America has strongly founded itself upon being a multicultural nation, yet still racism has been and still continues to be an issue. Race and discrimination is amongst the most controversial topics discussed today. There has been steps taken to eliminate racism for example the Civil Right Movement which sought to improve the rights of African Americans, but even these improvements were not instantaneous. Decades later we see that racism still continues to have a strong presence in our society. John Edgar Wiedman is a writer who used his literature to expose these issues. His essay “Looking at Emmett Till” is about a young black boy named Emmett Till who was murdered at the hands of white racists. Wiedman uses Emmett Till’s as a platform to
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He does this to highlight how modern day racial issues still continues to hinder the prosperity of African Americans in our society. Wiedman comes to a conclusion in his essay that “Emmet Till’s murder was an attempt to slay an entire generation. Push us backward to the bad old days when our lives seemed to no belong to us” (31). This quote is significant because it emphasizes Wideman’s purpose of evaluating the impact Till’s murder had on the African American society. The murder of Emmett Till is significant because the same way in which he was degraded and dehumanized was the same way acts of racism tries to dehumanize an entire black community. Overtime laws have been passed to protect the rights of African Americans and acts of racism have decreased; yet still young black men in today’s society can be seen as modern-day examples of Emmett Till. Young black men such as Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, and Mike Brown who are examples of modern day Emmett Tills. These young men may have not suffered from racism the same way in which Till did, but they have all fallen victims to racial discrimination. In addition, just like Emmett Till neither of these three victims received justice for their deaths. Even decades after Emmett Till’s murder we still see that African American men are still confined to stereotypes placed on them. These stereotypes unfortunately has hindered …show more content…
As a society we need to acknowledge that as long as the term “race” exist people will always see a difference between blacks and whites. Differences that Till’s murder represents. The more we confine ourselves within our race the harder it is to close the gap and find equality between the different races. Weidman poses the questions “Where were you when JFK was shot? Where were you when a man landed on a moon? When Martin Luther king Jr. was shot?..”(42). All these questions serve the purpose of placing Till’s murder on the same level with all these significant event. Wiedman want to highlight the importance of Till’s murder to his readers. Despite the arguments that Weidman presents in his essay he does not try to take away from the fact that there has been successful opportunities for minorities. He just believes that the bigger picture about racism is not being acknowledged. Racism does not always have to be a physical act sometimes it can be verbal or mental. We cannot change the affects and scares that past acts of racism have left on the African American society, but we can acknowledge that ongoing racial discrimination still exist. Going back to Weidman’s recollection of the day he encountered Till’s face he states that he was once ashamed of himself for refusing to look and acknowledge the truth behind Till’s image, but that all
He does this to highlight how modern day racial issues still continues to hinder the prosperity of African Americans in our society. Wiedman comes to a conclusion in his essay that “Emmet Till’s murder was an attempt to slay an entire generation. Push us backward to the bad old days when our lives seemed to no belong to us” (31). This quote is significant because it emphasizes Wideman’s purpose of evaluating the impact Till’s murder had on the African American society. The murder of Emmett Till is significant because the same way in which he was degraded and dehumanized was the same way acts of racism tries to dehumanize an entire black community. Overtime laws have been passed to protect the rights of African Americans and acts of racism have decreased; yet still young black men in today’s society can be seen as modern-day examples of Emmett Till. Young black men such as Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, and Mike Brown who are examples of modern day Emmett Tills. These young men may have not suffered from racism the same way in which Till did, but they have all fallen victims to racial discrimination. In addition, just like Emmett Till neither of these three victims received justice for their deaths. Even decades after Emmett Till’s murder we still see that African American men are still confined to stereotypes placed on them. These stereotypes unfortunately has hindered …show more content…
As a society we need to acknowledge that as long as the term “race” exist people will always see a difference between blacks and whites. Differences that Till’s murder represents. The more we confine ourselves within our race the harder it is to close the gap and find equality between the different races. Weidman poses the questions “Where were you when JFK was shot? Where were you when a man landed on a moon? When Martin Luther king Jr. was shot?..”(42). All these questions serve the purpose of placing Till’s murder on the same level with all these significant event. Wiedman want to highlight the importance of Till’s murder to his readers. Despite the arguments that Weidman presents in his essay he does not try to take away from the fact that there has been successful opportunities for minorities. He just believes that the bigger picture about racism is not being acknowledged. Racism does not always have to be a physical act sometimes it can be verbal or mental. We cannot change the affects and scares that past acts of racism have left on the African American society, but we can acknowledge that ongoing racial discrimination still exist. Going back to Weidman’s recollection of the day he encountered Till’s face he states that he was once ashamed of himself for refusing to look and acknowledge the truth behind Till’s image, but that all