Book Review: Getting Away With Murder: the true story of the Emmett Till Case

image from goodreads.com

Title:  Getting Away With Murder:  The True Story of the Emmett Till Case
Author:  Chris Crowe
Pages:  121
Publication Date:  2003
Version:  Hardcover
Genre:  Non-Fiction

Summary Via Goodreads.com:
"The kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till is famous as a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement. Emmett Till, a fourteen-year-old Black teenager from Chicago, was visiting family in a small town in Mississippi during the summer of 1955. Likely showing off to friends, Emmett allegedly whistled at a white woman. Three days later his brutally beaten body was found floating in the Tallahatchie River. The extreme violence of the crime put a national spotlight on the Jim Crow ways of the South, and many Americans-Black and white-were further outraged at the speedy trial of the white murderers. Although the two white men were tried and acquitted by an all-white jury, they later bragged publicly about the crime. It was a galvanizing moment for Black leaders and ordinary citizens, including such activists as Rosa Parks. In clear, vivid detail Chris Crowe investigates the before-and-aftermath of the crime, as well as the dramatic court trial, and places it into the context of the nascent Civil Rights Movement. 

With lively narrative and abundantly illustrated with forty fascinating contemporaneous photographs, this impressive work of nonfiction brings fresh insight to the case in a manner that will be accessible and eye-opening for teenagers and adults alike."

My Review:
This is the true story of a murder of a fourteen year old little boy.  He was murdered because he was a teenager who “wolf whistled” at an older woman.  This alone may not have gotten him in trouble, but this was in 1955 and he was a Negro teenager “wolf whistling” to an older white woman, in a small town in the deep south of Mississippi.
Emmett Till lived in Chicago with his Mom so wasn’t aware of the “rules” of the south.  He was visiting relatives in Mississippi when this happened.  He would brag to family/friends about how different Chicago was and more accepting of the Negros.  So when he was dared to go talk to the white woman who ran a candy shop, he had no fear to do so…forgetting what his Mother had cautioned him about before she let him take the trip to Mississippi.  She told him it was different and if he had to grovel for the white people there he should do so.
I wasn’t even aware of this particular murder.  It was before my time, but I never heard of it in my school days either.  I read this book and was horrified and saddened deeply by the whole situation.  An innocent young boy was killed because of the color of his skin.  Emmett was not just killed either, he was tortured and then killed.  He just wanted to have some fun, he never meant to bring on his own death.  However, two white men didn’t see things that way.  They saw him mocking them and overstepping the boundaries of the black and white folks.  Instead of whipping him or yelling at him, these two grown men, decided that he needed to die for the comments and whistle to one of their wives.  What was most angering to me was the fact that these men got away with it, and not because it couldn’t be proven, but because they were white and at that time that is what mattered most.
The pictures in this book are very good and the book was well written.  Some pictures are very disturbing though, not because they are too gruesome or not appropriate, but because they tear at the readers heartstrings and show this cute boy who was so horribly killed.  The pictures of the two white men accused of the crime made me angry, the way there were in court for murder and just sitting there holding their own children, eating ice cream, and smoking cigars.

Very touching and emotional read, would very much recommend it.  4 out of 5 stars!

This book counts toward the following challenges of mine:  1,000,000 Pages Read, A to Z Title Challenge, and Versatile Challenge.