(Todd A. Smith)
This weekend, Emmett Till would have turned 85 years old.
But instead of celebrating his golden years with grandchildren and great-grandchildren around his rocking chair, his family’s good memories stopped when he was a teenager.
Unfortunately, the 14-year-old Chicago native was brutally lynched based on a lie told by a White woman from Money, Miss.
The gruesome pictures of his open casket funeral published by Jet magazine galvanized the Civil Rights Movement.
Despite Black people marching for equality throughout the South, the racists of Mississippi in the 1960s, like murderer Byron De La Beckwith, could not let freedom go unpunished.
As a result, civil rights leaders like Medgar Evers succumbed to the assassin’s bullet.
In the 1960s, James Meredith caught hell as the first Black student enrolled at Ole Miss.
Generations later, former Mississippi State running back Kylin Hill was still trying to get Mississippi to remove the Confederate logo from the state flag.
Thankfully, Hill succeeded in his endeavors.
But his success was short-lived as southern states like Mississippi began redistricting congressional maps to eliminate Black political voices.
As much as states like Mississippi have said that they have let their racist past go, the daily news often proves otherwise.
That is why when Nolan Wells died while partying with some “friends” on July 4 on Horn Island, many Black people suspected foul play because states like Mississippi have a history of claiming suicide when a Black man dies hanging from a tree.
And even when someone is arrested for the death of a Black person in Mississippi, their White killers sometimes go free, as is the case in the murder of Till.
His evil killers later admitted to murdering him in a magazine article.
But even with that history, Miss. Gov. Tate Reeves blamed civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton and civil rights attorney Ben Crump for threats made to Wells’ White friends and for stoking divisions in the Magnolia State.
Peter Kerich of Yahoo News reported, “Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves is blaming Ben Crump and Rev. Al Sharpton for what he says is growing hostility surrounding the investigation into the death of 18-year-old Nolan Wells. His comments come as federal authorities investigate threats linked to the high-profile case.
“In a statement to Fox News Digital, Tate Reeves alleged that Crump and Sharpton are responsible for increasing tensions as public attention surrounding Wells’ death continues to grow.
“’Ben Crump and Al Sharpton are to blame for the threats,’ Reeves said. ‘They are stoking division for personal gain. It’s sad to see.’”
“The governor’s remarks followed comments from Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell, who confirmed the FBI is investigating threats directed at public officials, possible witnesses, people who were with Wells before he disappeared, and their families.”
Flat out, the governor is wrong.
What Crump and Sharpton are doing is simply trying to determine the truth since it seems to many in the Black community, and beyond, that law enforcement is dragging its feet.
Furthermore, America has a history of treating potential Black suspects and potential White suspects differently when foul play is involved.
If Wells were White and his Black friends returned to shore and his body washed up in the water, law enforcement probably would not have believed no foul play was involved.
Therefore, they probably would have been detained until proven innocent.
That sad reality is why civil rights warriors are still needed as much in 2026 as they were needed in 1956 and 1966.
Racism is rearing its ugly head as it did after the victories of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
Those victories led to the nostalgia for the Confederacy,
And the success of Black politicians like former President Barack Obama has led many White racists to vow to take their country back.
That means Black people having no political power, and Black people being powerless when victimized by White criminals.
But Gov. Reeves’ comments are no different than the comments made by many White politicians in the 1950s and 1960s.
Many of them called civil rights leaders like Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. troublemakers and outside agitators.
Racist White people in the 1950s and 1960s were adamant that the Whites and the coloreds got along, and that the coloreds were happy with their lot in life.
But if you asked any Black person living during those times, they would say the opposite.
They would tell you about their frustrations with segregation.
They would tell you about the divisions amongst the races.
And if their White boss or landlord considered them a friend or like family, they would call B.S. on it behind closed doors to protect them from any backlash.
Reeves is simply making excuses for racial divisions that have existed in Mississippi long before he was born.
Although many White people might not want to believe that the divisions exist, ask any Black person about bigotry and racism they have endured during their lives.
Kerich added, “The Mississippi governor’s criticism came one day after Crump announced preliminary findings from the Wells family’s independent autopsy. The examination was conducted by board-certified forensic pathologist Dr. Roger A. Mitchell Jr. and raised new questions about the circumstances surrounding Wells’ death.
“Authorities have not publicly linked Crump or Sharpton to any threats, and neither had publicly responded to Reeves’ comments at the time of publication. The official investigation into Wells’ death remains ongoing.”
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