Reactions to the death of Carolyn Bryant Donham bring up the unjust death of Emmett Till, who Donham accused of improper advances in 1955.
Donham died Tuesday night in Westlake, Louisiana at the age of 88. She brought about the lynching of the Black teenager, who was 14 years old, that helped catalyze the civil rights movement after his mother insisted his funeral be open-casket in Chicago so that people could witness the brutality committed against her son after his body was pulled from a river in Mississippi.
Till had been visiting relatives in Mississippi when he was said to have whistled at Donham at a grocery store. Evidence points to a woman telling Roy Bryant, Donham’s then-husband, and his half-brother J.W. Milam. The pair then killed Till.
“People who think Emmett Till being lynched in 1955 is ancient history should remember that 18 current members of Congress are older than him & the white woman Carolyn Bryant who got him lynched just *today* died — w/o accountability,” Qasim Rashid wrote. “Its not ancient history—its contemporary reality.”
“Death is not justice. An arrest warrant was issued for Carolyn Bryant Donham in August 1955 related to the murder of Emmett Till,” Keith Boykin tweeted. “But it was never served. Instead, she was able to live a full life to 88 years old. Emmett Till only lived to 14 years old. This is not justice.”
Several users expressed the idea of Bryant going straight to hell for what she did.
“I hope the hottest part of Hell has a spot ready for Carolyn Bryant,” one user tweeted. “She lived a full life after lying on Emmett Till. No indictment. No jail. Nothing”
“Carolyn Bryant Donham, the white woman that caused the Emmett Till lynching and his death nearly 70 years ago, has died,” Kenny Akers wrote. “If you remember last year the Mississippi grand jury declined to indict her in August over Till’s death. May she rot in hell……..”
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