Emmet Till's accuser

[Nexus2]

IIRC, she, near the end of her life, admitted falsely accusing the boy which lead to his brutal death. But did she ever give a reason why she did it? Was it just a lark, simple, petty cruelty or was there some ostensible reason for it, however false or perverse?

[EYESORE 9001]

1. We can never know her motivation with certainty

I believe her accusation grew exponentially out of a perceived slight, when the young man said ‘goodbye’ instead of the obligatory southern version, ‘goodbye, Ma’am,’ but that’s just my conjecture, based on accounts I have read.

[ck4829]

2. "Near the end of her life" Not quite. Carolyn Bryant Donham, that's her, is still very much alive

https://www.google.com/search?q=+Carolyn+Bryant+Donham&biw=1600&bih=786&ei=cn2vYLaCOcL0tAbpzamwBQ&oq=+Carolyn+Bryant+Donham

There are no records of her dying.

As for why? She's changed her story so many times and that is BEFORE any possibility of senility.

She said he whistled at her.

She said he tried to flirt with her.

She said he said something horrible to her.

She said all that is false though.

She's a horrible human being and her words got an innocent young man murdered.

[Nexus2]

7. My apology. it was quick and clumsy choice of phrase. Blame it on hasty typing? [nt]

[ck4829]

11. Oh no you're fine. You'd think she'd be dead, I thought so too for a long time, but no.

[malaise]

12. THIS

She's a horrible human being and her words got an innocent young man murdered.

[SallyHemmings]

3. Hell is waiting for her

[JI7]

4. Racism. This type of thing was common back then

I Mean, even now it would still happen and we see how bad things are when it comes to racism but it would have been much worse back then.

[Nexus2]

8. I was more wondering what the specific tripper incident may have been.

Assuming that she didn't just do set up black men like that for a sick thrill alone. Did Emmet speak to her 'out of turn', look her in the eye, get caught in actual or imagined ogling look (or 'insult' her by NOT paying her what she considered proper attention and due), bump into her or in some other way act too 'uppity' and deserve punishment.

She very well could have just done for S's and G's, but it is just so unimaginable, but then again so many other things are these days.

[LeftInTX]

9. According to Wikipedia, she was not the original source of the "complaint"

It was someone who knew about and told her husband.

I believe Emmett "got on her nerves" or spoke "out of turn"...He also had a lisp and compensated by whistling...

Of course, she made up a bunch of bullshit at the trial to get her husband off the hook.

[Nexus2]

13. Ah, ok, that was what I was wondering, thanks.

So, just petty entitled spite and circling the wagons when it came to a head.

[SweetieD]

16. I am not sure why you are trying to come up with some excuse for her like it was an

Accident, unintentional, or she was coerced. Plenty of white women lied out of malice simply because they were racist and wanted to cause trouble for black people. You see this noww caught on video all the time
Imagine Mississippi in the 1950s.

I saw some cell phone video a couple of years ago of these black guys walking down the street and this white woman screaming rape at the top of her lungs who was sitting in a lounge chair outside her house. Imagine someone doing that in 1900 to 1950 Mississippi. That would be a trigger for lynching. Some of these women do this because they are bored and want to start trouble intentionally and because they don't like black people.

[marble falls]

5. Her husband was recognized as a terrible bully and was abusive towards her. He was the "ring" leader

https://allthatsinteresting.com/carolyn-bryant

[erpowers]

6. Her Husband Caught Her Doing Something He Thought She Should Not Be Doing?

This seems like a situation where the husband either caught her doing something he felt she should not have been doing, or heard that she had been doing something he felt she should not have been doing. Maybe she had briefly met a black man and had spoken to him, not thinking it would cause any harm (maybe both she had the black man were just being polite to each other). Without her knowing, maybe one of her husband's friends had seen her and reported to her husband that his wife was out speaking to, or flirting with a black men. Maybe her husband came home demanding to know the name of the black man she had been speaking to/flirting with earlier that day. Maybe she had known that Till was in town and had known that he was a 14 year old boy and thought her husband would not hurt a 14 year old boy. Maybe she thought he would rub it off as just a youthful indiscretion. Maybe she had meant to conceal the identity of the grown man who had spoken to her and thought that since the name she had given was that of a child both males would escape the anger of her husband.

I am not trying to claim this woman did nothing wrong. It is very possible that the woman did what she did just to be mean. I wish someone would have asked her why she did what she did.

[tonedevil]

10. OG Karen /nt

[Polybius]

14. She probably didn't want a black kid in her store

So she made up the whistling story.

[SweetieD]

15. It doesn't matter why. and she should have been charged with being an accomplice.

They charge nazis who are in their 90s, they could charge her too.