Both J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant wanted to make an example out of Emmet by not only killing the young man, but by torturing him until he could no longer scream for mercy. His disfigured corpse was put on display in an open casket funeral. It received the attention of the nation and this case wasn’t going to be swept under the rug like past lynchings. Till’s death may have been a tragedy, but it opened the eyes of many young African Americans that wanted change thus sparking a social movement. Americans were appalled of the injustice taking place in the court room as they witnessed the two assailants of the crime being acquitted even after both had previously confessed to the crime. Civil rights activists thus used the murder of Emmett Till as a rallying cry for civil rights protest, transforming a heinous crime into a springboard for
Both J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant wanted to make an example out of Emmet by not only killing the young man, but by torturing him until he could no longer scream for mercy. His disfigured corpse was put on display in an open casket funeral. It received the attention of the nation and this case wasn’t going to be swept under the rug like past lynchings. Till’s death may have been a tragedy, but it opened the eyes of many young African Americans that wanted change thus sparking a social movement. Americans were appalled of the injustice taking place in the court room as they witnessed the two assailants of the crime being acquitted even after both had previously confessed to the crime. Civil rights activists thus used the murder of Emmett Till as a rallying cry for civil rights protest, transforming a heinous crime into a springboard for