How do you let a girl know she’s fine?
Whistling could be a good idea unless
She’s white and you aren’t. Because then
Her husband and brother-in-law will pick
You up, beat you up, and wring you up.
And next thing you know, you’re at the bottom
Of a river attached to a mill fan and 50 years
Later, US History classes will watch documentaries
About you. But you won’t ever get your justice.
They don’t care if you are smart or funny or
Like math and science. You are lower than them.
They don’t care that in Chicago, white people got
Soft and treat the colored people more nicely. They
Will put you back in your place. You aren’t equal.
And next thing you know, you’re at the bottom
Of a river attached to a mill fan and 50 years
Later, US History classes will watch documentaries
About you. But you won’t ever get your justice.
Emmett, women fainted at the sight on you in your
Coffin. Eyes gouged out and a hole in your head.
Your momma stood proud and fought for you in court.
But Mississippi didn’t think twice and Roy Bryant and JW
Milam were as free as the samples from the corner deli.
And next thing you know, you’re at the bottom
Of a river attached to a mill fan and 50 years
Later, US History classes will watch documentaries
About you. But you won’t ever get your justice.
Those men actually admitted to your murder after
The trial was over but thanks to Benjamin Franklin and
The rest of the constitution writers, double jeopardy Prohibits them from being punished. They are dead now
But that girl you whistled at, she ain’t. She faces indictment.
And next thing you know, you’re a famous 14 year old.
Most of America knows your name and has seen your
Documentary. They know what happened wasn’t fair.
Emmett Till, we’re gonna make it right. We promise.
Because you’re American and you were created equal.
In our poetry class we studied political poems. I remember watching endless videos throughout my years in school on a boy named Emmett Till. He was a fourteen year old boy who whistled at a white girl in Mississippi during the days of racial discrimination. He was originally from Chicago, in the North, where blacks and white were more equal and it would have been okay to whistle at a white girl. But in the south, Roy Bryant and JW Milam did not approve of this.
Bryant and Milam, at night, went to Till's relative's house and shook the boy out of the bed he shared with his cousin. They threw him in the back of their car and he was never seen alive again. It was said that Till was taken to their barn, tortured, shot in the head, and thrown into the river. Before he was tossed carelessly into the Tallahatchie River, they attached a 70lb cotton gin fan tied to his neck with barbed wire. It took three days to find his body and removed it from the river.
Emmett's body was returned to his hometown where his mother had an open casket funeral service so everyone could see what happened to her son. The condition of the body was so bad that several ladies actually passed out and had to have medical professionals check them out. Bryant and Milam were taken to court, but it was in the south, so big surprise, they went free. They actually admitted to the killing but due to double jeopardy, they could not be convicted for the same crime twice. Now, on the 50th anniversary of his death, a new documentary was created so everyone can understand the whole truth. I hope that this documentary lets everyone understand that Emmett Till really was innocent in this situation.
More info here.
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