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By Laura Nathan
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Monday, March 22, 2004 |
The brutal 1955 murder of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old black boy who was killed for allegedly whistling at a white woman in Mississippi, catalyzed the civil rights movement. When his mother demanded that an open coffin funeral be held to show how badly her son had been beaten, the world took notice.
While the attention received by the case ensured that the problem of racism in the South couldn’t go ignored any longer, the trial of the two white men who allegedly murdered Till illuminated the racism inherent in the justice system. Tried before an all-white jury, the defendants were, of course, acquitted.
But thanks to Keith Beauchamp, a filmmaker who set out to interview several witnesses to the murder, family members and Congressional leaders are urging the Justice Department to reopen the case 50 years later. According to witnesses, there were as many as 10 men involved in Till’s murder.
If the case does in fact return to court, will it simply reopen old wounds? Will it show how far (or how little) the U.S. justice system has come in 50 years? Or will it simply set the record straight and bring some solace to Till’s family, as proponents of reopening the case hope?
Whatever happens, I’m guessing that the Till case redux still won't be the trial of the new millenium or gain the attention its proponents desire. After all, the plaintiffs will have to compete with Kobe and Michael, and sadly, most Americans only seem to take notice of the justice system when a celebrity’s career is at stake.
—Laura Nathan
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