The Casket of Emmett Till Tells A Story

The disregard of the dead at the Burr Oak Cemetery still gives me the chills. The discovery of Emmett Till’s original casket shows the depths of this disregard. The casket of Till, an historic figure in the civil rights movement, should have been in a museum. Instead the casket was rusting away in some back room. But pay attention because the casket tells a story.


The casket is a representation of some of our brothers and sisters in society. Some black folks don’t know their history. They don’t know about their ancestors that paved the way for them. The people involved in this despicable act didn’t understand the significance of what Till represented. So you can understand why they didn’t care about the rest of the Burr Oak residents. The casket tells the story about a race of people that have forgotten where they came from. The casket tells the story about a race of people that show each other disrespect.


If the people can’t work together, there is no unity. If the people can’t love their own, they will disrespect their women and exploit their children. If the people can’t trust their own, they will speak ill of their own in public and envy them in private. The casket shows us where we are as a people. Yes it hurts to look at the casket but it’s the truth.


There is one thing of beauty that we can take away from this. Emmett Till is still teaching us a lesson even in death