Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America
by Mamie Till-Mobley, Christopher Benson
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Book Summary Information
Author: Christopher Benson, Mamie Till-MobleyEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2004-12-28
ISBN: 0812970470
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: One World/Ballantine
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780812970470
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Book Reviews of Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America
Book Review: "Let the world see what I've seen"
Summary: 5 Stars
Most Americans, one assumes, know who Emmitt Till was: a 14 year-old African-American boy who was murdered and brutally mutilated for allegedly whistling at a white girl in Money, Mississippi in the summer of 1955. Few know anything more about the boy or the travesty of justice that followed the trial of those accused of the murder. _Death of Innocence_ is a hard read - a reminder of our not-too-distant past, and of who we Americans are.
The book is Emmitt's story - and that of his mother - written in what I can only assume is her voice: it is plain, simple, and almost bursts with a mother's pride, love and joy for her son. This, of course, makes the reading all the more powerful and tragic reading her reaction and emotions upon learning of the death of her son. The book is also the story of the Civil Rights Movement - of what the Jim Crow south was like, of its petty indignities, the daily injustices African-Americans had to face, and of the brutal realities those who did not "play by the rules" faced. For me, these were equally powerful - too many think only of lunchcounter sit-ins, Rosa Parks and the bus boycott, or Brown v. Board (the Supreme Court decision ironically handed down the same year of Emmitt's death.) This is a reminder that it was much more about who gets to eat or sit where.
The first quarter of the book is a bit dull as Mamie Till shares the minutae and details of Emmitt's growing up; this later serves to heighten the emotional impact of her loss. The retelling Mamie gave her son before he went to Mississippi to visit family is chilling: always respond with "Ma'am" or "Sir" when speaking to a white person. Don't look white folks in the eye. When a white approaches, step off the sidewalk into the street, look down, and don't look back when they pass. Its "yes" and "no" - never "yeah" or "naw." A shock, then, when two white men, armed, literally took Emmitt from his uncle's house at 2 am. His body was later recovered from the Tallahatchee river.
The details of his burial - and Mamie's courage to give her son an open casket funeral - shocking to the rest of the world and an embarrassment to Mississippi - made for difficult reading. More outrageous was the way in which the two men who abducted Emmitt became victims in the Southern press; more appalling was the Sherriff's contention that perhaps the body recovered wasn't even Emmitt's. (Never mind it was sent to an African-American undertaker, something no white in the Jim Crow south would have done.) Most outrageous and infuriating of all was the defense of the accused: of the five attorneys in the county, all wanted to help the defendants. Both were aquitted of any wrong-doing.
In the early 21st century, we like to think we live in a "post-racial" nation. For a growing number of Americans, the Civil Rights movement is as much ancient history as the Civil War or the Crusades. However, Emmitt Till would be 61 today had he lived - maybe a retiree, perhaps a grandfather, certainly a similar age as loved ones we all know. These events were not that long ago. As uncomfortable, ugly, painful and humiliating as these injustices done to Americans by Americans were, we owe it to ourselves, to our children, and to Emmitt Till's memory to not forget them. This is a difficult read because of this. At the same time, it is a necessecary read. Recommended.
Summary of Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America
There are many heroes of the civil rights movement-men and women we can look to for inspiration. Each has a unique story, a path that led to a role as leader or activist. Death of Innocence is the heartbreaking and ultimately inspiring story of one such hero: Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett Till-an innocent fourteen-year-old African-American boy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and who paid for it with his life. His outraged mother's actions galvanized the civil rights movement, leaving an indelible mark on American racial consciousness.Mamie Carthan was an ordinary African-American woman growing up in 1930s Chicago, living under the strong, steady influence of her mother's care. She fell in love with and married Louis Till, and while the marriage didn't last, they did have a beautiful baby boy, Emmett.
In August 1955, Emmett was visiting family in Mississippi when he was kidnapped from his bed in the middle of the night by two white men and brutally murdered. His crime: allegedly whistling at a white woman in a convenience store. His mother began her career of activism when she insisted on an open-casket viewing of her son's gruesomely disfigured body. More than a hundred thousand people attended the service. The trial of J. W. Milam and Roy Bryant, accused of kidnapping and murdering Emmett (the two were eventually acquitted of the crime), was considered the first full-scale media event of the civil rights movement.
What followed altered the course of this country's history, and it was all set in motion by the sheer will, determination, and courage of Mamie Till-Mobley-a woman who would pull herself back from the brink of suicide to become a teacher and inspire hundreds of black children throughout the country.
Mamie Till-Mobley, who died in 2003 just as she completed this memoir, has honored us with her full testimony: "I focused on my son while I considered this book. . . . The result is in your hands. . . . I am experienced, but not cynical. . . . I am hopeful that we all can be better than we are. I've been brokenhearted, but I still maintain an oversized capacity for love." Death of Innocence is an essential document in the annals of American civil rights history, and a painful yet beautiful account of a mother's ability to transform tragedy into boundless courage and hope.
From the Hardcover edition.
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