COLUMNS

The Civil Rights Movement, then and now: Anti-Racism to stop the Emmett Till Continuum in a 5-step solution

Clenora Hudson-Weems
A 1950s photograph of Emmett Till and his mother Mamie Till Mobley, during a visit to Jackson, Miss.

In the powerful words of Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, “Mama always said you only have to say it once.” And just what are the powerful words written by this author years ago, upon reflecting on the supreme symbol of racial dominance?

As a National Ford Fellow at the University of Iowa, I wrote that Till was the catalyst of the Civil Rights Movement. My 1988 dissertation, published in book form in 1994 as “Emmett Till: The Sacrificial Lamb of the Civil Rights Movement,“ was its first full length study.

A Black Chicago youth, Emmett Louis Till, was 14 when he was brutally lynched Aug. 28, 1955, in Money, Mississippi. A cause celébrè then, people worldwide spoke out against this abominable crime against nature.

Today, the global community again speaks out, but this time, they not only speak but act out collectively their passion for justice in demonstrations against the recent racist murdering of African-Americans.

It is a mass rejection of the violence used since the first enslaved Africans were crammed into stinking holds to maintain white dominance over their lives. George Floyd is another name on what I call the Emmett Till Continuum.

A criminal act against God, racism, indeed, should be designated as a “crime.” Once this is established, people will be more inclined to refrain from committing such acts, which would force them into accountability.

Since the Dred Scott Decision in 1857, deeming Blacks "had no rights that the white man was bound to respect,” blatant and subtle racism has threatened every aspect of the lives of Black people.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, should have overthrown it. But the Till Continuum remains, an assessment I made over two decades ago. The following is a small sample of Black victims during the first half of 2020: Ahmaud Arbery, 25; Breonna Taylor, 26; George Floyd, 46 and Rayshard Brooks, 27, three of whom were slain by officers whose primary mission is to protect as guardians, not kill as warriors.

The question is when will it stop and, moreover, what will it take to bring this war-zone of confusion – pain, death and sorrow — to a halt? To begin with, the opposing parties, the victims and the perpetrators, are two distinct sides of one awesome coin constituting the totality of human life. Hence, we are compelled to unite, to come together, for as the old adage goes, “United we stand; Divided we fall!”

As victims, Blacks stand erect and resolute, collectively committed to resolving this racial war, struggling against the denial of their birthright as Africana people. They seek only their human rights, expressed in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence – that "all men are created equal,” entitled to “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

On the flip side is the resounding query by whites: “What can we do now?”

The answer is crystal clear: DO THE RIGHT THING!

And that does not mean mere perfunctory apologies and donations to the cause. It starts with knowing where the problem between the two originated. Please know that the dominant culture is not naïve, as the dynamics and magnitude of racism is widely shared via television, YouTube, written documents, etc.

Indeed, the dominant culture has benefited greatly for centuries as heirs of "white privilege” in a horrible abuse of the humanity of others, clearly demonstrating their unwillingness to hold true to the rules of democracy.

They proclaim that justice and equality for all is the basis of our democracy, yet that reality has never existed for Blacks. If we are serious about making it right, then the dominant culture must challenge their practice of “white privilege” — in the private place, in the work place, art, religion, politics, and in education, where we learn and begin to appreciate a greater sense of morality.

Nobel Laurette Toni Morrison, in the opening of her 1993 Nobel Prize Lecture, relates the classic story of youths challenging an old blind clairvoyant Black woman, testing her ability by asking if the bird in his hand is dead or alive.

“I don’t know, but what I do know is that it’s in your hands,” she said, knowing that no matter what she answered, they sought to invalidate her long-existing reputation in the community as seer.

I extend this challenge to the dominant culture — “It’s in your hands. Will you do it?”

My solution is a five-step equation: Acknowledgment, Remorse, Atonement, Redemption and Forgiveness, a plausible strategy for addressing and correcting historical and current wrongs inflicted upon Africana people worldwide.

Beginning with Acknowledgment of the crime, it almost invariably results from toxic racist misconceptions about Blacks. Remorse then follows, bringing out a sense of responsibility.

Then there is the pivotal element, Atonement, with personal and civic accountability, going hand in hand with addressing systemic internal racist assumptions, undergirded by the internal racist mentality of whites toward Blacks, which manifests as external racist acts.

Accountability comes in the form of compensation for the suffering of its victims. What, then, evolves from that is Redemption, God’s gift to humankind for doing good.

My Spirit of Redemption in my film script, “Till’s Liberation/Whitten’s Atonement,” is the attorney for Till’s murderers, who later spent the rest of his life atoning by representing Black Mississippians pro bono. In so doing, he was speaking out against racism, while sharing his renewed commitment to humanity, hoping that it would change the minds and hearts of many.

Denouncing racism is powerful.

“As evidenced in the past, one can be just as guilty by omission, as in the case of those who did nothing to contest the crime of enslavement, as by commission, which is the ultimate crime of participation,” I wrote in my book “Africana Womanism.”

Only after this, can Forgiveness come.

Remember, “SILENCE IS VIOLENCE,” a strong message resounding in a poignant sign carried by a recent demonstrator against racist murders.

On a final note here, the ultimate symbol for atonement for centuries of enslavement, with free labor, and discriminatory wages even up to today, reparations are, indeed, both necessary and appropriate!

It is hoped that these simple steps (and I say “simple” because the steps the victim must suffer are, indeed, unimaginable) could possibly lead to a racial healing, the aspired to goal that rings out internationally.

To be sure, these Five Critical Steps could advance a plausible solution to ending racial dominance for a racial healing for harmony and equity for all.

In short, Acknowledge the crime! Be genuinely Remorseful.Atone via compensation. And in return, the rewards of Redemption and Forgiveness come, ultimately bringing to an end the senseless, brutal murdering of Blacks, as well as multi-leveled systemic racism, affecting every aspect of Black life.

With positive race relations at last realized, we will win, making democracy a reality for all people! Until then, the future of the world at large and humankind, as we know it, is bleak!

Clenora Hudson-Weems is a professor of English at the University of Missouri. She is the author of “Emmett Till: The Sacrificial Lamb of the Civil Rights Movement” and the author/conceptualizer of Africana Womanism, a family-centered concept.

A woman protests the death of George Floyd in Mexico City, Friday, June 5, 2020. Demonstrators protested the death of the American black man who was killed in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.