The sun streams across the barren field. The train tracks, rusted and worn line the two lane road. Cars fly by every thirty seconds or so, not even slowing down as they pass by the town of Money, Mississippi. The town, which was once inhabited by two hundred people, is now reduced to the townspeople living in three small houses. Around the only street in Money, are a run down factory, two silos, a telegraph office whose door has been locked for years, and the building that once was the general store and meat market.
The perceived serenity of this small town is overshadowed by the pain and suffering that hangs in the air. Walking around the market place, which is now covered in thorns, I can feel the hostility pressing down on my shoulders. The protruding nails of the old edifice, the hollow window frames and the crumbling walls signify a past that is not only forgotten, it is purposefully ignored.
Emmett Till, a youthful, strong and dedicated son of Mamie Till, traveled from Chicago to Money to visit his cousins. The day before he departed, his mother had given him his father's signet ring which would later be used to identify his horribly mutilated body. Emmett was a good boy. When his mother was working 12-hour shifts as a clerk for the Air Force, Emmett was home cooking, cleaning and doing laundry to alleviate the burden on his mother. Emmett never knew his father for his parents divorced only a year after he was born. At the age of five, Emmett contracted polio but miraculously made a full recovery; the only hint of his illness could be found in his words because he had a slight stutter.
On August 24, 1955, Emmett and his cousins entered Bryant's Grocery and Meat Market to purchase some bubblegum after a long day picking cotton in the field all day. During their visit to the store, Emmett, only 14 at the time, reportedly verbally engaged a young white woman who happened to be the owner's wife. Some say he wolf whistled to her or made a suggestive comment. Others say he only whistled because it helped him manage his stutter. Mr. Bryant and his brother kidnapped Emmet, beat him severely, shot him in the head, tied his neck to a metal fan with barbed wire and threw him into the Tallahatchie River. His body was discovered days later so badly beaten that he could only be identified by the ring on his finger.
Bryant and his brother were both acquitted of the crime by an all-male and all-white jury. The jurors only debated for 67 minutes. The brothers later confessed in a magazine interview but were protected from retrial by the double jeopardy amendment.
We stood by the road, kicking gravel with our feet and trying to comprehend the brutality and anger of racism.
The beauty of the open fields, the warmth of the sun in the chilly January air and the long stretch of road ahead all spoke to hope and beauty but my heart hurt when I thought of the ugliness inside people. It's getting harder and harder to see the good in people. I pray for Emmett Till and all the innocent that are killed before they've had a chance to live. I pray that my faith in all of us can be restored in time.
Jordyn Seidman
12th grade, The Park School
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