Emmett Till’s Story, Despite New Revelations, Still Needs the Whole Truth

Clarence Page, Tribune Content Agency on Jul 19, 2022

Unfortunately, it’s unlikely to make any substantive difference in the death investigation.

Veteran journalist Christopher Benson co-authored “Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America,” with Till’s now-deceased mother Mamie Till-Mobley. He explained to me that in the 1950s, there was no statute of limitations on kidnapping, the charge in Donham’s warrant. Today there’s a two-year limit, which means the statute of limitations has long expired.

“If they brought her in,” he told me in a telephone interview, “they would have to release her because they couldn’t charge her with anything. And that would be a sad and tragic note.”

Still, Benson was dismayed that Donham’s story “has evolved over the years” in ways that contradict well-known facts, beginning with “a statement she made to one of the defense lawyers at the time, which didn’t include all the things she said later in court.”

“So, based on all we have seen,” he said, “we have reason to believe that she’s been lying.”

More disturbing, Donham, now in her 80s, spins her story to claim she, too, is a victim in this story.

“I always felt like a victim as well as Emmett,” she says, repeating her account that witnesses heavily dispute. “He came in our store and put his hands on me with no provocation. Do I think he should have been killed for doing that? Absolutely, unequivocally, no! Did we both pay a price for it, yes, we did. He paid dearly with the loss (of) his life. I paid dearly with an altered life.”

Oh, poor you. What “price” did she pay? Her “altered life”?

“She’s no William Faulkner, I can tell you that,” said Benson.

I agree. But this is her story as she wants to see it. The rest of us need to hear the whole story. We need to hear the truth.

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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@chicagotribune.com.)