National monument dedicated to Emmett Till amid debate over how to teach race and history

William Brangham:

A new national monument dedicated to the murdered teenager Emmett Till and his mother honors three sites critical to Till's story and central to the birth of America's civil rights movement.

This announcement comes in the middle of a heated debate over how best to teach children about race and American history.

Laura Barrón-López has more.

Laura Barrón-López:

On what would have been Emmett Till's 82nd birthday, President Biden designated the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley monument, enshrining the ground where Till's brutal murder propelled the movement for civil rights.

Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States: Let us not be seduced into believing that somehow we will be better if we forget. We will be better if we remember.

Laura Barrón-López:

Till was 14 years old in 1955, when he was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered after being accused of whistling at a white woman in Money, Mississippi. His mother chose an open casket at his funeral, forcing the world to confront the violent racism of the Jim Crow south.

The new monument protects three places critical to that story, the spot on the Tallahatchie River where Till's body is believed to have been found, the Illinois church where they held his funeral, and the Mississippi courthouse where his killers were acquitted by an all-white jury.

Reverend Wheeler Parker Jr., Till's cousin, who witnessed his kidnapping, marked the country's progress.

Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., Cousin of Emmett Till: Back then, in the darkness, I could never imagine the moment like this, standing in the light of wisdom, grace and deliverance.

Laura Barrón-López:

The president's declaration comes as a number of Republican-led states are restricting how Black history and the country's legacy of racism are taught.

Joe Biden, President of the United States: At a time when there are those who seek to ban books, bury history, we're making it clear, crystal, crystal clear.

(Applause)

Joe Biden:

While darkness and denialism can hide much, they erase nothing.

Laura Barrón-López:

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, came under fire last week after his state introduced new standards for teaching Black history.

Among other lessons, the curriculum says middle schoolers should be instructed that — quote — "slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit." DeSantis defended it.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), Presidential Candidate: They're probably going to show some of the folks that eventually parlayed being a blacksmith into — into doing things later — later in life.

Laura Barrón-López:

Today's announcement comes a year after the president signed a law named after Till that makes lynching a federal hate crime.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Laura Barrón-López.

To discuss all this, we turn to Eddie Glaude Jr. He's the chair of the African American Studies Department at Princeton University.

Professor Glaude, thank you so much for joining us.

The designation today of the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley monument come 68 years after Emmett Till's murder. What's the significance of today's announcement?

Eddie Glaude Jr., Princeton University:

Well, I — first, let me just say it's a wonderful — it's a pleasure to be in conversation with you.

And I'm no longer the chair of African American studies at Princeton. I'm just a regular professor.

I — it's an extraordinary moment to insist on the importance of history, to, in some ways, memorialize, to recognize the power of everyday, ordinary people, to call attention to the extraordinary violence and brutality that surrounded the death of Emmett Till.

It's unlike traditional memorials, right, or civil rights monuments. It's more like that in Montgomery, where you see, right, the violence of our history in the forefront, not the triumph of the story. And it's important in this moment, when you have people denying history, engaging in book banning, curricula shenanigans and the like.

So, it's really, really a critical intervention in the battleground, in the battle for our story, it seems to me.

Laura Barrón-López:

President Biden gave these remarks today as Republican lawmakers and conservative organizations at the state and local level are challenging the teachings of race and Black history.

The state of Florida just released its new African American history education standards, which include instruction that — quote — "Slaves developed skills which in some instances could be applied for their personal benefit."

Professor, is that historically accurate?

Eddie Glaude Jr.:

No.

(Laughter)

Eddie Glaude Jr.:

Remember, history is not just simply the dispassionate detailing of facts. It's also — it's an interpretation of what happened.

And so we know that those who were enslaved acquired certain skills as they were conscripted to labor on behalf of those who owned them. But that's the equivalent of saying that the Holocaust was beneficial because those who were conscripted helped build the German war machine.

It doesn't make sense factually and it doesn't make sense morally. So the claim is really about kind of absolution, trying to make sense of or trying to make the claim that the evil of slavery actually produced good, so that then you could wash your hands of responsibility of the consequence of that evil institution.

Laura Barrón-López:

Another part of this curriculum that I want to ask you about its for lessons on some of the worst incidents of mass racial violence in U.S. history, the Tulsa Massacre in Oklahoma, the Ocoee Massacre in Florida.

And these are listed as examples of instruction on — quote — "acts of violence" perpetrated against and by African Americans. What do you make of that framing?

Eddie Glaude Jr.:

I find it insulting.

I understand the anger of the vice president in this regard. But it's as, if when African Americans strike the blow for freedom, when they defend themselves, somehow, that's the equivalent of those who seek to oppress them.

I think much of this debate is rooted in the necessity for forgiving. These — many people don't want to believe what has happened and what is happening to Black folk in this country. They don't want to know about the cruelty of slavery. They don't want to know about our encounters with police.

And so there's this ongoing denial because they refuse to believe what we're saying. And so what we have to do in the face of that is to do exactly what President Biden suggested in quoting Ida B. Wells. We have to tell the truth to shine a light on the lie.

Laura Barrón-López:

Professor, I do just want to ask you, with the few seconds we have left, what are the stakes of this the, stakes of children learning history in this way?

Eddie Glaude Jr.:

Well, I mean, we have to produce the kinds of people democracies require.

If we don't tell the story correctly, what we choose to leave out of our stories and who we choose to leave on our stories, actually reveals the limits of our understanding of justice. So, are we going to be moral monsters, or are we going to be the kinds of people that democracy requires and needs?

So the stories are absolutely critical to whether or not we're going to survive.

Laura Barrón-López:

Professor Eddie Glaude Jr. of Princeton University, thank you for your time.

Eddie Glaude Jr.:

Thank you for having me.