At a young age, Black American men in America are categorized as violent, threatening, and
unreasonable, and are deemed as frightening individuals. Due to these negative perpetuated
stereotypes, plenty of innocent African American men have lost their lives such as Emmett Till
and Ahmaud Arbery receiving hardly any sympathy or justice in the process from the American
public as a whole.
In the case of Emmett Till, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam were found not guilty because the jury
and the public viewed Till as a criminal rather than an oblivious boy ignorant about the deep
south and its culture. Although the defendants Travis and Gregory McMichael along with
“Roddie” Bryan were found guilty of murder during the Ahmaud Arbery trial a large majority of
people felt as if Arbery was to blame for the entire incident much like Emmitt Till’s situation
because of traditional cliches of African American men.
It is evident that during Emmett Till and Ahmaud Arbery’s trials the defendants were victimized
and portrayed to be civil White Americans with an intent to take care of or save predominately
white communities desiring to get rid of the threatening black male. In the Ahmad Arbery case,
Travis McMichael’s defense attorney characterized McMichael as a victim trying to help stop
criminal activity from taking place in his neighborhood Satilla Shores using the savior complex
to ultimately try to win the case.
Roy Bryant in the Emmett Till case was seen as a victim as well wanting to protect his wife from
a ‘menacing’ Black male. Along with projecting the defendants who were the actual criminals as
victims the trials had other similarities. Important social and political figures in the black
community were seldomly allowed in the courtroom because they somewhat ‘intimidated’ the
defendants. Jesse Jackson was put out of the courtroom during Ahmaud Arbery’s trial and
Charles Diggs had a hard time getting inside the courtroom during Emmett Till’s trial.
As previously mentioned, a major difference between the Emmett Till and Ahmaud Arbery trials
was that the defendants in the Arbery trial were found guilty. However, many believed there was
a slim chance of the prosecutor winning the case with a predominately white jury. In addition to
that, the Ahmaud Arbery trial was taken more seriously than the Emmett Till trial considering it
took the jury only five days to decide on a verdict and it was rather rushed. Arbery’s trial took
several weeks along with a lot of time and preparation.
Another difference between the two trials has to deal with the era that these cases took place. In
the 1950s when Emmett Till had been murdered and Black Americans were first beginning to
truly fight for their rights in the Civil Rights Movement, their only sources of media were print,
radio, and television. However, in today’s time, the internet and social media have a huge impact
on the world and every American can voice and share their opinions on global platforms and can
become a part of the media to influence justice and change.
Even though Emmett Till and Ahmaud Arbery’s lives were taken away from them in unjust ways
their legacies and impact on American society will forever remind the Black community of why
it is extremely significant to understand Black American history, trials, and successes. Till and
Arbery’s trials gave the American public an even bigger picture of how Black men are looked
upon and treated as inferior and as threats to society in America along with many other cases
involving the unjust racial murdering of innocent African American men.