Emmett Till was fourteen when he died due to racism. He was innocent and faced the consequences of discrimination at a young age. His death was a tragedy, but he will live on as someone who helped African Americans win their rights. Emmett Till's death came in an unforgiving era where his life was taken due to racism during the civil rights movement. Emmett Till was born on July 25, 1941 in Chicago, Illinois. He attended an all-black school, but was taught to treat everyone equally (The Death of Emmett Till). Chicago wasn't as racist as the South, so Emmett was taught to respect everyone from an early age. Till was not close to his father because his mother left him when he was very young (Vox). Emmett Till never knew his father because his father was killed due to rape (Vox). He had a difficult childhood and, to make matters worse, he contracted polio at the age of six. As he grew up, he developed polio and his mother remarried and then left her husband again (Vox). Her ex-husband would threaten Emmett's mother, and Emmett would have to stand up to her ex-husband (Vox). In Chicago, Emmett learned that judging people was wrong, and he was never racist because he never experienced the level of racism like in the South (PBS). Emmett Till was visiting his uncle in Mississippi, and while there his mother warned him to be careful of his actions (Vox). In the 1950s, the South was extremely racist towards African Americans, and everything in the South was segregated, including schools, bathrooms, buses, and restaurants. This happened during the Civil Rights Movement, movements to help African Americans gain their rights and equality (Scholastic). Whites are in the center of the card and do not antagonize it. Emmett Till's death inspired people to try to end racism so that African Americans could be afforded their rights and protections. Racism, discrimination and prejudice had been going on for too long and it was time to stop them. This inspired many people to organize bus boycotts and protests (PBS). A new era was beginning where racism was considered unfair and offensive and people would have to face the consequences of their actions. Emmett Till was the beginning of this change. He should be considered a hero because without him who knows what our country would be like. It helped African Americans be seen as an equal race and not an inferior one. His death was a tragedy, but something good came out of it which was freedom. “I look forward to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character” (BrainyQuote).