Emmett Till Memorial Sign Vandalized With Bullet Holes
Oct 26, 2016 14:55:49 #
Published October 26, 2016
“That marker was just evidence that there are people who are still living in those areas who still hold those ideologies dear to their heart.”
By Kaitlyn D’Onofrio
A sign honoring Emmett Till was found riddled with more than 40 bullet holes. Kevin Wilson Jr., a filmmaker who is working on a short film on Till, made the discovery; the incident garnered attention when Wilson posted about it on Facebook.
“I’m at the exact site where Emmett Till’s body was found floating in the Tallahatchie River 61 years ago,” he wrote. “The site marker is filled with bullet holes. Clear evidence that we’ve still got a long way to go.”
Till was a 14-year-old Black boy who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955. The Chicago native, who was visiting relatives at the time, was kidnapped, mutilated and shot. His body was found floating in a river several days after he went missing. The perpetrators, who eventually confessed their crimes, were acquitted by an all-white jury.
Till’s mother, Mamie Till Mobley, insisted that Till’s casket be open at his funeral so people could see exactly what happened to her son. Pictures of young Till’s mutilated body shocked the nation. Till’s death was a pivotal event of the Civil Rights Movement and brought to the forefront issues of racial injustice.
The memorial sign is located in Mississippi at the spot Till’s body was found.
Emmett Till Memorial Sign Vandalized With Bullet Holes
A closeup of the vandalized Emmett Till memorial sign. Photo via Facebook.
“I was very emotional. I did not expect to see the site, the marker, with bullet holes in it,” Wilson said to WJTV. “That marker was just evidence that there are people who are still living in those areas who still hold those ideologies dear to their heart. Ideologies that we’re trying to get away from.”
Robert E. Huddleston, a Democratic state representative and member of the area’s local NAACP chapter, questioned why people continue to harbor “so much hatred.”
“This child died in 1955 and people still have so much hatred,” he said to ABC News. “Why do they feel the need to keep on killing him again and again?”
Glendora, Mississippi, Mayor Johnny B. Thomas called for unity to move forward from the hate-filled act of vandalism.
“When I see hatred like this it makes me want to work that much harder to rebuild it, begin healing, and get members of the Caucasian community to join us in that effort to heal,” Thomas said. “When the descendants of those who perpetrated slavery here and Jim Crow laws stand up against this sort of vandalism it means so much more … When they join in rejecting this we can move forward.”
Thomas’ father may have had a possible connection to Till’s murder. Both Thomas and his father are Black. According to Thomas, a long history of racial tension exists in the area.
Related Story: Is Trayvon Today’s Emmett Till?
Till’s legacy and important place in Civil Rights Movement history remains just as relevant today as in 1955. Many people have drawn comparisons between Till and Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teenager who was gunned down in Florida.
This year’s presidential election has also made evident that racial tensions are still alive and well today. With Republican candidate Trump telling his supporters that the election is “rigged” and calling for them to monitor “certain areas,” schools in numerous states, including Illinois, Maine, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, will be closed on Election Day for fear of potential violence, the Associated Press reported.
“If anybody can sit there and say they don’t think this is a contentious election, then they aren’t paying much attention,” said Ed Tolan, a police chief in Maine.
It is not yet clear if Mississippi in particular plans to close any schools on November 8.
Till Memorials Repeated Targets for Vandals
The Emmett Till Memorial Commission initially put up the sign memorializing Till in 2008, and it has served as a repeated target for vandalism.
The Emmett Till Interpretive Center, located in Sumner, Mississippi, started a fundraiser to have the sign replaced and has already raised more than enough money to replace it. The organization estimated the sign would cost between $1,400 and $2,000 to replace but has already raised an estimated $20,000.
Director of the center Patrick Weems said the outstanding response was unprecedented: “In doing this work for 10 years and now seeing this outpouring from people who want to see Emmett Till’s memory sustained, that is incredible.”
The leftover money will be used to honor Till’s memory in other ways, the Clarion Ledger reported.
“It’s always been a dream of ours to create a permanent site by the river so people could pray or be mindful,” Weems said.
Unfortunately, memorials and other markers are often vandalism targets, according to Dave Tell, a University of Kansas professor who is involved with the Emmett Till Memory Project.
“These are easy targets, a low-risk outlet for racism,” he said, adding that some people inaccurately view “civil rights monuments as a form of reverse discrimination, a threat to their own well-being.”
In addition to the previous instance of vandalism of the memorial sign, other sites honoring Till have been targeted as well. Emmett Till Memorial Highway, which spans 32 miles over U.S. 49 East, was targeted in 2006, at which time vandals painted “KKK” on the sign.
“That marker was just evidence that there are people who are still living in those areas who still hold those ideologies dear to their heart.”
By Kaitlyn D’Onofrio
A sign honoring Emmett Till was found riddled with more than 40 bullet holes. Kevin Wilson Jr., a filmmaker who is working on a short film on Till, made the discovery; the incident garnered attention when Wilson posted about it on Facebook.
“I’m at the exact site where Emmett Till’s body was found floating in the Tallahatchie River 61 years ago,” he wrote. “The site marker is filled with bullet holes. Clear evidence that we’ve still got a long way to go.”
Till was a 14-year-old Black boy who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955. The Chicago native, who was visiting relatives at the time, was kidnapped, mutilated and shot. His body was found floating in a river several days after he went missing. The perpetrators, who eventually confessed their crimes, were acquitted by an all-white jury.
Till’s mother, Mamie Till Mobley, insisted that Till’s casket be open at his funeral so people could see exactly what happened to her son. Pictures of young Till’s mutilated body shocked the nation. Till’s death was a pivotal event of the Civil Rights Movement and brought to the forefront issues of racial injustice.
The memorial sign is located in Mississippi at the spot Till’s body was found.
Emmett Till Memorial Sign Vandalized With Bullet Holes
A closeup of the vandalized Emmett Till memorial sign. Photo via Facebook.
“I was very emotional. I did not expect to see the site, the marker, with bullet holes in it,” Wilson said to WJTV. “That marker was just evidence that there are people who are still living in those areas who still hold those ideologies dear to their heart. Ideologies that we’re trying to get away from.”
Robert E. Huddleston, a Democratic state representative and member of the area’s local NAACP chapter, questioned why people continue to harbor “so much hatred.”
“This child died in 1955 and people still have so much hatred,” he said to ABC News. “Why do they feel the need to keep on killing him again and again?”
Glendora, Mississippi, Mayor Johnny B. Thomas called for unity to move forward from the hate-filled act of vandalism.
“When I see hatred like this it makes me want to work that much harder to rebuild it, begin healing, and get members of the Caucasian community to join us in that effort to heal,” Thomas said. “When the descendants of those who perpetrated slavery here and Jim Crow laws stand up against this sort of vandalism it means so much more … When they join in rejecting this we can move forward.”
Thomas’ father may have had a possible connection to Till’s murder. Both Thomas and his father are Black. According to Thomas, a long history of racial tension exists in the area.
Related Story: Is Trayvon Today’s Emmett Till?
Till’s legacy and important place in Civil Rights Movement history remains just as relevant today as in 1955. Many people have drawn comparisons between Till and Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teenager who was gunned down in Florida.
This year’s presidential election has also made evident that racial tensions are still alive and well today. With Republican candidate Trump telling his supporters that the election is “rigged” and calling for them to monitor “certain areas,” schools in numerous states, including Illinois, Maine, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, will be closed on Election Day for fear of potential violence, the Associated Press reported.
“If anybody can sit there and say they don’t think this is a contentious election, then they aren’t paying much attention,” said Ed Tolan, a police chief in Maine.
It is not yet clear if Mississippi in particular plans to close any schools on November 8.
Till Memorials Repeated Targets for Vandals
The Emmett Till Memorial Commission initially put up the sign memorializing Till in 2008, and it has served as a repeated target for vandalism.
The Emmett Till Interpretive Center, located in Sumner, Mississippi, started a fundraiser to have the sign replaced and has already raised more than enough money to replace it. The organization estimated the sign would cost between $1,400 and $2,000 to replace but has already raised an estimated $20,000.
Director of the center Patrick Weems said the outstanding response was unprecedented: “In doing this work for 10 years and now seeing this outpouring from people who want to see Emmett Till’s memory sustained, that is incredible.”
The leftover money will be used to honor Till’s memory in other ways, the Clarion Ledger reported.
“It’s always been a dream of ours to create a permanent site by the river so people could pray or be mindful,” Weems said.
Unfortunately, memorials and other markers are often vandalism targets, according to Dave Tell, a University of Kansas professor who is involved with the Emmett Till Memory Project.
“These are easy targets, a low-risk outlet for racism,” he said, adding that some people inaccurately view “civil rights monuments as a form of reverse discrimination, a threat to their own well-being.”
In addition to the previous instance of vandalism of the memorial sign, other sites honoring Till have been targeted as well. Emmett Till Memorial Highway, which spans 32 miles over U.S. 49 East, was targeted in 2006, at which time vandals painted “KKK” on the sign.
Oct 26, 2016 16:54:25 #
Progressive One wrote:
Published October 26, 2016 br “That marker was jus... (show quote)
This sign isn't exactly posted on the George Washington Bridge, half the folks in that area are illiterate and unable to read the sign well enough to know what it says. What they are are typical zealous gun nuts. In that neck of the woods it is difficult to find a stop sign or mailbox that isn't riddled with bullet holes, songbirds are blasted out of the sky for kicks and stray pets are routinely attacked with everything from oversized revolvers to crossbows. The relatively recent addition of methamphetamine to the traditional diet of grain alcohol and beer favored by these "responsible sportsman" has increased the perforation of everything down range including many of the gun owners own feet and family members. My point is that the sign was as likely blasted just because it was there as it was shot up as a political statement.
Oct 26, 2016 16:59:35 #
Kevyn wrote:
This sign isn't exactly posted on the George Washi... (show quote)
Oh Kevyn....according to the cons...only black people act like that so please quit telling lies (end sarcasm)............
Oct 27, 2016 08:20:38 #
Kevyn wrote:
This sign isn't exactly posted on the George Washi... (show quote)
No, most blacks aren't that good of a shot.
Oct 27, 2016 12:52:46 #
SSGT wrote:
No, most blacks aren't that good of a shot.
How do you know with such a dumbass statement? Did you take most blacks out to the range and see for yourself whether or not they are good shooters? Think before you say stupid inbred sounding bullshit.........
Oct 27, 2016 15:27:39 #
Progressive One wrote:
How do you know with such a dumbass statement? Did you take most blacks out to the range and see for yourself whether or not they are good shooters? Think before you say stupid inbred sounding bullshit.........
Not stupid at all, just fact. Ask any police officer. I assume you're black?
Oct 27, 2016 17:56:35 #
SSGT wrote:
Not stupid at all, just fact. Ask any police officer. I assume you're black?
It is stupid to assume anything based on race...period......
Oct 28, 2016 09:58:06 #
Progressive One wrote:
It is stupid to assume anything based on race...period......
Just stating a fact.
Oct 28, 2016 13:55:29 #
SSGT wrote:
Just stating a fact.
Post a source that states as much based on collecting shooting accuracy data for blacks. That should be easy to do since YOU stated it was a fact and not just your opinion.
Oct 28, 2016 14:04:10 #
Progressive One wrote:
Post a source that states as much based on collecting shooting accuracy data for blacks. That should be easy to do since YOU stated it was a fact and not just your opinion.
Google it your self! I said ask any police officer, and any range instructor. I stated a fact, from experience. You prove me wrong!
Oct 28, 2016 14:51:23 #
SSGT wrote:
Google it your self! I said ask any police officer, and any range instructor. I stated a fact, from experience. You prove me wrong!
Nope...in academia when you state something you provide the support for what you say. Ever wrote a research paper? That is why I like academia...only the intelligent approach with accountability passes muster. I see you have no data to back what you say and you want me to do your homework. Please remember I am a Professor and that is not how it goes....where you say something without support...and your limited experiences do not qualify you to characterize an entire race
Oct 28, 2016 15:33:47 #
Progressive One wrote:
Nope...in academia when you state something you provide the support for what you say. Ever wrote a research paper? That is why I like academia...only the intelligent approach with accountability passes muster. I see you have no data to back what you say and you want me to do your homework. Please remember I am a Professor and that is not how it goes....where you say something without support...and your limited experiences do not qualify you to characterize an entire race
You're a professor? Yeah, right. Not a very smart one are you?
Oct 28, 2016 15:54:37 #
SSGT wrote:
You're a professor? Yeah, right. Not a very smart one are you?
Yeah I went to college on a four-year academic scholarship, have been a Electronic Engineer and also earned a Masters and Doctorate before 35...On paper and in the world at large there are many more people who think I'm fairly smart....I have a DVD of me getting my doctorate that shows where my Professor said others said I have genius capacity to a great extent. maybe I do, because doing a job, teaching a class online and talking to you morons while keeping all three in their proper perspective at the same time...may be an indicator that I do have a little ability.....haha...oh well...'m guided by my own self-perception and those who haven't travelled my road are not qualified to scrutinize in any capacity....that is why I'm never bothered by the lesser racist......
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