Congress passed legislation to posthumously award Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, the Congressional Gold Medal.
The 2021 Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley Congressional Gold Medal Act, now awaiting President Joe Biden’s signature, was passed by the House of Representatives on Wednesday. It was unanimously adopted by the Senate almost a year ago, on January 10.
The Congressional Gold Medal is an award given by Congress to highlight and show national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions. Congress has awarded the medal to fewer than 180 notable historical figures, pioneers, and leaders in United States history. Beneficiaries included Rosa Parks, Mother Teresa and the Wright Brothers.
Till was a 14-year-old black boy who was kidnapped and lynched in 1955 by two white men in Mississippi after he was accused of booing a white woman. His mother, who died in 2003, insisted he have an open casket to highlight the brutality of her son’s death and the racism and injustice that led to it. Till’s death is today considered a catalyst for the American civil rights movement.
The congressional award will be displayed next to Till’s casket at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC, according to NPR.
“[Till’s] The brutal crime still serves as a reminder of the horror and violence experienced by black Americans throughout our nation’s history,” Sen. Cory Booker (DN.J.) said in a Press release. “The courage and activism shown by Emmett’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, in showing the world the cruelty her son suffered helped raise the nation’s consciousness, forcing America to consider our failure to address racism and the blatant injustices that result from it from such hatred. “
A broad relationship on lynching by the Equal Justice Initiative concluded that there were nearly 6,500 documented racial terror lynchings in the United States between 1865, the year the Civil War ended, and 1950. Many historians believe that the actual number of lynchings was underreported because homicides were not were reported. officially tracked. Mississippi, which had the highest number of lynchings between 1882 and 1968, dedicated a statue to Till in October.
In March, Biden signed it into law The Emmett Till Antilynching Acteffectively making lynching a federal hate crime. Conformable The Associated Pressthis is the first anti-lynching law in US history, after nearly 200 failed attempts to pass such legislation.
“The horrific lynching of Emmett Till and the legacy of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, should never be forgotten. This legislation allows us to remember the Till family and the more than 4,700 lynching victims who have experienced racial terror in this country,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said in a Press release. “This is a significant step in the right direction to face our past, recognize our mistakes and use those lessons to improve ourselves and our country.”
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