The Cross and the Lynching Tree

In the third chapter, the author James Cone explores his relationship with Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights legacy that he left behind. In the wake of the Emmett Till lynching, the civil rights movement saw an upswell of support like never before, coming in the wake of an event so shocking that “Black people throughout the country were outraged that white racists would stoop so low as to lynch an innocent child” (105). The murder of Emmett Till proved to be a breaking point for the movement not only because of the horrific nature of the act but in the way that it was leveraged by Emmett’s mother to attempt to put a real human face on the racism and violence that had been their experience every single day.

Emmett’s mother “insisted that the sealed casket be opened for a three-day viewing” (105-106) so that the world could see precisely what had been done to her child: “She exposed white brutality and black faith to the world and, significantly, expressed a parallel meaning between her son’s lynching and the crucifixion of Jesus” (106). By allowing the public to see the aftermath of Emmett’s violent end, his mother was doing the only thing she knew to do to offer up a peaceful protest, allowing the shame of his attackers to manifest to the world.