Black Child Death: Shocking Realization

                “Black Death” is something that is truly symbolic in the Black struggle throughout the many injustices that they have endured over hundreds of years.   Black death has come to be represented many ways and how this has been presented, changes the type of impact it may have on opening the rest of societies eyes to the struggle of African Americans.  More specifically, black death when related to a child, has a much more tremendous impact, as a death of this nature appeals to every sane persons’ sensibilities that every child, no matter the color, is pure.  Robbing the potential of a child is something so shocking, that it awakens people to struggles and injustices they may have otherwise been blind to.  Holloway notes this distinction with black death with children in that, “children’s deaths made apparent both the persistence of memory and the necessity of memorial” (Holloway, p. 138).  This further illustrates Holloway’s point that when a black death occurs with a child, it evokes powerful emotions that encompass never forgetting and realizing there is a problem that needs to be addressed.  Holloway also notes how the shock of black child death, plays a much more significant role in impacting society and African-American culture.  She also points to a case that became as infamous black child death as any; one that shocked people into the true horror of segregation and racism at the time.

                Emmett Till was a 14-year-old black child, who was visiting family in Mississippi when he was abducted, murdered, and mutilated for apparently “cat-calling” a white man’s wife.  The pure shock of how badly Till’s body was mutilated and the fact that he was only 14 years old, demonstrated the audacity and callousness of racists in the Deep South.  Segregation was a hot bed issues at the time and it was one that many people just simply did not want to address.  Not only did Till’s death force the public to address this issue but, the aftermath, in which Till’s mother put his body on public display, mortified people and shook them to their core.  Although Till was young and had not yet had a chance to live a life that may have impacted many people, his death was an event that demonstrated the power of black child death.  His memory will forever serve as a point in time when many people had finally seen enough.