Emmett Till National Monument to be Established
An appropriate step.
Via AL.com Biden to establish national monument honoring Emmett Till, the Black teen lynched in Mississippi.
Biden will sign a proclamation on Tuesday to create the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument across three sites in Illinois and Mississippi, according to the official. The individual spoke on condition of anonymity because the White House had not formally announced the president’s plans.
[…]
The monument will protect places that are central to the story of Till’s life and death at age 14, the acquittal of his white killers and his mother’s activism. Till’s mother’s insistence on an open casket to show the world how her son had been brutalized and Jet’s magazine’s decision to publish photos of his mutilated body helped galvanize the Civil Rights Movement.
Biden’s decision also comes at a fraught time in the United States over matters concerning race. Conservative leaders are pushing back against the teaching of slavery and Black history in public schools, as well as the incorporation of diversity, equity and inclusion programs from college classrooms to corporate boardrooms.
The news is over a week old, but it seemed worthy of its own post, even if it is a brief one. I commend the move and think it fits well into some of my other writings about understanding the past as it relates to race. One of the ways we can communicate with the present and the future is to commemorate, and memorialize, these signature events from our history.
Previous signs were shot, thrown in the river, etc.
This WaPo article has pictures of the damage:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/10/20/this-emmett-till-memorial-was-vandalized-again-again-again-now-its-bulletproof/
Given that it is three years old, I’m wondering how that 2019 bulletproof sign has fared, but not quite enough to check. The national park service (I believe) will now be in the business of repairing and replacing the sign.
[CRT TRIGGER WARNING!!!!]
So, Biden’s decision is coming on another day that ends in “y.” Sorry. I’m failing to see the issue.
Oh c’mon now. This woke is going to far! Just ask the fine white folks of Mississippi.
@Gustopher: I had forgotten about that. Sigh.
Uh oh …. Some white folks are going to feel very uncomfortable about this.
Somehow I think Emmett Till would have much more preferred to be allowed to live to adulthood, rather than having a monument put up.
But considering that there are obviously a bunch of idiots who can’t deal with actual history and that Emmett Till was indeed lynched for a “crime” that he was absolutely innocent of, jolly good show.