CR Post 1: Emmett Till
When reading “The Shocking Story of Approved Killing in Mississippi,” the line that stuck out the most to me was when Milam said, “They had just filled him so full of that poison that he was hopeless.” From the very beginning of Emmett’s encounter with Milam and Bryant, he refused to be afraid of them or lower himself to please them. He makes them wait for him to be dressed how he liked to be, even after being told to skip the socks. He doesn’t even try to run, because he refused to believe that he had to be afraid of these men, just because they are white. After being pulled out of bed, driven around for hours, and whipped with a pistol, Emmett Till still refused to get back in “his place.” Emmett still saw himself as a whole person, no less than any other, who deserved just as much as these two white men did, and that terrified them. Knowing that a fourteen year old black boy could look them in the eye, and say that he wasn’t afraid, was enough to make these men want to kill him just to feel powerful again.
At the end of the article, when Emmett is ordered to undress, the two are trying to strip him one last time of his self worth, and yet, he is still able to look Milam in the eye, and tell him he is still as good as he is.
The men called it poison, but it was power.
Hi,
This passage you’ve selected is really compelling, and I think your reflection on the content is interesting. I’m wondering though which of the close reading methods did you choose to apply? Your post seems a little more like a reflection only on the content and not also on how the text is constructed and how the language works.