Fatheralong -- John Edgar Wideman

Emmett Till was a 14-year-old African American Chicago boy murdered in Mississippi in 1955. Emmett’s body, pulled from the Tallahatchie River, was beaten and disfigured to the point of being unidentifiable, only by the ring on his finger belonging to his father, Louis Till. Louis had gone off to war in a segregated army in 1942 – just months after Emmett was born – and only returned home once. Having committed rape and murder, he was hanged by the United States Army on July 2^nd, 1955 in Italy, not long before his son was murdered. Much like his son, Louis had grown up without the presence of a father. What seemingly appears as a mere coincidence may in fact have a substantial connection, according to John Edgar Wideman – a professor at Brown University and widely-celebrated writer – in his essay, “Fatheralong.” Wideman proposes a point that, “One could argue that the concept of race abiding today in America is a profound orphaning of all black children.” Wideman goes on to further explain that myths of race isolate children and place them at risk, due to the stereotype defining the role of black fathers in their children’s’ lives. It is without doubt that the existence of race in the United States continues to plague the ailing attempts of true equality because we entertain a segregated vision of our nation. When problems arise, fingers point towards it being a “white problem” or a “black problem,” not a problem for the general population. It is because of this that we are unable to truly live without – both openly and in the backs of our minds – ideas of race. This constituting the idea that the death of Emmett Till was due to the actions of his father, Louis, who did not “properly” teach him about how white people treated black people in the South as opposed to the North, something we have condemned him for as we expect him – as a black father – to have done so. In truth, the death of both Emmett and his father are our collective responsibility because we as a nation, fostered unjust expectations of Louis – and his father as well. Through the imagery of Emmett and Louis Till’s deaths, Wideman was able to address the readers, most of whom are American citizens experiencing the race epidemic, and convince them of the perils of the belief in race.

Emmett Tillman

Emmett Tillman, a 14-year-old boy murdered in 1955 -- biography.com