"We could make this great land of ours a greater place to live"

June 1, 2005 8:56 AM

"Approximately 250,000 persons viewed and passed by the bier of little Emmett Till. All were shocked, some horrified and appalled. Many prayed, scores fainted and practically all, men, women and children wept". Chicago Defender, September 1, 1955.
Federal officials this morning erected a white tent over the grave of Emmett Till in Alsip, Ill., in preparation to exhume the body to shed light on the Chicago teenager's death 50 years ago. Till, 14 years old at the time, was killed in a hate crime in Money, Miss., that sparked the Civil Rights movement. (previous Emmett Till MeFi threads here and here)
posted by matteo (5 comments total)

[meta]
I just need to say how much I love MeFi. Because I came here right after touching yahoo.com, and all I got was a 2 paragraph write up of Emmett Till. Thank you Matteo.
posted by cavalier at 9:45 AM on June 1, 2005

It's about time this was looked into. No life is too insignificant to pass by; we must honor Emmett's spirit and the life he could have led. Who knows... perhaps had he lived, at 64 today he could have lived a productive life that contributed to the betterment of humankind. Yet... we'll never know.
posted by Edward King at 10:12 AM on June 1, 2005

I'd never seen that picture of him lying in state before until just last week--unbelievably appalling, and not uncommon.
posted by amberglow at 4:44 PM on June 1, 2005

A thread suggesting racism in Australia gets 30 comments... a thread about racism in America gets three.

I think there's an appropriate quote here. Something about motes and beams and eyes.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 8:19 PM on June 1, 2005

Nice post, Matteo.
posted by shoepal at 9:48 PM on June 1, 2005