Emmett Till Case:
"I read the 'Confessions' of the killers of Till. It is a chilling account of how peckerwoods in the South think and act. There is one puzzling aspect of the ' Confessions' that I can't fathom. Why would any young person raised in the south urge a (relative?) young boy on to certain danger by daring him to try and court a white woman. This doesn't ring true.
"Bobo's mother tried to instill in him how dangerous the South was. It is quite possible that Bo would test the dangerous waters of the Southland being from up North. But would a group of young blacks, primarily black boys, raised under the pall of white hot racism do such a thing? Remember, these kids did not think of racism as some kind of imaginary bogey man.
"They had seen the fear in the eyes of their own fathers and grandfathers. Robert Johnson, the blues singer, called white racism a hell hound bent on tearing a black man to pieces. They-themselves-knew what segregation meant.
"There are several other aspects of the ' Confessions' that I also find troubling. The idea that Till was not afraid contradicts the earlier statement that he 'wanted to go home.' The whole idea that they were out to frighten Bo doesn't make sense. When they entered his room in darkness, Bo had to be frightened. He would have undoubtedly known that something was up when his killers did not 'whip' him on the spot. He had most likely been infected by the fear of those around him"
Continued ...
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