During the year 1955, one year after the Brown v. Board of Education verdict, the sexual identity of a Negro was so obscured in shame by our collective society that it was not even worth a whistle. The murder of young Emmett Louis Till in Sumner, Miss. shook the nation out of complacency and into change. According to records, what started out as a simple purchase for bubble gum (worth less than a nickel) led to a murder trial costing the defendants, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, $10,000.
An all white jury acquitted the two men after only a one-hour deliberation. Shortly after the trial, Bryant and Milam sold their story to Look Magazine for $4,000.00. In this publishing, they arrogantly confessed to "beating young Till beyond recognition, shooting him in the head, and throwing his remnants in the Tallahatchie River with a 75-pound cotton gin fan and barbed wire tied around his neck." Their reasoning was that Till whistled at the white storekeeper and had a history of being relational with white women. This was presumed because of the picture he carried of his white girlfriend in his wallet. Till's completion of his purpose included the sacrifice of the most valuable thing ever created, a life. Emmett's young mother, Mamie Till, insisted Emmett's face be left as it was and the casket be open for public viewing. For three days, 50,000 people from around the world came to Chicago to show their respects. Jet Magazine published photos of Emmett's disfigured face, and nearly three months after the acquittal, Rosa Parks refused to sacrifice her seat to a white man and the Montgomery Bus Boycott began.
Cam MacQueen, graduate student at the Howard University School of Divinity, investigated the implications that others who allegedly participated in the 14-year-old boy's slaying have never faced justice and are alive and free. To her surprise she states that, "after nearly a half-century of public outrage and pleas for justice, the U.S. Justice department announced this year that it is reopening the investigation into the killing of Emmett Till, due to new evidence obtained from filmmaker Keith Beauchamp." As a Howard student, who utilizes the power of knowledge, MacQueen understands that to experience life is to experience the need to work for social and personal integrity, harmony and constructive change. Sexuality is the main principle around which the whole structure of segregation is organized.
Ironically enough, the etymological root of the word sex stems from the Hebrew, "to separate." To put it simply it denotes distinction between mankind as well as connotes the overcoming of distinctions, through sexual intercourse. If we look at the allegorical story regarding human creation found in the biblical text of Genesis, the conversion of earth creature to humankind only occurred, after their distinction as man (is) and woman (issa). It is here where mankind gained their sexual identity or being. The eating from the "tree of knowledge" caused a transgression of God's limit and command of creatureliness, which entails deciding about one's own best interest independent of the will of God for one's life. The consequences of this "tree of knowledge" or sexual activity, attested to the breakdown in the relationship between humans and God. As a result, mankind was thought to feel shameful and humiliated about their sexual identity and held responsible for the disharmony of God's creation. To bring this into contemporary context, it is in this atmosphere of shame and humiliation, that the provocative image of the "Black rapist" is conjured in consciousness and rhetoric. Dr. Ron Hopson, psychologist and professor at the Howard University School of Divinity, describes this sexual hatred and envy of Black men as "a justification for acts of castration. A practice where
Black men are crucified for the thing that is most hated, yet desired; thus making the Black identity their identity by negation." History continues to prove that our demise is perpetuated by the fear of overcoming separation, including sex. This may account for some of the contemporary injustices experienced by Marcus Dixon in Georgia. I honestly believe that conflict is a moment of truth in a relationship. As a Howard community we witness these moments of truth everyday whether it is through the media, personal/family experiences, our community or anomalies within our educational system. The question is how will we use our gifts, talents, and knowledge to treat these injustices that stare us in the face everyday?
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