President Joe Biden is set to announce the designation of a new national monument in honor of Emmett Till, a Black teenager whose murder in 1955 played a significant role in the civil rights movement. The announcement is expected to take place on Tuesday, which would have been Till’s 82nd birthday. The monument will be named the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument and will be centered in Illinois and Mississippi, the states where Till was from and killed, respectively.
The new monument is intended to protect and preserve the places that are significant to Till’s story, including the Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago, where Till’s funeral was held. It will also encompass Graball Landing in Mississippi, believed to be where Till’s body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River, and the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse in Sumner, where Till’s murderers were acquitted by an all-White jury.
Till was just 14 years old when he was beaten and shot to death while visiting family in Mississippi. His murder was a result of him allegedly whistling at a White woman. Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, insisted on an open-casket funeral to show the world the brutality of her son’s death and to draw attention to the injustices and racism of the time. The decision to have an open-casket funeral had a profound impact on the civil rights movement, as it brought national attention to the violence and discrimination faced by Black Americans.
The designation of the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument comes at a time when there is a national debate over how to teach American history in public schools. Some Republican-led states have implemented new standards that many critics argue whitewash history, particularly with regards to slavery and racist violence. The Biden administration has been vocal in its opposition to these policies, with Vice President Kamala Harris recently making a trip to Florida to respond to new state education guidelines that downplay the realities of slavery and omit acts of violence against African Americans.
The White House official stated that the designation of the monument reflects the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to advancing civil rights and preserving important historical sites. The hope is that by protecting and telling the story of Emmett Till, the monument will contribute to a more complete understanding of our nation’s history.
Overall, the new national monument honoring Emmett Till is a significant step in recognizing the impact of his murder on the civil rights movement and preserving the history of racial injustices in America. It serves as a reminder of the importance of acknowledging and learning from the past to create a more equitable future.
Original Story at www.cnn.com – 2023-07-23 00:05:00
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