Emmett Till. Photo Courtesy of Flickr/Image Editor
Read more articles from our Trayvon Martin Watch.
n August 1955, Emmett Till travelled from Chicago to spend time with his family in rural Mississippi. If asked, he would have called himself a Negro, the respectful term then for people of African descent. He was 14 years old, a sharp dresser with a sweet smile, a little chubby, and devoted to his widowed mother. His nickname was Bobo. During his visit he discovered that he did not like picking cotton. He doubtless found the Jim Crow laws and customs puzzling, or even funny. Back home Bobo attended integrated schools; in Mississippi, Negroes were not supposed to look white people in the eye or touch them, although Negroes cooked, cleaned, and did laundry for white folks. Negroes were supposed to call even the meanest whites “sir” or “ma’am,” and to step off the sidewalk to let them pass.
One evening Bobo and his cousins drove to Bryant’s Grocery And Meat Market, the only store for miles around, to buy candy, chewing gum, perhaps some cold sodas. Accounts vary as to what happened when Bobo entered the store and addressed the white proprietress, but the most convincing story is that he touched Mrs. Bryant’s hand when he paid for his purchase, and called “Bye, baby!” to her as he left the store. Carolyn Bryant found this outrageous enough to head to her car to fetch a pistol. Till, still oblivious to his danger, whistled at her. His terrified cousins hustled him to their car and drove as fast as they could to escape the wrath that was sure to come.
Mrs. Bryant did not shoot Bobo, or tell her husband about the incident. Someone else did.
Three nights later, Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. “Big” Milam abducted young Till at gunpoint from his great-uncle’s home. With the help of at least two other white men they took him to a remote barn where they beat him viciously, knocking out teeth and one eye, breaking his skull, and finally shooting him. They tied a heavy gin fan to his neck with barbed wire and threw his body into the river. Witnesses heard the beating and the screams, saw one of the half-brothers drive a truck out of the barn with something covered by a tarp in back, and later saw someone washing blood from the truck bed.
Roy Bryant and Big Milam were arrested, eventually, sort of, by a police officer who was a friend of theirs. While they were in jail they were allowed conjugal visits with their wives and Sunday dinners at home with their extended families, and then they were released without bond. Their trial by an all-white, all-male jury is one of the most extensively documented miscarriages of justice in modern history. They were found not guilty, and the world took notice. Because the Emmett Till lynching and trial were so hideous and so obviously unfair, they became a flash point for the next two decades of the Civil Rights Movement.
In late February 2012 another handsome teenager of African descent was visiting family in Sanford, Florida. Trayvon Martin was not very far from home, visiting his father’s fiancée; his parents were divorced, but he was on loving terms with both of them. Tray was 17, a junior in high school, an accomplished athlete, and possessed of a beautiful smile. He was the kind of kid who would walk out in the rain to buy candy for his little brother, and that’s what he did on the last night of his life. Tray didn’t sass the cashier or do anything else to draw attention to himself, but he caught the eye of an overzealous and armed Community Watch volunteer, George Zimmerman, ten years his senior and twice his weight. Zimmerman was angry about recent break-ins in the community and decided on sight that Tray was a suspect.
Zimmerman reported Trayvon Martin as a suspicious character because he was wearing a hoodie – in the rain – and walking slowly, perhaps enjoying a few minutes to himself. The police dispatcher told Zimmerman not to follow Martin, and not to leave his vehicle to confront him. Ignoring both those instructions and the rules for Community Watch, Zimmerman chased Tray on foot and engaged in a fist fight with him, resulting in a bloody nose for Zimmerman. According to the just-released 911 calls, neighbors reported a fight and someone calling for help. Then a gunshot, wailing, a second gunshot, then silence. Zimmerman told police that he called out for help, but witnesses are sure it was Trayvon calling out. Tray was dead from a shot to the chest when police arrived.
A little store. Candy. The murder of a black teenaged boy by a white man or men. Surely that is all these stories have in common. Surely in 56 years our society has learned something from the lynching of Emmett Till.
Zimmerman claims self-defense in shooting an unarmed child. At the time of this writing, weeks after Trayvon’s death, Zimmerman has still not been arrested or charged. Immediately after the killing he was taken into custody, questioned briefly, and released. Apparently a dead African-American youth on the ground is not probable cause for arrest in Seminole County, Florida, in 2012.
The case has now been turned over to Florida’s Attorney General, and the investigation continues. Confessed killer Zimmerman is still free. How far have we come since 1955? Not far enough.
About the Author
Ms. Ivins, I am upset by the representations of this article and others like it. Because of intentional journalistic misrepresentations I spent the first half of this week under the impression that George Zimmerman was a middle-aged white Southerner out of the Jim Crow South. I was heartbroken about the tragedy and upset that it appeared things haven’t changed. Then I saw a photograph of Zimmerman and read statements from his family. Whether you believe his family or not or classify a Hispanic person as white or not, you nonetheless deliberately misled people for sensational effect and you should be ashamed. Misrepresentations in my line of work are sanctionable as malpractice. It seems commonplace for some journalists however.
Darrel, when I wrote this article, a little over a week ago, the debate about Zimmerman’s ethnicity had not yet erupted. I described him as white because every article I had read about him did so. I assure you that I did not and would not intentionally mislead anyone about this matter. I do not appreciate your bounding to the conclusion that I did so.
I have since followed the debate with great interest, and I have commented on it as thoughtfully as I can. I live in a college town with a diverse population, in the South, where racial identification still tends to be either-or rather than both-and. This leads to a myriad of confusions in how people identify each other. I do not claim to be exempt from such confusions, but I certainly do not attempt to perpetuate them.
The US Census Bureau defines “Hispanic” as an ethnicity, not a race. Isn’t that interesting? Do you suppose that’s because people of Latin/a heritage can have skin tones that range from very pale to very dark? The Bureau asks people to identify themselves as “Hispanic, White” or “Hispanic, Non-White.” I’m not hanging my hat on the Bureau’s definition, but it does underline how slippery some of our notions about race are. Our heritage is not necessarily our social identity or our perceived identity. And, sadly, a person doesn’t have to be white to be racist.
[...] http://www.dominionofnewyork.com/2012/03/18/56-years-later-america-gets-new-emmett-till-trayvon-mart… This entry was posted in Uncategorized by mrsrlucas. Bookmark the permalink. [...]
Haunting similarities to Emmit Till. Racism is still alive and very well. There’s no justification for this killing. NONE at ALL. I don’t see why this wasn’t immediately arrested, thrown, and KEPT in jail. I’ve read that after brief questioning he was released. Sounds like a shotty, sketchy “investigation.” Perhaps the Sanford police thought that this case and murder could be swept under the rug and no one would care about it. I don’t know if it’s racially motivated or not, signs point towards the fact that it was. Regardless, if this boy white, hispanic, asian, middle eastern, or whatever, it’s wrong!! My heart hurts that this family not only has to endure the lost of a son, and brother but also that they actually have to question the police actions (or lack there of).
Don’t jump to conclusions before you have the facts. There is a witness who is saying that he saw the whole thing. He said he saw Trayvon on top of Zimmerman beating him up.
“But one man’s testimony could be key for the police.
“The guy on the bottom who had a red sweater on was yelling to me: ‘help, help…and I told him to stop and I was calling 911,” he said.
Trayvon Martin was in a hoodie; Zimmerman was in red.”
“When I got upstairs and looked down, the guy who was on top beating up the other guy, was the one laying in the grass, and I believe he was dead at that point,” John said.
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/state/witness-martin-attacked-zimmerman-03232012
That is one witness, Darrel. There are several other persuasive accounts.
This whole country is built on a legacy of theft and barbarism, and 50 years isn’t going to change that completely. I have known plenty of people of all colors who are good, and plenty who are not good people. The fact of the matter is that much of the racism that exists in this country was purposely started by the rich. When the south was settled, the English quickly found that tobacco didn’t grow out of the ground on its own. So after killing the Natives off, they brought in African people as slaves. Well, then the Englsih discovered that since people don’t like being enslaved, and the salves outnumbered them ten to one, they needed to have some other White people to manage them… So they took my ancestors from Scotland and brought them to the South, to do things like settle land that wasn’t suitable for plantations (in order to defend against the Natives), and to help continue suppression of Black people. They told poor White southerners that we were White and needed to stick together, although people such as my family were just one step above the Black people in society. If it wasn’t for this artifcially created race problem, poor Southerners of all colors would put aside their differences. Why was Martin Luther King shot? Becuase he supported an integrated union strike. Malcolm X likewise was murdered when he returned from Mecca and realized that we are all human beings… The Black Panthers likewise saw that its economic oppression that keeps us down, and racism is used to divide and conquer the working class in this country. Incidents and attacks as these are used to divide us. Trust me, as a White person from the Appalachians who lives in North Dakota, I find more in common with Black people from down home than I do with White people up here…. Its sad that so many people, of both colors, fall for this strategy.
“The murder of a black teenaged boy by a white man or men. Surely that is all these stories have in common.”
Except the shooter in this case wasn’t white, right? How about a correction? (although this admission would undermine the supposed point of this article, I realize.)
Charles, I’m the editor here and read your call for a correction. What race do you believe George Zimmerman is? What race is on birth certificate and police reports and records?
Zimmerman’s father says Zimmerman is Hispanic, and not racist. Zimmerman’s appearance registers as white. The categories are not mutually exclusive. Zimmerman’s history of 911 calls to report other “suspicious” African-American people in his neighborhood suggests that his father is mistaken about Zimmerman’s attitude.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/17/2700249_p3/shooter-of-trayvon-martin-a-habitual.html
I think the fact still remains that Zimmerman is, in fact, hispanic. He doesn’t even look white. Not in the slightest. I personally don’t think it detracts from the article because the fact remains that this was clearly a hate crime resulting in the death of an innocent and it’s clearly being ignored in the south, where it would’ve happened 56 years prior.
This is very interesting, Mike! Here in the South, the tendency is to categorize people as black or white: my darker-skinned friends from India are regarded as black, for instance, and lighter-skinned Native American and Latino/a friends have to insist that they are not white. My nephew, newly arrived from Brooklyn, is puzzled that he is perceived as African-American since he identifies as Puerto Rican.
To my eye, and apparently to those of most journalists reporting the story, Zimmerman “looks white;” apparently your eye is keener. I agree with you that his ethnic background is not the point. His behavior is that of a racist who considers himself superior to his victim.
If having lighter skin says you are white then why are there seperate classifications on all forms that ask race? I agree with Charles. Maybe the people in your inner circle thinks that Middle Eastern or Native Americans are considered black but I personally can say you are the only person that I have ever heard make that statement. Zimmerman and his family identify themselves as Hispanic but I can see how Hispanic murdering (yes I said murdering) a black youth does not cause as much of an uproar as White man kills Black youth. I dream of a day when news reports don’t say the race of individuals. Trayvon’s mother said it the best by saying this is not a black or white issue; this is a right or wrong issue and regardless of race I think the majority of this Country agrees that this was completely wrong and justice is needed.
I found this interesting. According to the US Census Bureau, “Hispanic” is an ethnic, not a racial, identity:
Explanation of Race and Hispanic Origin Categories
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Internet Release date: September 15, 1999
The race and Hispanic origin categories used by the Census Bureau are mandated
by Office of Management and Budget Directive No. 15, which requires all
federal record keeping and data presentation to use four race categories
(White, Black, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian and Pacific Islander)
and two ethnicity categories (Hispanic, non-Hispanic). These classifications
are not intended to be scientific in nature, but are designed to promote
consistency in federal record keeping and data presentation.
It is important to recognize that this system treats race and ethnicity as
separate and independent categories. This means that within the federal system
everyone is classified as both a member of one of the four race groups and also
as either Hispanic or non-Hispanic. Consequently, there are a total of 8
race-ethnicity categories, as illustrated by the table below:
U.S. Population by Race and Hispanic Origin, July 1, 1997
(in thousands)
White Black American Indian Asian & Pacific
& Alaska Native Islander
non-Hispanic 194,571 32,324 1,977 9,532
Hispanic 26,746 1,649 347 598
When will it all stop hate is stronger then any gun. LET’S TRY LOVE
Lets try justice.
I’ll take justice over love any day. You cannot force us to love one another but you can make sure that justice is served when hate rears it’s ugly head and that makes all the difference.
Murder is murder regardless of race and justice is needed.
I just pray God gives his family strength to see justice through to completion and satisfaction (as much as it can be possible) and that this mess is cleaned up and the law does the right thing by this young boys soul and his family. This has been handled outrageously bad they need to just do the right thing and bring justice to Trayvon and his family with God’s Speed!
Kelly, I want to thank you so much for your coverage on the Trayvon Martin story, I just heard about this today on Facebook. It is so sad that this young boy has lost his life to what we call MURDER. On the second 911 call you can clearly hear this kid screaming for his dear life, then you hear the gunshot from Zimmerman. The only reason why Zimmerman made a call was to try to create a defense for his himself, I beleive he had it in his mind he was going to kill this boy all along. Has anyone even said that Trayvon had a gun or a weapon of any kind? The only thing that this boy had to defend himself was his fist, and tried to use them to the best of his ability against a man that was twice his weight. From what I could gather from the 911 tapes is after the boy was lying on the ground Zimmerman shoots and kills him. Once Trayvon was on the ground you cannot call self defense — you can only call it MURDER. This kids was only 17 years of age my heart feels so very sad. Sincerely, RJ.
This a very sad situation and it needs to be handled and approached with care. America in all of its plots to convince the world that equality & freedom, bigotry & racism is not a problem here have greatly failed. It’s because of the stereotypical images of black people that we allow the media to show and the images that we constantly condone as apart of our culture, that allowed this man to categorize this young black man as suspicious and allowed him to justify his reasons.
Another thing that’s really irritating me is the responses from the editor because they are coming from a personal place instead of a total professional place. Never should you justify on a public form what you have or have not done…its not your job to do that. If I responded to everything people have said to me or about my work people wouldn’t like me much at all. You listen to all advice and suggestions apply what you need and throw the rest away
Thanks for the comment. It’s our practice at this site for the staff to communicate with our readers and commenters. We read all comments and screen them for inappropriate language. We also referee the conversations to keep them appropriate and jump in to clarify misunderstandings. We find it to be an effective way of preventing bullies and bigots from taking over our site. I’m sorry if that irritates you, but that’s our policy.
All I have to say is, every nation in this world would have declared war on these people for doing their people like they do. Every nation in the world but the homeless, oppressed negroes who think they are apart of something that wasn’t created for them. This society. Every one has a false sense of happiness. This will continue so why even bother. Obama don’t care, his people weren’t slaves, 9 times out of ten his people help enslave us by selling us to the Europeans… So when you folks wake up to reality and understand that these folks get rewarded for killing negroes, don’t try to fight a war because then it will be too late because all the registered weapon have been taken through the guns for groceries program across America in the BLACK communities… Another thing, I bet you didn’t know a black women wrote the movie the matrix and she was talkin bout you negroes who just don’t get it. But I know my post will be a waste to even type so forget it… Also may tray have a easy sleep…
To say 56 years later we have another Emmett Till, shows ones lack of understanding of the black male experience in america. Unfortunately, there have been many Emmet Tills throughout America since then. It is still a cloud hovering over the Treyvon Martin case in the matter of his killer’s motivation. Was it purely out of bigotry or an overall vigilante response? In the Till matter, the motivation of his attackers was 100% clear: Hate and absolute disdain for black life and human rights. Furthermore, take into consideration the water shed mark that the Till case was in it showed the world, before the church bombings that killed the little girls, the utter barber-ism displayed by white America in their ability to bring such a viscous-ness upon children. As I stated, since then our black men have been victims of an open season perpetrated by a white supremacist system from the FBI’s cointelpro motivated murders of Black Panthers to the trigger-happy NYPD’s gunning down of black men, a practice that isn’t exclusive to New York’s blue wall. Treyvon Martin case, sadly, is a patch in the tapestry if the quilt of social conditions that exists for the black male in America. We’re under-taught in failing public schools. We are mis-diagnosed as to be given drugs that alter us mentally and physically ushering into the world young men unable to reason freely leading to violence and crime in order to help fill these new prisons being constructed at an alarming rate and un-able, through prescription drugs, to healthily reproduce. There are many black mothers all over the country who can look at the pictures of their dead and imprisoned sons and think Emmett Till in the two generations since, not just Treyvon’s parents.
Thanks for the comment. I’m the editor here and commissioned this piece.
The argument of this piece is not that Trayvon Martin is the first Emmett Till since 1955. We’re simply drawing attention to this one case — which has specific situational similarities to Emmett Till’s — as we have done with other gunned-down black youth. If you browse our site more, you’ll find those articles.
Also, please note that I’ve been a journalist for 12 years — an investigative reporter and editor whose focus is criminal justice issues. I’ve done work that has helped thousands of black men get their criminal records expunged and sealed, etc. I can always learn more — and can never be a black man myself — but I think I have a pretty good understanding of the issues and certainly feel qualified to oversee work about it.
Dear Gary C.,
This article reflects years of research on the Emmett Till murder and my current grief and horror at the murder of Trayvon Martin. I struggled to keep it shorter than book-length, so I focused on two murders that have generated widespread public outrage. One of the most alarming aspect’s of young Martin’s death is that it is only the latest instance of unwarranted violence against black men in Seminole County by white men who claim to enforce the law.
As a student of African-American history, and as a human being with a functioning conscience, I share your outrage on behalf of all the young men and women who have been and are still being brutalized by our racist society.
First of all, I agree that Zimmerman murdered Trayvon. However I see that you make the same wrong conclusion that every other blogger/journalist has made that police told Zimmerman not to follow Martin. Actually, the dispatcher asked if Zimmerman was following him and when he said yes, the dispatcher said “We don’t need you to do that.” Not the same as “Don’t do that.” This is a technicality that will almost certainly arise if/when Zimmerman is charged and/or tried for his crime.
David, thanks for the comment. I’m the editor here and just have a few journalistic questions for you to better understand your point of view. What do you see as other possible interpretations of “We don’t need you do to do that?” And why do you believe this would emerge as a significant legal issue? Have you listened to the 911-tapes in their entirety?
Agreed, Kelly, seems pretty understandable to me.