Why is it that most of everyone these days knows of Rosa Parks and MLK jr!. but no one remembers the murder of Emmitt Till!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
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Position:Home>History> Why is it no one has heard of...?Question: Why is it no one has heard of!.!.!.!? Why is it that most of everyone these days knows of Rosa Parks and MLK jr!. but no one remembers the murder of Emmitt Till!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: To respond to one of the posters below, the Emmett Till case had a *tremendous* impact on the Civil Rights movement!. There was a lot of media notice at the time--the international press descended on the tiny town of Money, Mississippi for the trial and when the verdict was returned so quickly (the jury, being swayed by the openly racist closing arguments of the defense attorney, voted for an immediate acquittal and then went out for a soda to make it appear as though they'd deliberated longer), there was international outrage!. Since the murderers were protected by double jeopardy, they did an interview with Look magazine a few months later where they confessed to kidnapping, beating and shooting the teenage boy!. All of these factors, plus the victim's youth, helped kick-start the Civil Rights movement!. But the initial reason the murder got so much press is because of the bravery of Emmett's mother, Mamie, who asked for an open casket so that everyone could see how badly her son had been brutalized!. It is horrific--the boy was almost unrecognizable!. It's such an horrific case that it's a difficult topic to teach in school--you certainly can't show pictures and the sheer evil of the custom of lynching is a tough subject to discuss with children!. However, anyone over a certain age, especially if they grew up in the South, knows the story of Emmett Till ("he whistled at a white woman") along with Medgar Evers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Mickey Schwerner and several others!. Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr!. are a little easier to teach to schoolchildren--their narratives are more triumphant, and even though King was murdered, he isn't known *just* for that, as Emmett Till is!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Maybe because it's not something they teach us in school!. I had never heard of him til you asked this question so I looked it up!. One reason I think that people may not really know of him is because they teach us civil rights in grade school and he was just a fourteen year old kid who was brutally murdered!. A grade school kid may not be ready to hear about something like that because it makes them realize their own mortality!. Some people are not comfortable teaching about that kind of thing!. If he were older and the murder was not so brutal, perhaps it would be taught in the lesson with Rosa Parks and MLK, Jr!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Id guess it just cause your younger than I am ,people my age a familiar with him and most of the other various victims of the times and racial tension!.They dont teach history anymore ,the schools all have an agenda and revisionist history and skipping over some stuff suits the agenda!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Probably because everyone learns about Rosa Parks and MLK Jr!. in school because they've had an impact in America!. I can't say I've ever heard of Emmitt Till!. After looking him up I'd say it's because he was just another victim of a bad time (he was just younger than most)!.Www@QuestionHome@Com I don't remember it either!. Maybe it was just something that stuck with you!.Www@QuestionHome@Com i dont know either!.!.hehe^^Www@QuestionHome@Com |