There are not many things more tragic than the death of a child. In 1955 Emmett Till was murdered because he was a black boy flirting with a white woman. Though this injustice can be investigated in further detail, presently I will be analyzing the timing, or kairos, of the images released following Emmett Tills death. Till's funeral photo was released by "Jet", an African American magazine. This emotional photo was taken after Till's mother insisted that her son be given an open casket burial. The intensity of the beating perpetrated by two white men intensified the ongoing conversation of racism in America. In one photograph Emmett Till is beaten beyond recognition. His entire face is swollen and incredibly misshapen. Because people across the country could see the violent effect racism was having for kids as young as fourteen, the civil rights movement had a new driving force. The picture of Emmett Till before his beating utilizes good timing in that it shows the innocent child alive just months before racism robbed him of his innocence. Seeing Till's mutilated face rallied people, both blacks and whites, to march in protest against racial discrimination. Had Mamie Till decided to have a closed casket funeral, and had she decided to keep her sons face out of the media, many people would never had been affected by the horror that was Emmett Till's murder. The photo, taken on the most heart wrenching day of Mamie Till's life, was a catalyst for change in a country of people fed up with being treated as second class citizens. The horror of the description of Emmett Till's murder were swiftly matched with the shock of the photos that display just how malicious racism can be.
-Lindsey Wright
It is truly heart wrenching to see that such atrocities committed in our nations past and present. I admire Mamie Till's bravery to allow the general public to see the horrific results of the beating and her determination to prevent it from happening to anyone else. It was incredible, almost magical, how the country rallied behind this event to help end racism in the nation.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Spencer. This photo is extremely graphic and sends chills through most people. How could someone be treated as such? Mamie Till must have been brought to tears whenever seeing this photograph, and because of that, it is very significant that she ultimately decided his funeral to be in an open casket. The before and after pictures truly juxtaposes the innocence with unfair treatment. This sends a message that no one should be treated so inhumanely.
ReplyDeleteI feel that if it wasn't for Mamie Till allowing her son's funeral to be open casket and also to show her reaction to his death, the Civil Rights movement might not have taken off the way it did when it did. I believe that what she did showed that she wasn't a black woman or her son was a black boy; she was showing that she and her son are human beings who were treated unfairly for no reason at all. The pictures was a wake up call to the rest of Americans showing the horrors of racism. Skin color should not matter when it comes to treating people fairly. Good post!
ReplyDeleteMy Keys
A really good post--I agree. And Ms. Till deserves tremendous credit for her bravery. (As a mother myself, I too am awestruck and can not imagine.) But let's not forget to be critical of the places the movement still needs to go. Because, of course, the comparison text is a photograph of another young man (nearly 60 years later) who met a similar fate. Right?
ReplyDelete