There is a sign in Mississippi commemorating the death of Emmett Till, a black teen who was murdered in a racially-charged crime in August of 1955. The sign rests on the site where Till’s body was found, and it has been shot up with at least 50 bullet holes.
Till was only 14 when he was kidnapped, tortured and killed by a mob of angry white men who claimed that he had whistled at a white woman. His body was found several days after his disappearance floating in the Tallahatchie River.
The two men who were charged in his killing were acquitted of the crime, though they went on to brag about what they did to the boy. This crime spurred the civil rights movement to new heights following the acquittal.
— Jay Z and Will Smith reportedly producing Emmett Till HBO miniseries —
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In 2007, the Emmett Till Memorial Commission erected eight signs marking locations that Till visited in the last days of his life. By 2013, the sign marking where his body was found had already been shot dozens of times.
Fast forward to October 15 of this year. The sign now has approximately 50 bullet holes in it.
There are no leads on who has been shooting the sign, and efforts are underway to fix the sign.
The Emmett Till Interpretive Center is trying to raise $15,000 to replace the shot up sign. For now, people can look at it to see that racism is not dead as some would have you believe.