Emmett Till (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Wanda Coleman
- First Published: 1986
- Type of Work: Elegy
- Genres: Poetry, Elegy
- Subjects: 1950’s, African Americans, Racism, Blacks, Murder or homicide, South or Southerners, Social issues
The Poem
“Emmett Till” is an elegy in four parts that shows American racism at its ugliest in the pre-Civil Rights era. Wanda Coleman’s title is the name of a fourteen-year-old black boy who was murdered and has since become a popular historical figure in fiction and poetry. The facts surrounding his death have been recorded by journalists and historians: Till was visiting a great-uncle in Money, Mississippi, in 1955. According to testimony, he whistled at the wife of a local store owner. She was white. One of the biggest taboos in the pre-Civil Rights South was a black...
[The entire page is 1539 words long]
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