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Broughton

Page history last edited by PBworks 17 years ago

http://faculty.washington.edu/qtaylor/images/till_emmett.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.vassarscholars.blogspot.com/&h=235&w=219&sz=29&hl=en&start=4&tbnid=slu1X6n7tLQZSM:&tbnh=109&tbnw=102&prev=/images%3Fq%3DEmmett%2BTill%2B%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D30%26hl%3Den"> "Are you going to be alright child???. You know you can always stay here with me. You don't have to go to Mississippi. Your cousins will be fine without you!" Emmett screams, "The bus is here Mama, I have to go." "I just want you to know that I'm not making you do anything son!" "But Mama I want to go!" "Alright then, go on. I will miss you. Be careful and keep up with your things. I don't want Sister to think you're a sloppy house guest. Be on your best manners and listen to your your Aunt, and don't disrespect the white folks. You've got to understand that it's different down there. You won't be treated the way we are here in Chicago. It's called segregation. Well, move along son. I love you." "Good-bye mama. I will miss you dearly." I started to cry as I gave Emmett a big hug. While I knew that Sister would take good care of Emmett, deep down I had a bad feeling. I just had to keep saying to myself that it will all work out, that everything will be fine. As I walk back into my empty house I think about my dear Emmett. How I will miss him. I think to myself... Its just a Summer. He's a good boy.

 

Months passed and I've only received a few letters from Emmett. Knowing my sister is taking care of him reassures me, but I still worry.

One day after the mail carrier came, a letter came from my sister Sally. When I noticed who it was from, I was estatic. Finally, some news. As I opened the letter and began to read it I felt like someone ad kicked me in the gut. I started crying so hard I couldn't breathe. My Emmett had been hurt by some white folks. My sister had written only that something bad had happened to him. Sister didn't give any other details about what happened. I just knew that I had to get to my boy now. I had to get to Money, Mississippi to see my son. I was determined to reach my son no matter what it took. By foot, by train, I was going to get there.

 

On my way there I met a few new people who shared their stories with me. One very old man, who had been a former slave, had scars covering his face. He'd been beaten by his slave master for just taking some sugar from the sugar jar in the kitchen. I realized then how much danger my son could be in and I felt so guilty for sending him down South to stay with Sister. I knew that something bad might happen, but not this. Living in Chicago I knew my son wasn't really exposed to racism, but who would hurt a little boy? I finally reached Mississippi. It felt like I'd been travelling for weeks. I couldn't get there fast enough. I had to know if my boy was OK. I just want to hug my Emmett.

 

While walking on the road to her house I had big knots in my stomach. I was so scared but knew I had to relax and stay calm or it would make matters worse. I walked up to the crooked door of my sisters place and she immediatly came to the door with a suprised look on her face. She said, "I thought you might come down here Sis. I knew my sister was hiding something from me. Since she was little she had always had that look in her eye when she was up to something. When she was almost seven and I was eight, she had taken one of our finest chicken out of the coop and let it roam free. She had let it go. Papa had paid good money for that chicken. When Mama and Papa confronted us my sister had that same look she had right now. Only, now she looked scared. So, I sat her down for some iced tea and we talked until I brought up Emmett. She said "Well, he sort of got in an accident". She started to cry. She said that when Emmett was playing with some new guys he had met, they had dared him to go up to a white woman at a grocery store and say "Hey Baby". He did it alright, and blew her a kiss too. They couldn't believe that he actually did it because they knew the woman was married and this meant that her husband would find out that Emmett had disrespected her.

 

That night as Emmett and his cousin had gone to bed and went to sleep someone came crawling through the window. Both Emmett and Logan had already gone to bed and were in a deep sleep. It was the married woman's husband, Carolyn Bryant. Bryant and his brother-and-law had come to seek revenge on Emmett who was only 14. They came with guns and were ready to torture him. They were mad as hornets. The two men pulled him out of bed and took him down to the Talahachie River where he was lynched by the two men. My Emmett was gone, dead. Never to be seen again. Sister and I were both just crying and thinking about him. I've never hurt so bad. I realized this was not Sister's fault. I felt like it was mine. It was the worst feeling that I had ever come across. How could this have happened? Who would hurt a little boy. After just sitting there with my sister in shock I got up to get water and then turned around and asked my sister where my son's body was. She said "At the funeral home," and went back to crying again.

 

That afternoon I thought about my son and how much he meant to me. I loved him. I knew I had to start planning his funeral. How could I be burying my little boy? How could this have happened. I decided to have an open casket servce with tulips. Emmett loved tulips. I wanted people to see what happened to my dear Emmett and how cruel this world can be. The story started to spread across the country. It struck a nerve in people. The hurt has never gone away, but it gave me comfort to know that he didn't die in vain, that what happened to him had an impact and helped, in some small way, to change people's minds. His story isn't well known, but it helped change America's views on segregation. It is so shameful, but it played an important part in America's civil rights struggle. Emmett Till was a good boy. I hope Emmett's story helps Americans understand their past so that things like this never happen again.

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