Emmett Till National Museum To Be Established Across Three Locations

Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, who were both catalysts for the civil rights movement, will be honored in a national monument at three sites by President Joe Biden. The president is expected to sign a proclamation on Tuesday, which is coincidentally supposed to be Till's 82nd birthday.

According to NPR, the three locations will be established in Illinois and Mississippi to tell the teen's story. It will also reflect his mother's activism as she kept the story of his murder alive in the decades that happened after her son's death.

One of these sites will be the Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago where his funeral was held in 1955. The other two will be in Mississippi, with one being in Graball Landing where his body was believed to be recovered from the Tallahatchie River. A memorial to Till was installed near the site but it has been routinely vandalized and shot at over the years.

The third site will be the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse in Mississippi where his killers were acquitted by an all-white jury. This was also where the town's leaders gave a public apology to Till's family, who were present during the occasion.

Joe Biden Administration Pushes Back on Culture War Rhetoric With Emmett Till Monuments

The announcement comes as red states continue to push back against the teaching of slavery and Black history in public schools. This includes Florida, which recently passed new teaching standards regarding Black history, which critics say is a watered-down version of what really happened and actually blames the victims. The controversial teaching standard in Florida also claims that slaves benefitted personally from being enslaved.

Many Republicans, including Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, have also pushed back on the incorporation of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in various institutions, such as classrooms and corporate boardrooms. DeSantis has branded this as his "War on Woke" as he tries to woo a white conservative base for his presidential run.

The Associated Press pointed out that the monuments come at such a time, with the Biden administration pushing back on Republican "culture war" efforts.

This includes Vice President Kamala slamming Florida's revised Black history curriculum, saying, "How is it that anyone could suggest that in the midst of these atrocities that there was any benefit to being subjected to this level of dehumanization?"

Who Is Emmett Till?

Emmett Till was a 14-year-old teenager who grew up in Chicago but later moved to Mississippi. His mother warned him to take care because of his race but bragged about having a white girlfriend back in Chicago. His friends dared him to ask a white woman out and he did.

That white woman was Carolyn Bryant. She claimed that he grabbed her, made lewd advances, and wolf-whistled at her. A few days later, Bryant's husband, Roy Bryant, went to the home of Till's great uncle and demanded he see the boy. Despite the pleas from Till's family, the boy was forcefully dragged and driven to a nearby river. His body was discovered soon after.

His mother held an open-casket funeral for her son so that she could show the world what his murderers did. However, after he was buried, his killers walked free after being found "not guilty."

Decades after his murder, it was discovered that Carolyn Bryant recanted her testimony and admitted that the boy never touched her.

"Nothing that boy did could ever justify what happened to him," she said.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: The Body Of Emmett Till | 100 Photos | TIME