President Joe Biden plans to name a new national monument Tuesday honoring Emmett Till and his mother. Till was a Black teenager whose murder in helped galvanize the civil rights movement. Biden will designate the monument on what would have been Tills nd birthday. His mother Mamie TillMobley insisted on an opencasket funeral so visitors could see her sons body mangled beyond recognition. Almost seven decades later dozens of states have taken steps restricting how issues of race or racism are taught in schools leading to fresh concern that Americas darkest chapters are being held from students view. The Biden administration has demonstrated new willingness to push back on those new policies. Vice President Kamala Harris made a last minute trip to Florida on Friday to respond to new state education guidelines that in part require instruction for middle schoolers to include how slaves developed skills which in some instances could be applied for their personal benefit. The new rules were written after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law the Stop WOKE Act which was intended to prevent teachings or mandatory workplace activities that suggest a person is privileged or oppressed based necessarily on their race color sex or national origin. Still Bidens advisers view the issue as a winning one particularly as they work to engage a coalition of young voters and voters of color ahead of next years election. The monument will encompass three separate sites an official said including the Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ on Chicagos South Side the site of Tills funeral. Two additional sites will be in Mississippi Graball Landing which is believed to be where Tills body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River and the Tallaatchie County Second District Courthouse in Sumner where an allWhite jury acquitted Tills murderers. In a speech earlier in the week the vice president took similar aim at rules limiting what can be taught on race and racism. They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us and we will not stand for it she said in Indiana. Its inaccurate insulting. Its hurtful and prevents an honest account of our nations history. They cant erase the past and they shouldnt he said during a screening of the film Till earlier this year. The White House press secretary said Monday the monument came at a important moment. Lets not forget what weve seen these past several months as weve witnessed extreme officials in Florida and across the country lie about American history the most recent example shamefully shamefully promoting a lie that enslaved people actually benefited from slavery she said. The vice president has used the history of Till previously to insist on shining a light onto dark moments. He said in a speech this year that the past should not be erased and that we need to remember the lessons of the past that have been learned in the fight against racism and discrimination in the U.S. A yearold from Chicago Till was visiting family in Mississippi when he was beaten and shot to death for allegedly whistling at a White woman. The memorial will be centered in Illinois and Mississippi the states where Till was from and killed respectively.
Biden to honor Emmett Till and his mother amid debate over how to teach kids about the painful parts of US history.
