“The Shocking Story of Approved Killing in Mississippi” is an article published in Slate Magazine that was written by the author William Bradford Huie that predates approximately 65 years ago and it discusses the justifiable murder of a young African American individual named Emmet Till from Chicago. The article begins describing how Emmet Till entered a store because he wanted to prove to his friends that he could get any White Woman he wanted since he was dating one back in his hometown. This is where he first encountered a White woman named Carolyn and “he squeezed her hand and said:How about a date, baby?” after she had given him gum. Feared by Emmet’s persistence, she tried to get her husbands gun and deal with the situation she thought was best appropriate. However, before she could handle the situation, Emmet managed to escape and soon Carolyn’s husband Roy discovers the events that took place that night after returning home from Texas. “Once Roy Bryant knew, in his environment, in the opinion of most white people around him, for him to have done nothing would have marked him for a coward and a fool.” Allowing anger and his fear of looking weak in society to cloud his judgement, he then decides to take matters in his own hands by planning to punish Emmet for his misconduct towards his wife. Roy and his brother “Big Milam” soon approached his relatives residence and forced Emmet to go with them and later ends up dead because he wasn’t scared of them nor took their threats seriously.
The one thing I noticed throughout this article is how the author tries to make Emmet Till appear in such a way that he seemed to be provoking every little thing and how he should be responsible for his actions despite being a kid who does not know any better. The author seems to treat Emmet like an adult instead of a kid because ” he looks like one”. Even towards the end of the article Emmet seems to be talking back to Roy and his brother and challenging their every move making him look like an instigator that deserved cruel punishment . In the author words Emmet was was tough as they were which shows they were equal and indicating he wasn’t a kid but a man of their magnitude. By making him look like a man it shows Roy had the right to kill him because he wasn’t a kid and that 2 on 1 was reasonable. The murders were not charged of anything and all allegations against them were dropped immediately because the jury believed the murder was reasonable. This article truly portrays the authentic nature of the 1950’s in the south and how being White at the time clearly had its unfair advantages and validates the notion that it is possible to get away with murder.
