other people afraid, isn't it? (4 votes) ksample2023 2 years agoPosted 2 years ago. Direct link to ksample2023's post “The way they murdered a 1...” The way they murdered a 14 year old boy was just tragic. Why would they do such a terrible thing? • (3 votes) David Alexander 2 years agoPosted 2 years ago. Direct link to David Alexander's post “The people who lied, foll...” The people who lied, followed by the people who did the murder, were racists. Racism leads to lots of terrible stuff, even in the 21st century. (4 votes) NotDanny a year agoPosted a year ago. Direct link to NotDanny's post “why wasn't Carolyn Bryant...” why wasn't Carolyn Bryant's husband not sentenced to death, for killing a 14 year old so brutally • (3 votes) David Alexander a year agoPosted a year ago. Direct link to David Alexander's post “The all-white jury, defen...” The all-white jury, defending their racist ideology, refused to convict him. In the USA, one cannot be re-tried after having been acquitted. (3 votes) Megan a year agoPosted a year ago. Direct link to Megan's post “They wanted an excuse to ...” They wanted an excuse to do horrible things to him. The media was outraged which was a good thing. It showed how ruthless people could be. • (4 votes) Mohamed Sow 3 months agoPosted 3 months ago. Direct link to Mohamed Sow's post “Unfortunately, there was ...” Unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done stop those guys. They would have done it again and got away with it if some black person stepped out of line by their standards. If you believe in God, then you can call the fact that both men died of cancer karma or payback for what they did to emmett. (1 vote)Want to join the conversation?
This makes me lose a hope in humanity.
Why would we do this?
