In 1776, when Thomas Jefferson wrote “All men are created equal,” he unleashed a never ending narrative of racism and hypocrisy within the United States. Since Thomas Jefferson was in fact a slave owner, and claimed that every man is equal to his neighbor, with the exception of African-Americans, the ideals on which this country was founded upon went hand in hand with justification for slavery. However, many slaves did indeed prosper and challenged the racist philosophies that had been in place for over one hundred years. Of those slaves was Frederick Douglass. Not long after escaping slavery, Douglass wrote his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, where he wrote “I speak advisedly when I say this, -- that killing a slave or any
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While bragging to his cousins that his girlfriend back in Chicago was white, Emmett was challenged to ask Carolyn-Bryant on a date. So Emmett walked into the store, bought some candy, and on his way out said “Bye baby,” and left with his cousins and friends. Four days later, on August 28, Roy Bryant, Carolyn’s husband returned from a business trip and learned of the words that were spoken by Emmett to his wife. Outraged, he and his brother-in-law, J.W Milam, drove to Emmett’s uncle's house (where he was staying), and essentially kidnapped Emmett, drove him to Tallahatchie River, beat his body until he was utterly unrecognizable, shot him in the head, tied his body to a cotton gin fan with barbed wire, and threw in the river. It was not until three days later did the authorities find it unrecognizable body. On September 23, 1955, Bryant and Milam were tried in front of an all white jury in Summer Mississippi. Since there were little to no witnesses, besides Emmett’s uncle, Mose Wright, the jury found the two men “Not Guilty” due to the fact that the state failed to identify the
While bragging to his cousins that his girlfriend back in Chicago was white, Emmett was challenged to ask Carolyn-Bryant on a date. So Emmett walked into the store, bought some candy, and on his way out said “Bye baby,” and left with his cousins and friends. Four days later, on August 28, Roy Bryant, Carolyn’s husband returned from a business trip and learned of the words that were spoken by Emmett to his wife. Outraged, he and his brother-in-law, J.W Milam, drove to Emmett’s uncle's house (where he was staying), and essentially kidnapped Emmett, drove him to Tallahatchie River, beat his body until he was utterly unrecognizable, shot him in the head, tied his body to a cotton gin fan with barbed wire, and threw in the river. It was not until three days later did the authorities find it unrecognizable body. On September 23, 1955, Bryant and Milam were tried in front of an all white jury in Summer Mississippi. Since there were little to no witnesses, besides Emmett’s uncle, Mose Wright, the jury found the two men “Not Guilty” due to the fact that the state failed to identify the