Wright Thompson on the Senseless Murder of Emmett Till and Why He Must Not Be Forgotten

Today on the show we have Wright Thompson here to talk about his latest book, one of the most powerful books I’ve ever read — The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi, which came out September 24. Though it’s not mentioned in the title or the subtitle, the book is about the brutal, absolutely depraved murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till on August 28, 1955 in Mississippi. I have a deep connection with Mississippi, as does Wright, who was born and raised there, and who grew up just 23 miles from the barn where Emmett lost his life (and where the book’s title comes from). Though Wright grew up so very close to where this atrocity took place, he never found out about this awful murder until he went to college out of state. As he writes in The Barn, the erasure of Emmett’s murder “was a collective effort, one that continues to this day.” It has been nearly 70 years since this unspeakable crime, and The Barn is an effort to reverse that erasure. William Faulkner has been quoted as saying, “To understand the world, you must first understand a place like Mississippi,” and I must admit, it’s difficult to understand this senseless murder. The two men accused of murdering Emmett, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, were acquitted in a mockery of justice. The four-hour torture and murder of a young man who was barely a teenager for allegedly whistling at a young white woman was depraved, even for Mississippi at the time. In today’s episode, Wright sets the scene for us of what August 1955 was like in Mississippi, especially in terms of race relations. He also tells us about that terrible night and what precipitated it and tells us more about Emmett’s brave and courageous mother, Mamie Till, who insisted that her son’s badly damaged body be on display in an open casket at his funeral after his body was returned home from Mississippi to Chicago because, in her words, she wanted to “Let the world see what I’ve seen.” Emmett’s death essentially launched the civil rights movement — for context, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus on December 1, 1955, just over three months after Emmett’s senseless killing. When asked why she didn’t give up her seat, she said, “I thought of Emmett Till, and I just couldn’t go back.” Just as the book is overwhelmingly powerful, so too is the fact that, as we recorded this episode, Wright was at the barn, working on a project that will eventually be announced with those who knew and loved Emmett. I got to see the barn on our Zoom call, and I’m forever moved and impacted by it. After Bryant and Milam were acquitted and therefore protected against double jeopardy, the two men admitted in a 1956 interview with Look magazine (which Wright references in this episode) that they had, indeed, tortured and murdered Emmett. To a point we later make in the episode, they both died young of cancer. Here on the show today is the incomparable Wright Thompson. He is a senior writer for ESPN.com and ESPN the Magazine, and his 2010 article “Ghosts of Mississippi” inspired the 2012 ESPN 30 for 30 documentary film The Ghosts of Ole Miss, which he narrated, about the 1962 Ole Miss football team’s perfect season and the concurrent violence and rioting over the integration of the university by James Meredith. He also narrated the ESPN 30 for 30 film Roll Tide/War Eagle. Prior to writing The Barn, Wright also published the book Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things That Last, which came out in 2020. Take a listen to our conversation — and please be forewarned it contains deeply disturbing subject matter, but subject matter that is absolutely necessary to hear.

The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi by Wright Thompson