Justice Unserved
The Murder of Emmet Till Should Haunt Carolyn Bryant Donham in the Afterlife
On August 8th, 1955, Emmet Till was murdered because he admired a white woman that reminded him of a Hollywood movie starlet. He was 14 years old and grew up in Chicago, a long way from the Jim Crow South. He offended this white woman by supposedly whistling at her. His life would come to a tragic, unthinkable end because of it. He was tortured first. Lynching was more than hanging a Black man (or woman) from a tree. The savage behavior that leads to the vicious hanging makes me question what depths of hell people like this come from. While I do not believe in hell, I hope a place like this exists. If I could imagine a rectifiable moment right before Donhum’s soul was assigned her karmic place in the universe, she would have to face Mamie Till and look Emmet in his face.
Carolyn Bryant Donhum acknowledged that the most incendiary parts of the story she told about Till were false. She told Dr. Timothy B. Tyson, a Duke University professor the part about Emmett Till grabbing her and being sexually crude was not true. So why wasn’t she held accountable for her role in the murder of Emmet Till? For the same reason, her husband, Roy Bryant, wasn’t convicted of murder. The good ole boy South and Mississippi have their own laws regarding Klan-style murders. The State of Mississippi declined to indict Carolyn Bryant Donhum, stating insufficient evidence even though Bryant-Donhum admitted she fabricated much of the story that led to Emmet Till’s murder. The story she gave under oath during Till’s murder trial. Rumor has it that Governor Phil Bryant is the nephew of Roy Bryant, but he has repeatedly refuted those claims. However, this is Mississippi. Many secrets are buried in the moody bloody waters of the river that runs through that state.
I visited the Tallahatchie River in 2009, where Till’s body was so callously dumped after he was killed. I wanted to honor Emmet Till’s existence in our African ancestral ways and assure his living spirit that his story will forever be told. An overwhelming sadness overcame me as I poured libations to replenish his soul. It was the kind of sadness that comes from deep within. The sadness you wear because it is associated with your Blackness. What about Black people inspires so much hate and fear in some white people? I’ve long since given up on trying to dissect the madness associated with some of their savage behavior. As a mother of a Black son, I had to ensure that he understood this behavior and to move accordingly. The mandatory conversation Black parents have to have with their children.
The historical marker that commemorates the sight where Emmet Till’s body was found is still used for target practice for your run-of-the-mill Mississippi red-neck racist. Bullet holes vandalize the sign like they’re trying to kill the memory of Emmet Till…the way they murdered in 1955.
Carolyn Bryant Donhum lived a long life. She got to see her two sons, Roy Jr. and Lamar, grow up; although Roy Jr. died at 48, he left three grandchildren for her to cherish. She died at 88 years old. I wish her the karma she deserves. May she never find peace.