The Murder of Emmett Till
Greensboro, N.C. : Morgan Reynolds Pub., [2007]
Format: Book
Description: 160 pages : illustrations (some color), color map ; 24 cm
Emmett Till was a bright and confident African American boy growing up with his single mother in Chicago. An offer to spend a few weeks with his great-uncle and cousins in Mississippi seemed like a fun way to spend his summer. His mother warned him about the racism and the violence aimed toward blacks down South, but Emmett paid little heed to her words. Then, just a few days after arriving in Mississippi, Emmett made a decision that changed everything. Violating Mississippi's deeply ingrained racial codes, Emmett innocently flirted with a white woman-the wife of local store owner Roy Bryant. When Bryant found out, he recruited his brother-in-law, J. W. Milam-who had boasted of pistol-whipping Germans during World War II-and the two proceeded to kidnap Emmett Till. Three days later, fourteen-year-old Emmett Till's body was found in a river, badly mutilated with a bullet wound in the skull. The ensuing trial of Bryant and Milam, and the fallout from its controversial verdict, galvanized the nation, sending a clear and horrifying message about racial oppression and justice in the American South during the Jim Crow era. It also was one of the first major incidents of the civil rights movement, and it was ingrained in the minds of the era's crusaders, an undeniable reminder of what they fought for and what was at stake. Book jacket.
Contents:
Summer vacation -- How it is down South -- The abduction -- North Vs. South -- The trial -- Repercussions around the world -- The killers talk -- Rumblings -- The movement -- Fifty years later -- Timeline.
Subjects:
Till, Emmett, 1941-1955.
Till, Emmett, 1941-1955 -- Influence.
Lynching -- Mississippi -- History -- 20th century.
African Americans -- Crimes against -- Mississippi -- History -- 20th century.
African American teenage boys -- Mississippi -- Biography.
Racism -- Mississippi -- History -- 20th century.
Trials (Murder) -- Mississippi.
Civil rights movements -- Southern States -- History -- 20th century.
African Americans -- Civil rights -- Southern States -- History -- 20th century.
Mississippi -- Race relations.
Till, Emmett, 1941-1955.
Till, Emmett, 1941-1955 -- Influence.
Lynching -- Mississippi -- History -- 20th century.
African Americans -- Crimes against -- Mississippi -- History -- 20th century.
African American teenage boys -- Mississippi -- Biography.
Racism -- Mississippi -- History -- 20th century.
Trials (Murder) -- Mississippi.
Civil rights movements -- Southern States -- History -- 20th century.
African Americans -- Civil rights -- Southern States -- History -- 20th century.
Mississippi -- Race relations.
Target Audience: 1110L
ISBN:
9781599350578
Availability | |||
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Call Number | Location | Shelf Location | Status |
HISTORY North Am. US AF AM Civil Rights Are | Sandhills Indoors | Nonfiction | In |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 150-156) and index.