Masaryk university in brno faculty of education

3.4 The Cases of Violence

3.4.1. Emmett Till

Emmett Till was a 14- years old boy, who lived with his mother in Chicago. His father did not live with them and his mother Mamie Till Mobley was very busy at work. Emmett went to school and moreover, he took care about a house. He cleaned, cooked and did the laundry.

In the summer of 1955, he went to visit his family to Jackson, Mississippi. His mother was concerned and worried, because of the killing and lynching of African- Americans in the South and in that time Mississippi was the most racist state of all United States. Something like this has not been happening in Chicago but she finally allowed Emmett to go. ³³

He was there for few days and on 24^th August he entered a store to buy some candy. As he was leaving, it is said that he either whistled or said “bye baby” at the white woman, who sold candy to him. It is still unclear what exactly happened as he was leaving. Carolyn Bryant, a wife of the store owner, told about it her husband Roy Bryant. Nothing happened for few days. But on 29^th August, Emmett disappeared. He was missing for three days and after that time, his body was found in the Tallahatchie River. He could not have been recognized, because his body was totally mutilated. Finally, he was identified by the ring of his father, he wore on his finger. ³⁴

Emmett’s body was sent to Chicago, as his mother asked and she decided for an open casket funeral and let his body to be displayed for 5 days. “Mamie wanted the world to know what had happened to her son. His right eye was missing, his nose was broken, and there was a hole in the side of his head. Fifty-thousand people attended the funeral.”³⁵

Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam were taken into custody and were accused of torturing and killing Emmett Till. They denied that they had done it and at the end of the lawsuit they were proclaimed not guilty. The jury, which consisted of only white members, decided that there were not enough evidences to be sure that the body was really Emmett’s. His face was so mutilated that according to the jury, it was not possible to identify him. It even did not take long time to jury to decide. “Your ancestors will turn over in their grave, and I'm sure every last Anglo-Saxon one of you has the courage to free these men.”³⁶ said the lawyer of Bryant and Milam, because murders of African- Americans were not even considered as a heinous crime. Emmett’s mother did not sty until the end of the court, because, as she said later in the interview, she knew before, what will be the result.

According to Dr. Patrick Chura, a teacher of American Literature at St. Louis University, Emmett Till had a speech defect, which was caused by the polio disease he went through as a child. It means that it is highly possible that he did not whistle at the woman in purpose but it was a result of the speech defect.³⁷

In the year 1956, Barnett and Milam agreed to be interviewed by the Look Magazine and in that interview; they confessed the murder of Emmett. They got 4.000 dollars for it but although they confessed they were never charged with that crime after it. Killing an African- American in the south was not a big deal in that time and it is very interesting that i.e. in Mississippi, where Emmett Till was killed, during Jim Crow Era, until the middle of 60’s no white person was ever sentenced to prison for killing a Black person.³⁸ Barnett and Milam both died on cancer in 90’s. According to Emmett’s mother, who became a teacher and an important person in the fight for the rights of African- Americans, they both died alone and unhappy and she considered it a God’s punishment. Many books and movies were made about Emmett Till’s case to remind the injustice of 50’s and 60’s in the South.³⁹

3.4.2. The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing

The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham was a meeting place for Civil Rights leaders. Martin Luther King Jr. held a speech there many times. But on 15^th September 1963, a bomb was put near to the church and as it exploded, it killed four little girls, Denise McNair (age 11), Addie Mae Collins (age 14), Carole Robertson (age 14) and Cynthia Wesley (age 14), who attended Sunday school. Other 23 people were hurt by the blast. The funeral of three of the girls (the fourth family gave priority to a private small funeral) was visited by 8.000 people, not only Blacks but also whites and Martin Luther King Jr. gave the eulogy. That Church was very important place for a life and activities of Civil Rights Movement and the bomb attack soon became a very important matter.⁴⁰

Robert Chambliss, a member of the Ku Klux Klan, was arrested and charged with murder and possessing dynamite. As it was usual in that time, he was found not guilty of murder, he was sentenced to six months of jail and 100 dollars fine for keeping dynamite. ⁴¹

Later, FBI reopened the case and three other members had been found to be responsible for the bomb attack. These were former Klan members, Thomas Blanton Jr., Bobby Frank Cherry and Herman Frank Cash. The police discovered new evidence, it did not have before and it was a record as Blanton told his wife about the Ku Klux Klan meeting, where the attack was planning.⁴²

The attack in the Sixteen Baptist Church was one of the most cruel and violent crime of the Ku Klux Klan in the period of Civil Rights Movement. Many people were hurt and the funeral of four girls was very important event visited not only by Africa- Americans but also by whites.

3.4.3 Viola Liuzzo

Viola Liuzzo was born on 11^th April 1925; she was married twice and had five children. She grew up in a poor family in the south and although she was white, she experienced desegregation every day. She worked as a medical lab technician and was a member of NAACP. She was also active in local reforms in education and economic justice.

On 5^th March 1965, she took part in the Selma Montgomery March, which demanded voting right for African Americans. As her husband said: “It was everybody’s business- she had to go!”⁴³ The march was interrupted by the police once but people continued until they reached Montgomery. After the demonstration, Viola offered to drive the participants back and a young Black man, Leroy Moton, was a co-driver.

On their way, they met a car, where four KKK members were sitting. As they saw a white woman, sitting in the car with Black people, they started to follow their car. After a while, as they were driving alongside Viola’s car, Collie Wilkins, 21 years old Ku Klux Klan member put his arm out of the window and fired his gun. Viola was dead immediately. Moton was not hurt, so he could control the car and stop it safely. ⁴⁴

The four Ku Klux Klan members (Collie Wilkins, Gary Rowe, William Eaton and Eugene Thomas were arrested. As it turned later, Rowe was an FBI agent and he testified against the other three attackers. In spite of the testimony, they were not found guilty. But President Johnson instructed his officials to investigate the restriction of personal and civil rights of Viola and finally, the three of the KKK members were sentenced to ten years imprisonment for violating Viola’s civil rights.

As it was found later, there were some rumours about Viola spreading in the public. It was said that she was a member of Communist party etc. Later, it was declared that these are lies.⁴⁵

After her death, President Johnson called to her husband to make him sure that hi will do his best to catch the attackers. Although he was very engaged in investigation, the attackers were set free. Jim, Viola’s husband said about her death: "My wife died for a sacred battle, the rights of humanity. She had one concern and only one in mind. She took a quote from Abraham Lincoln that all men are created equal and that's the way she believed."⁴⁶

Viola’s very close friend was Sarah Evans, an African- American woman, also active in NAACP. She said about Viola that: "Viola Liuzzo lived a life that combined the care of her family and her home with a concern for the world around her. This involvement with her times was not always understood by her friends; nor was it appreciated by those around her."⁴⁷

On 29^th March, there was a great memorial service in Detroit, where 1500 people were participated. Rosa Parks was one of them. Next say, Viola’s funeral took place, attended by 750 people, counted also Martin Luther King Jr. and it was also televised.⁴⁸ The murder of Viola Liuzzo made Civil Rights Movement even stronger but it was not, what the members of the Ku Klux Klan meant. Although the KKK members were not sent to prison for their crimes and this organization had a lot of members fighting against integration, the Civil Rights Movement was more and more successful.