All revolutions require a trigger. The case of Emmett Till provided that trigger for many people comfortable with the status quo or only willing to make slow progress. Seeing the picture of Till's mutilated body, his head swollen, his skin bruised and his cheeks drooping, force people to confront their own views on racism. All people willing to ignore the crime or blame the victim, are just as responsible for the pain Emmett Till endured as are the men the hurt him. The picture serves as a reminder that complacency is dangerous. When injustices occur, people must call them out. Emmett Till's funeral photo must be seen and it should make people angry. Racism has existed long before Emmett Till, and it persists till this day but his case, placed an innocent face to the destructive force of hatred. This photo was so outrageous that many people still know the details of Emmett Till's murder. He has become synonymous with racism of the 50's and 60's. Teenagers murdered in present day America, such as Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin, often get compared to Emmett Till. If we do not actively fight injustice, we are insinuating that these kids do not matter-and that is a dangerous assumption to make.
-Lindsey Wright
This is a good post! I agree with what you said about how when injustices occur, people need to respond. Not only that, but they need to respond immediately. Responding too late can be almost as bad as not responding at all. Also, if people continue not to care or don't respond quickly, there will be a sort of "ripple effect" reaction to another similar tragedy which you just noted with Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. Good post!
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I agree with the point that all revolutions need a trigger. From the revolutionary war to civil rights movements, they've all started with a big event that created a spark that spread like wild fire. I was wondering how you think things would be different if Emmett didn't have an open casket. Would people still have cared as much? Would the civil rights movement be delayed? But overall, great post.
ReplyDeleteThis really was a trigger, I think that's a good point. The fact that his mother chose to have an open casket funeral gave this whole movement a lot of drive just because of the gruesomeness of the event. Obviously there were other events but few that really brought to light the pure disgust with the way America was operating as this event did
ReplyDeleteThis post is short, blunt, and to the point. If it was anything but that, the blog would lose it's force and sense of urgency. I was debating using the word "urgency" as a description there, but I settle on including it because of how well this post can relate to present day political and social conflicts. Your lines,
ReplyDelete"All people willing to ignore the crime or blame the victim, are just as responsible for the pain Emmett Till endured as are the men the hurt him. The picture serves as a reminder that complacency is dangerous."
(particularly the second) made me immediately think of how complacency in politics today can (and commonly is!) the difference between enactment and veto.
I also agree with the three comments above me, particularly their remarks on the analogy of a "trigger". Good work!
I agree with Spencer about the trigger for revolutions. But, in this case, I think the trigger was not Till's death, but rather the fact his funeral had an open casket. Without seeing such a distorted face, not many people would have cared. As I commented before, seeing his mutilated face makes me uncomfortable, and that its point: to raise awareness of the effects of racism. Without an open casket, the entire civil rights movement would have been delayed as Till's death would be another "wrongful act of racism" but not many would take action. Great post.
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ReplyDeleteI am going to join in and say "Awesome post!". Your post was concise and powerful due to your diction, and overall very well written. Like Greg mentioned, your conciseness emphasizes your exigent tone throughout the post, making it clear that we need to do something to eradicate racism now, instead of later. Your observation that Till's face became THE face of racism, and still is to this day, clearly demonstrates the timeless effect of this gruesome photograph. Well done!
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