Fund-raiser to replace bullet-riddled Emmett Till memorial sign reaches $15G goal

[Omaha Steve]

Source: NY Daily News

BY JESSICA SCHLADEBECK

A fund-raiser launched to replace a bullet-riddled memorial sign marking the location where Emmett Till’s mutilated body was discovered in 1955 has reached its $15,000 goal.

The marker, which is one of eight memorializing the racially charged murder of the Chicago teen, has been repeatedly vandalized since it first went up in 2007 and earned widespread attention earlier this week when filmmaker Kevin Wilson Jr. shared a photo of the sign on Facebook, writing its destruction was “clear evidence we still have a long way to go.”

Wilson, who intends to make a short film about Till, isn't the first to call attention to mistreatment of the markers. In 2013, someone else shared the sign with 20-some bullet holes which has led many to believe the 50 or so marks it now bears are not all new. Officials have said replacing and repairing the sign every time it's stolen or vandalized is outside of their financial scope, which prompted an influx of donations.

The Emmett Till Interpretive Center by Sunday evening raised roughly $16,500 to repair the sign, putting them more than $1,000 ahead of their original goal.

FULL story and video at link.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/fundraiser-replace-emmett-sign-reaches-15k-goal-article-1.2842097

[kacekwl]

1. No disrespect but

paying 15,000 for a sign that size is way out of line.

[kimbutgar]

2. And there is no way this sign costs $15,000. But a camera watching it might be worth it

Catching the racists in the act and prosecute them.

[zonkers]

3. I'm sure it cost eight grand. I

[GulfCoast66]

5. Custom made, weather proof signs designed to last years

Are very expensive. I know as I sometime have to fund them at work.

But nothing can stand up to Bullet holes. And it looks like the holes are form 2 different guns. Most of the appear to be rifle round due to the easy penetration of the steel. Most likely and AR-15 with a large magazine because if you were shooting at road sign it would have to be quick. Even in Mississippi gunshots like that will draw cops at night. The other were probable from a handgun.

But the Bullet holes are not what upsets me. There are always one-off crazies willing to do something like that. What upsets me is the state of the landscape around the sign. It is seems like the State Government came in and put the sign up, but the locals are hell bent not to maintain the area surrounding it.