Remembering Emmett Till

Reflection #5: Immersion

I recently watched a VR video remembering Emmett Till’s story. This documentary was hard to watch but also very captivating. “Emmett Till’s death/case became an enduring symbol for racial hostility and injustice”. In 1955 Emmett Till (14 y/o boy from Chicago) was found after being brutalized and lynched in Mississippi Delta.

This happened as a result of Hill being accused of whistling at a white woman at a grocery store. His funeral also became a statement, his mother allowed his brutalized body to be visible in an open casket ceremony. This sparked national news, yet it did not change how people felt towards Emmett Till. To this day his memorial signs continue to get brutalized.

Though the video mentioned Emmett Till’s funeral, no pictures of his body were shown. I can appreciate this because personally, I do not like to see Black people brutalized and killed. I also do not want it to become normal and therefore I get desensitized.

After watching this film, I would advise the Emmett Till Interpretive Center to try and market themselves to a larger audience; more than just Mississippi. I think that this would help bring in more dollars and therefore help them do more in his honor.

I think that the community should not treat Emmett Till’s story like a secret. I think that the story of his death should be told and taught to younger generations. I think that teaching students about our country’s dark history is important so that we can learn from it and insure that history does not CONTINUE to repeat itself.

In order to be a color conscious society, we need to acknowledge our faults and actually work towards fixing them and healing people that were/are victimized. I think that this begins with talking about the problems such as racism, systemic racism, unfair justice systems, white privilege, etc.