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Ideology, Space, and the Problem of Justice: The Lynching of Emmett Till

Royse, Pamela
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1299813805

Abstract Details

2011, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, Communication Studies (Communication).
This dissertation examines the rhetoric generated by the death of Emmett Till in 1955. While many of the facts surrounding Till’s death are still subject to question, most accounts of the incident agree that Till was kidnapped and murdered by two white men, Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam, while he was vacationing with relatives in Mississippi. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People defined Till’s death as a “lynching,” a charge that Mississippi’s white press opposed and disputed. In a region that perceived the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decisions (1954, 1955) as a threat to the foundation of Southern life, many white citizens viewed the “lynching” label as a ploy by the NAACP to incite racial animosity and dismantle segregation. As news coverage of the case continued, the debate over the crime turned ideological, redirecting public concern from the issue of justice to the preservation of state rights, segregation, and American democracy. This rhetoric influenced the outcome in the murder trial; attorneys for the defense justified their request for an acquittal on the grounds that it would thwart the threats of miscegenation and communism. Although the jury declined to convict Bryant and Milam, the acquittal ultimately increased the power of Till’s story. To explain in Burkeian terminology, “Emmett Till” became a representative anecdote that symbolizes racial injustice. Consequently, Till’s story inspired members of his generation to persevere in their struggle for civil rights. To this day, speakers invoke the story of Emmett Till as a rhetorical resource. Using critical exegesis, this dissertation traces the emergence of the Till anecdote and accounts for its power by investigating three components of the rhetoric, including 1) the stakes involved in defining Till’s death as a lynching; 2) the intersection of space and ideology that emerged in the rhetorical response to the incident; and 3) the longevity of Till’s influence as a representative anecdote.
Raymie McKerrow, PhD (Committee Chair)
Jerry Miller, PhD (Committee Member)
Roger Aden, PhD (Committee Member)
White Juliee, PhD (Committee Member)
218 p.
African Americans; American Studies; Communication; Rhetoric
lynching of Emmett Till; rhetoric; ideology, ideograph; spatial implications of discourse; Kenneth Burke, representative anecdote, frames, attitudes; civil rights

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Royse, P. (2011). Ideology, Space, and the Problem of Justice: The Lynching of Emmett Till [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1299813805

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Royse, Pamela. Ideology, Space, and the Problem of Justice: The Lynching of Emmett Till. 2011. Ohio University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1299813805.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Royse, Pamela. "Ideology, Space, and the Problem of Justice: The Lynching of Emmett Till." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1299813805

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2011, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.