“Forgotten as Quickly as Possible”?
“Forgotten as Quickly as Possible”?
(September 24–September 30)
This chapter describes the impact of the acquittal of the two accused, Roy Bryant and John William Milam, in the Emmett Till murder case. Newspapers exhibited mixed reactions to the outcome of the trial. Some were satisfied at the verdict, while others voiced doubts about the not guilty verdict. It adds that some newspaper editors even blamed the not guilty verdict on the appearance of black political groups and of Michigan representative Charles C. Diggs, Jr. Virgil Adams of the Greenwood Morning Star used the term “rape” in describing the Emmett Till case, stating that it was actually an attempted rape case. This choice of words helped rouse the fears of Mississippian whites about protecting white female beauty, leading them to question the wisdom behind the desegregation of whites and blacks in schools.
Keywords: white female beauty, desegregation, Virgil Adams, Greenwood Morning Star, Charles C. Diggs, Jr., Emmett Till, Roy Bryant, John William Milam
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