Summary and Response on Emmett Till's Casket Painting Paper Example

The story of Louis Till and Emmett Till deaths are one of the saddest stories in American history. Louis Till was the father of Emmet Till, and he was serving as an American soldier before he was hanged by U.S. army. Louis Till was accused with workplace misconduct of rape and murder. However, Louis case file remained disclosed even to his members of the family. A decade after his death, his son Emmett Till was found dead in Tallahatchie river. Emmett Till was murdered in 1955 at the age of 14 years. Emmett Till was an African-American. During the recovery of the body, Emmett's Till body was swollen, shot, teeth were missing, and his ear had severe injuries. The injuries to his body showed that he had been brutally killed. As a result, the civil rights unions gathered and demanded justice to the barbaric act. During Emmett's burial, her mother, Mamie-Elizabeth Till opened the casket for the world to see the torture her son went through. There was grief and the civil rights used the opportunity to push for justice of the black people in America.

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The process of finding justice for Emmett Till began shortly after his burial. Some people believed that his death was connected to his father's death. It was thought that Emmett Till was killed to answer for his father's crime. Other people believed Emmett Till's death was caused by racial discrimination which was ongoing in America. The acts of racial discrimination continued to reflect itself after the court failed to convict the two whites associated with the murder. A few years later, the case was reopened by the department of justice which gave the same ruling despite the family of Emmett presenting overwhelming evidence.

The aftermath of Emmett Till death gave rise to other controversies. Dan Schutz painted an image of Emmett Till in an open casket. The painting reflected Till's face and chest just the way he lied in the coffin. Also, Schutz included deep cuts in the painting which portrayed Till's torture. Schutz paintings were then placed in a museum in Whitney where people from all over America would come to see it. Despite the objection of the painting from the members of the public, Schutz believed that as an artist she had the rights to paint any subject (Jaremko 3) Schutz justified her actions by saying Till' mother opened the casket so that her son's pain could be felt by all Americans. As such, Schutz believes that the painting symbolized the need to eradicate racial discrimination among blacks. However, the protesters demanded the painting removed from the museum and destroyed. They argued that Schutz had no message to the blacks and her actions were benefitting the whites. They were angered by the fact that a white was benefitting both financially and being famous from the black's injustice system.

Additionally, Schutz painting continued to receive an objection from other artists like Hannah Black. Hannah Black wrote a letter addressing the curators and the staff of the Whitney Biennial. In her letter, Hannah demanded the removal of Schutz's painting from the museum. She added that the painting should be destroyed. In the letter, Hannah Black criticized Schutz's intentions to gain profit and make fun from the ongoing black suffering. Although Schutz painting reflected the white's shame, Hannah believed that the painting failed to correctly represent the black violence.

I think Emmett's death was an eye-opening on the violence and injustice suffered by black people. Till's mother opened the casket to show both the whites and the blacks the pain that comes along with racial desegregation. However, I think Shutz should not have painted the image of Emmett in the casket because the painting fails to offer sensitivity to racial discrimination of the black people. Although Shantz intended to humiliate the whites, the painting was not the best way to show empathy on Emmett's death. However, this does not mean I disagree with Schutz being able to paint African American paintings. Schutz is an artist who has the right to paint images from any subject. Despite the fact that he is white, his paintings could be useful in ending racial discrimination between the blacks and the whites. However, I don't find it okay for Schutz to gain money and fame from the death of the 14-year old boy because Emmett death brought grief, sorrow, and oppression. I think the best way to honor him was by spreading the gospel of equality between the blacks and the whites. It was shameful for Schutz and the whites to paint and keep images reflecting black oppression in a museum.

Conclusion

I support the protestors idea to push for removal and destruction of the painting because it affects the black society as a whole. The painting in the museum symbolized empathy to the black community. The black community was not claiming for empathy from the whites but equality and justice which justifies their protestation. I also think that the curators' justification for the painting was wrong. The curators of Whitney Biennial had staged black violence as the major theme requiring publication in the museum. The move increased differences between the white and the blacks. I also agree with Hannah's letter urging the painting to be removed from the museum because the painting used black pain as a raw material for artists publications. I support the removal of the painting from the museum because I don't think the whites really understood the pain underwent by the blacks. Also, the painting should be destroyed so that it can no longer be placed in another museum.

Work Cited

Jaremko- Greenworld, Anya. "Protesters block Demand removal of a painting of an Emmett Till at Whitney Biennial." (2017). Hyperallergic news.