Emmett Till's Impact On The Civil Rights Movement

Throughout the Civil Rights movement, there were many different individuals who had large impact on not only the lives of black citizens, but everyone in the country. These heroes helped to shape America into the nation that it is today. Among these legends was a man who strongly affected the fight for equal rights at a very young age. Emmett Till was someone who faced extreme injustices that resulted in his death; and because of this, left a large impact on the Civil Rights movement. Emmett Louis Till, also known as Bobo, was born to Louis and Mamie Till on July 25, 1941 in Chicago, Illinois. PBS writes, “He never knew his father, a soldier, who died during World War II.” For this reason, he often had to help take care of his mother which made him mature at a very young age. His cousin, Wheeler Parker, said, “He loved to tell jokes. He would pay people to tell him jokes.” No doubt, his uplifting and positive personality caused him to have many friends throughout his childhood. On August 25, 1955, Emmett Till was brutally murdered while visiting family in Money, Mississippi by two white men for flirting with Carolyn

For example, Stephen J. Whitfield, author of A Death in the Delta: The Story of Emmett Till, writes, “The viciousness of the murder of Emmett Till spurred efforts to accelerate the tempo of Civil Rights advances for Southern blacks.” His brutal death would drive everyday Americans to push the fight for equal rights. In addition, Chris Crowe says, “The viewing of his disfigured corpse at Rainer Funeral Home and his funeral at the Roberts Temple of the Church of God in Christ in Chicago attracted more than ten thousand mourners. The grisly open-casket photo of Emmett that appeared in Jet magazine horrified and angered hundreds of thousands more” (page 18). This shows how many people were hurt and affected by the injustices that this poor boy