Question

What does it mean to say that in the 1950s, "the Mississippi Delta was the most southern place on Earth?" Civil rights efforts had begun in the South before Emmett Till arrived in Mississippi. How did the white southerners react to these efforts? How do you think it affected their reaction to Emmett Till? What is meant by "people disappeared"? Why do you think most black people did not choose to speak out against segregation in Mississippi? Why was Willie Reed’s testimony against Bryant and Milam so unusual? Why do you think Emmett Till’s murder and the "not guilty" verdict of his killers were such a spark for the Civil Rights Movement?

Answer 1

When we say that the Mississippi Delta was the "most southern place on Earth" during the 1950s, what we mea n is that this was the place where Southern values were most entrenched and protected. During this time period, such values included contempt or outright hatred for African Americans.

Although civil rights efforts had already started in the area before Emmett Till, these had not been particularly successful. White southerners were not open to the idea of change or equality, and they fought hard to keep their superiority over African Americans. This greatly affected their reaction to Emmett Till as it made them hostile towards the civil rights movement.

This hostility made it very difficult for African Americans to speak against segregation. Many of them feared the retaliation that could come from the white population. However, there were some exceptions to this, such as the testimony of Willie Reed. Reed was willing to testify against Bryant and Milam despite the fact that they were white.

The murder of Emmett Till, as well as the subsequent trial, was a spark for the Civil Rights Movement because it showed the extreme level of hatred towards blacks in the South. It also showed how the law was also biased against this population.