Biden to Designate Civil Rights Monument

The gruesome lynching of Emmett Till in the 1950s will be remembered by President Joe Biden on Tuesday, and the White House is positioning the historic event as a part of the struggle against growing prejudice.

In several places, a memorial will be built in remembrance of the Black kid, 14, who was killed and tortured by white men in Mississippi in 1955 after reportedly whistling at the wife of a white shopkeeper.

His mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, who is also honored there, subsequently turned into an activist and is internationally recognized for supporting the US civil rights struggle.

"The new monument will protect places that tell the story of Emmett Till's too-short life and racially-motivated murder, the unjust acquittal of his murderers, and the activism of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, who courageously brought the world's attention to the brutal injustices and racism of the time, catalyzing the civil rights movement," the White House said.

On the 82nd anniversary of Till's birth, Biden will dedicate three historical locations in Illinois and Mississippi.

One of them will be the Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago, where Till's mother asked that the casket stay open for the boy's burial so that a sizable audience could view the boy's deformed body.

The courtroom in Tallahatchie, Mississippi, where a white-only jury exonerated the men accused of killing Till, will also be mentioned. Later, they would confess to the crime.

The third location will be the spot on the Tallahatchie River in Mississippi where Till's battered body was eventually discovered. Signs commemorating the brutal event there and in other locations around Tallahatchie County have repeatedly been defaced and vandalized over the years.

Biden's high-profile treatment for a painful piece of 20th century US history is playing out against a backdrop of accusations that a leading Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential race is openly stirring racist sentiment.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has led a charge to minimize the history of past racism in his state's school curriculum, making this part of a broader campaign against what he describes as the "virus" of "woke" left-wing values.

Responding to an outcry over what has been described as an attempt to rewrite history, DeSantis last week doubled down, saying that slavery even had benefits.

"They're probably going to show that some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into doing things later in life," DeSantis said Friday.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre described DeSantis's comment as "inaccurate" and "insulting."

"It's hurtful and prevents an honest account, an honest account of our nation's history," she said.

Jean-Pierre, who is Black, said the Emmett Till monument was part of "the broader story of American Black oppression, their survival."

"It's an important moment. You're going to hear directly from the president tomorrow," she said.

Source: AFP