Amanpour and Company

>>> TO ANOTHER CRITICAL SOCIAL ISSUE IN THE U.S., RACIAL JUSTICE. WE WILL LOOK BACK AT A CASE WHICH HELPED SPARK THE U.S. CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT. THAT WAS THE LYNCHING OF EMMITT TILL. OUR NEXT GUEST IS THE LAST SURVIVING EYEWITNESS OF THE TRAGEDY AND DETAILS HIS MEMORIES OF IT IN A NEW BOOK "A FEW DAYS FULL OF TROUBLE, REVELATIONS ON THE JOURNEY TO JUSTICE FOR MY COUSIN AND BEST FRIEND, EMMITT TILL." REVEREND PARKER IS A PASTOR AND PUBLIC SPEAKER. HE JOINS MICHELLE MARTIN. >> THANKS. REVEREND WHEELER PARKER JUNIOR, THANK YOU FOR TALKING WITH US TODAY. >> MY PLEASURE. >> I'M MINDFUL THAT ALTHOUGH YOU ARE BEING NICE TO US, IT ISN'T YOUR PLEASURE. THAT YOU HAVE LIVED WITH THIS VERY TERRIBLE STORY FOR SO MANY YEARS. I CAN ONLY IMAGINE THAT EVERY TIME YOU TALK ABOUT IT, IT PROBABLY COSTS YOU SOMETHING. DOESN'T IT? >> IT DOES. BUT THAT'S A PRICE I GUESS YOU PAY TO KEEP IT OUT THERE AND GIVE HIM THE RESPECT AND HONOR THAT HE NEED. >> TELL ME ABOUT YOUR COUSIN EMMITT TILL. I SEE THAT THERE'S A PICTURE OF YOU AND HIM BEHIND YOU. YOU HAVE SAID MANY TIMES THAT HE WAS NOT JUST YOUR COUSIN, HE WAS YOUR BEST FRIEND. TELL ME ABOUT HIM. WHAT WAS HE LIKE? >> FUN. NEVER HAD A DULL DAY IN HIS LIFE. EXCITING, ALWAYS SOMETHING GOING ON. IF YOU WERE AROUND HIM, YOU KNEW HE STUTTERED, BUT HE WAS THE CENTER OF ATTENTION. >> NICE PERSONALITY. NICE SMILE. >> NICE SMILE. HE HAD A BEAUTIFUL SMILE. >> YOU WERE LIVING IN CHICAGO. EMMITT AND YOU AND OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS, LIKE SO MANY OTHER AFRICAN AMERICANS, HAD MOVED UP FROM THE SOUTH TO THE NORTH AND THE MIDWEST AND TO SOME DEGREE THE WEST IN SEARCH OF MORE OPPORTUNITY. WHY DID YOU AND YOUR COUSIN HAPPEN TO BE BACK IN MISSISSIPPI THAT SUMMER? >> I HAD BEEN IN CHICAGO SINCE JANUARY OF 1947. THIS IS IN AUGUST OF 1955. MY GRANDFATHER HAD COME TO CHICAGO FOR A FUNERAL. EMMITT LEARNED I WAS GOING BACK WITH HIM. HE WOULDN'T HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY. HE DIDN'T HAVE SISTERS OR BROTHERS. HIS MOTHER WOULD TAKE ME ALONG. WE WERE INSEPARABLE. HE INSISTED HE GO SOUTH WITH ME. THEY DIDN'T THINK IT WAS A GOOD IDEA. HE INSISTED. >> WHY DIDN'T THEY THINK IT WAS A GOOD IDEA? >> BECAUSE IF YOU DIDN'T LIVE IN THE SOUTH OR EXPERIENCE IT, YOU HAD NO IDEA WHAT IT WAS LIKE FOR A BLACK MALE. WHAT THEY THOUGHT COULD HAPPEN IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED. >> THE SENSE OF HAVING EVERYTHING ABOUT YOUR LIFE CONTROLLED BY THE NEED TO DEFER TO WHITE PEOPLE, THAT'S WHAT YOU ARE REFERRING TO? >> YOU PUT IT LIGHTLY. BUT YES. THEY MADE SURE THAT EXISTED. A LOT OF PEOPLE LOST THEIR LIFE. WE WERE CONSTANTLY REMINDED YOU WERE INFERIOR. CONSTANTLY REMINDED. THEY WERE BODIES HERE OR THERE OR LEAVE THEM HANGING FOR A WHILE SO YOU GET THE MESSAGE. THE MESSAGE WAS WELL ENTRENCHED IN OUR WAY OF LIFE. DROVES OF CHILDREN WENT. THEY WERE SO TRAINED SO WELL AND ENTRENCHED IN THE WAYS OF THE SOUTH. >> YOU AND YOUR COUSIN WERE PICKING COTTON DURING THE DAY. >> IT WAS COTTON PICKING TIME. IN THE SOUTH, IF YOU WANDERED AROUND THE TOWN AND IT'S COTTON PICKING TIME, YOU WILL END UP IN PRISON. EVERYBODY WENT TO THE FIELD. EVERYBODY WENT TO THE COTTON FIELD. >> YOU WOULD GO AND PICK FOR HALF A DAY. THEN WHAT WOULD YOU DO? GO HAVE FUN? >> ACTUALLY, WE PICKED ALL DAY REALLY. THE THING WAS FROM SUN TO SUN. WE JUST TOOK OFF EARLY THAT DAY TO GO HAVE SOME REFRESHMENTS AT THE COUNTRY STORE THREE MILES DOWN THE ROAD. >> I WAS GOING TO ASK YOU THAT. HOW DID YOU AND EMMITT, YOUR COUSIN, WHOM YOU CALL BOBO, HOW DID YOU WIND UP AT THE STORE THAT DAY? >> USUALLY, WHEN YOU WENT SOUTH -- THIS WAS A NORM -- YOU WERE IN THE HANDS OF AN ADULT. IF YOU WENT TO TOWN OR SOMEWHERE, THERE WAS AN ADULT TO CORRECT YOU. MY GRANDFATHER, 67 YEARS OLD, HE HAD A SON. HE WAS 16. HE HAD A CAR. SO WE WERE KIND OF ON OUR OWN, WHICH IS A MISTAKE, OUT THERE ON A SUNDAY AND HERE IT IS WEDNESDAY WE'RE GOING TO THIS LITTLE COUNTRY STORE. OF COURSE, THAT'S WHERE EVERYTHING GOT STARTED. >> I CANNOT HELP BUT THINK THAT WE ARE ASKING YOU TO REMEMBER THE BEGINNING OF THE WORST DAY OF YOUR LIFE. IF YOU WOULD, JUST AS BRIEFLY AS YOU CAN, WHAT HAPPENED? >> WE GOT TO THE STORE. EVERYONE WAS GATHERED AROUND AND LAUGHING AND TALKING. THEY WERE PLAYING CHECKERS AND TELLING JOKES. EMMITT LOVED JOKES. AT THE STORE, I DECIDED TO GO IN AND PURCHASE SOME THINGS. WHILE I WAS IN THE STORE, I REMEMBER EMMITT COMING IN AND MY FORMATIVE YEARS WERE SPENT IN THE SOUTH. I SPENT SEVEN TO EIGHT YEARS. I WAS WELL ENTRENCHED IN THE WAYS OF THE SOUTH. YOU ARE TALKED AT FROM THE DAY YOU CAN UNDERSTAND HOW TO STAY ALIVE AS A BLACK BOY IN MISSISSIPPI. I SAW HIM COMING IN. I SAID, I HOPE -- I HOPE HE GOT TOGETHER. THE YES, SIR AND NO, SIR AND POLITENESS THAT THEY DEMANDED. I LEFT HIM IN THE STORE. OF COURSE, SHORTLY THEREAFTER MY UNCLE CAME IN WHO WAS 12. NOTHING HAPPENED WHILE I WAS IN THE STORE. THEY CAME OUT. NOTHING HAPPENED AT ALL. >> THEN WHEN DID YOU REALIZE THAT SOMETHING WAS GOING ON? >> SHORTLY AFTER I LEFT OUT AND THEY CAME OUT, THEN MRS. BRYANT CAME OUT. COMING OUT OF THE STORE, SHE TURNS TO HER LEFT. AS EMMITT -- HE LOVED TO MAKE PEOPLE LOVE. HE GAVE THE WOLF WHISTLE. SO MANY DIFFERENT STORIES TOLD ABOUT THAT AND WHERE IT HAPPENED AND ALL THAT. HE WHISTLED. HE DID WHISTLE AT HER. WHEN HE DID THAT, WE JUST COULD NOT BELIEVE IN MISSISSIPPI IN 1955 THAT HE WHISTLED AT THIS WHITE LADY WHERE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN KILLED FOR LOOKING AT HER. NO ONE SAID, LET'S GO. MY UNCLE IS DRIVING THE CAR. EVERYONE MAYBE A BEELINE FOR THE CAR. >> HE KNEW THEN THERE WAS GOING TO BE TROUBLE. WHAT DID YOU DO? >> WE GOT IN THE CAR. EMMITT IS SCARED NOW. WE SHOWING EMOTIONS. MY UNCLE SPED DOWN THE ROAD. DUST IS FLYING EVERYWHERE. THERE'S A CAR BEHIND US. SOMEONE IS AFTER US. WE KNEW RIGHTLY SO THEY COULD BE AFTER US. WHAT HE HAD DONE -- WE PULLED TO THE SIDE, JUMP OUT OF THE CAR, RUN THROUGH THE COTTON FIELD. THE CAR GOES RIGHT ON BY. WE WERE AT THE EDGE OF THE ROAD. EMMITT ASKED US NOT TO TELL MY GRANDFATHER. IT'S WEDNESDAY. WE DIDN'T TELL MY GRANDFATHER. THURSDAY PASSED. FRIDAY PASSED. SATURDAY PASSED. WE FORGOT ABOUT IT. WE FORGOT ABOUT IT. OTHERWISE, WE SHOULD HAVE PROBABLY BEEN ON A TRAIN HEADING BACK NORTH. THEY WOULD COME TO THE HOUSE SOMETIMES AND SOMEONE WOULD HAVE TO PAY. >> WHEN SOMEONE FINALLY DID COME TO THE HOUSE, WHAT HAPPENED THEN? >> IT WAS SUNDAY MORNING. WE HAD GONE TO TOWN JUST PRIOR TO THAT.

WE GOT HOME I GUESS ABOUT 12

00. NOT THINKING ANYTHING. WE WENT TO BED. IT'S FOUR BIG BEDROOMS. I'M IN BED WITH MY UNCLE. 2:30 IN THE MORNING I HEAR PEOPLE TALKING. THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AT THE STORE. FIRST THING I SAID, WHEN DEATH IS IMMINENT, I SAID, GOD, WE ARE GETTING READY TO DIE. THESE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO KILL US. I HAVE HEARD THE STORIES. I KNOW WHAT THEY DID. I'M SHAKING LIKE A LEAF ON A TREE. THE THING THAT I REMEMBER MOST IS THAT NOT ONLY AM I GETTING READY TO DIE -- I'M 16 YEARS OLD -- MY RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD IS NOT RIGHT. WHEN DEATH IS IMMINENT, YOU THINK ABOUT ALL THE BAD THINGS THAT YOU HAVE EVER DONE. I'M PRAYING TO GOD, NOT ALOUD. IF YOU JUST LET ME LIVE, I WILL GET RIGHT WITH YOU, IF YOU LET ME LIVE. I WILL GET THAT TOGETHER. LITERALLY SHAKING. IN WALK THESE GUYS. YOU CAN'T SEE YOUR HAND BEFORE YOUR FACE. NO LIGHTS ON IN THE HOUSE. THEY ENTER IN WITH A FLASHLIGHT AND A PISTOL. I CLOSED MY EYES. THEY WERE PASSING BY. THEY WENT TO THE NEXT ROOM. EMMITT WASN'T THERE. THEY WENT TO THE THIRD ROOM. THEY FOUND HIM IN BED WITH MY UNCLE. IT WAS PURE HELL. UNBELIEVABLE THE TENSION AND THE HELPLESSNESS. I THINK THAT'S WHAT RESONATES SO STRONGLY IN A CASE HOW HELPLESS YOU ARE. YOU CAN'T CALL YOUR GRANDFATHER. HE IS THIS TROUBLE, TOO. WHEN PEOPLE OF FAITH, WE START PRAYING. THEY LEFT WITH EMMITT. THAT'S THE LAST TIME WE SAW HIM ALIVE. >> OH, MY GOD. THERE'S SO MANY THINGS GOING THROUGH MY HEAD RIGHT NOW. YOUR GRANDFATHER, THE HUMILIATION OF NOT BEING ABLE TO PROTECT HIS GRANDSON FROM PEOPLE IN HIS OWN HOUSE. >> IT'S THE LOWEST OF LOW. >> WHEN DID YOU REALIZE OR WHEN DID YOU FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO EMMITT? >> THEY STARTED LOOKING RIGHT AWAY NEAR THE RIVERS AND BRIDGES. THEY HAD SAID THAT IF HE WAS THE ONE, THEY WILL BRING HIM BACK. I LEFT. WE FOUND -- I FOUND -- THEY FOUND HIS BODY. I WAS BACK IN CHICAGO. >> THEY HAD SPIRITED YOU OUT OF TOWN FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY, RIGHT? >> FOR SURE. RIGHT AWAY. >> DID YOU HEAR WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO EMMITT? DID YOU KNOW THEY FOUND HIS BODY, AS YOU SAID, DAYS LATER, BUT THE FACT THAT HE HAD BEEN TORTURED, THE FACT THAT HIS BODY WAS DESTROYED? DID YOU KNOW THAT THEN? >> WE DID NOT. WE DID NOT. WE DIDN'T KNOW THE CONDITION OF THE BODY. ALL WE KNEW, THEY FOUND HIM. OF COURSE, THEY GOT HIM BACK HERE TO HAVE HIS FUNERAL HERE. >> NOW MANY PEOPLE KNOW SOME OF THE OUTLINES OF THE STORY FROM THERE. THE COURAGE OF HIS MOTHER TO HAVE AN OPEN CASKET FUNERAL. SHE WANTED THE WORLD TO SEE WHAT HAD BEEN DONE TO HER SON. MANY PEOPLE KNOW THAT TWO MEN WERE EVENTUALLY TRIED IN CONNECTION WITH EMMITT'S TORTURE AND MURDER BUT THAT THEY WERE ACQUITTED BY AN ALL WHITE JURY, JUST LIKE IN A MATTER -- WHAT WAS IT, JUST ACTUALLY -- >> 57 MINUTES. >> IF YOU ARE BEING HONEST, DID YOU BELIEVE THAT JUSTICE WOULD EVER TAKE PLACE, THAT SOMEONE WOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR WHAT THEY DID? >> NO. THIS INCIDENT BROUGHT ABOUT CHANGES. I THINK THIS IS PROBABLY THE FIRST TIME -- NOT THE FIRST TIME, ONE OF THE FEW TY TIMES A WHITE MAN HAD BEEN CHARGED WITH DOING SOMETHING TO A BLACK. WHEN THEY WENT TO ARREST THESE GUYS, THEY TOLD THEM, THAT'S BS. I'M TRYING TO PROTECT THE WAY OF LIFE AND YOU ARE GOING TO ARREST ME? THEY WERE HIGHLY INSULTED. NOTHING WOULD HAVE BEEN DONE AT ALL. THEY WERE REWARDED OR AT LEAST THANKED FOR WHAT THEY WERE DOING, KEEP THE SYSTEM IN PLACE. THE SYSTEM WAS VERY, VERY STRONG. IT IS STILL STRONG. THEY PROTECT THEN, THEY PROTECT NOW. EVEN STILL TODAY, I SEE IT IN THE YOUNG MAN CHOKED TO DEATH IN MINNESOTA. I SEE IT ALL THE TIME. FIRST THING I THINK ABOUT IS EMMITT TILL. THE SYSTEM STILL PREVAILS. >> LET'S FAST FORWARD. THE TWO MEN WHO WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR TORTURING -- FOR KIDNAPPING AND TORTURING HIM, THEY WERE ACQUITTED. LATER IN AN INTERVIEW WITH A PROMINENT MAGAZINE, THEY ADMITTED WHAT THEY HAD DONE. WHAT WAS THAT LIKE FOR YOUR FAMILY? DID IT FEEL AT LEAST THERE WAS AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT? DID IT MAKE IT WORSE THAT THERE WAS NO ACCOUNTABILITY? >> LIVING IN A SITUATION IN AN ENVIRONMENT, YOU WERE NOT SURPRISED. LIKE I SAID, THIS IS THE -- WE ARE MAKING PROGRESS. WE GOT A TRIAL. THAT'S UNHEARD OF. WE DIDN'T EXPECT ANYTHING TO COME OUT OF IT. MAYBE IT'S A POSSIBILITY. MAYBE SOMETHING WILL BE DONE. YOU THINK THAT. THEY ARRESTED THESE GUYS. OF COURSE, THEY ADMITTED THAT THEY DID IT AFTER THE TRIAL. WE'RE NOT SURPRISED BY THAT. THEY WERE PAID MONEY FOR THEIR STORY. OF COURSE, THE STORY WAS JUST SO -- IT RESONATES WITH ME NOW, IT WAS SO ERRONEOUS AND SO DEGRADING THAT IT BOTHERS ME TO THIS DAY THE WAY THEY PORTRAYED EMMITT TO JUSTIFY WHAT THEY DID TO HIM. >> AGAIN, FAST FORWARD EVEN FURTHER IN 2017, AN HISTORIAN REVEALED THAT IN INTERVIEWED WITH THE YOUNG WOMAN WHO ACCUSED EMMITT, HE REVEALED SHE LIED AND HAD ACKNOWLEDGED LYING ABOUT HER ENCOUNTER WITH EMMITT TILL AT THE STORE. SHE HAD THIS ELABORATE STORY ABOUT HOW HE HAD ALLEGEDLY ATTACKED HER AND HAD SAID SEVERAL THINGS TO HER, WHICH YOU KNEW COULD NOT BE THE CASE BECAUSE AS YOU SAID, HE HAD A PRONOUNCED STUTTER. DID IT MAKE YOU FEEL AT LEAST A SENSE THAT THE WORLD KNEW WHAT YOU KNEW, WHICH IS THAT SHE LIED? >> YOU KNOW, WE WERE NOT PRIVY TO THAT STORY YOU JUST TOLD UNTIL THEY FOUND THE TRANSCRIPT ABOUT 50 YEARS LATER. WE HAD NEVER HEARD ANYTHING LIKE THAT BEFORE. WE WERE PRIVY TO HER MEMOIRS. SHE DON'T REMEMBER HIM STUTTERING. THAT WAS HIS WAY OF LIFE. HE DIDN'T TALK WITHOUT STUTTERING. THE LIE THAT SHE TOLD STILL PREVAILS. YOU GOTTA JUSTIFY WHAT YOU DID TO EMMITT SO THAT THEY USE THOSE THINGS TO JUSTIFY WHAT THEY DID TO HIM. >> YOU HAVE WRITTEN A BOOK CALLED "A FEW DAYS FULL OF TROUBLE, REVELATIONS ON A JOURNEY TO JUSTICE FOR MY COUSIN AND BEST FRIEND EMMITT TILL." YOU CO-WROTE IT WITH A LONGTIME FRIEND AND CO-AUTHOR CHRISTOPHER BENSON WHO IS A LAWYER. WHY WAS IT IMPORTANT TO YOU TO WRITE THIS BOOK NOW? WHY THIS BOOK AND WHY NOW? >> I WAS VERY RELUCTANT TO WRITE A BOOK. SO MANY STORIES HAVE BEEN TOLD. FOR 30 YEARS, THEY NEVER INTERVIEWED ME. I HAVE BEEN HURT WITH THE STORIES THAT HAVE BEEN TOLD WHAT HAPPENED AT THE STORE. I KNEW IT WASN'T THE TRUTH. I FELT THAT WE WERE AT SUCH A DISADVANTAGE COMPETING WITH THE MAJOR MAGAZINES AND THE ARTICLES THAT HAVE BEEN WRITTEN. SO I JUST WAS RELUCTANT TO WRITE IT. I DECIDED -- THEY CONVINCED ME THAT SOMEBODY WILL BELIEVE YOUR STORY. HERE I AM NOW HOPING SOMEONE WILL BELIEVE. BECAUSE I WAS AN EYEWITNESS. MANY STORIES HAVE BEEN TOLD. MANY THINGS HAVE BEEN SAID. BUT WE WERE AN EYEWITNESS. >> BEFORE WE LET YOU GO, HOW DO YOU FEEL NOW THAT YOU GOT YOUR STORY OUT, NOW THAT YOU HAVE BEEN ABLE TO TELL YOUR TRUTH? HOW DOES IT FEEL? >> IT FEELS GOOD. I GO SPEAKING. PEOPLE HEAR ME AND THEY BELIEVE IT. I DON'T FEEL AS HELPLESS AS I DID FROM THE BEGINNING, BECAUSE I DO HAVE AN AVENUE TO TELL STORIES THROUGH YOUR SYSTEM AND OTHER SYSTEMS. I FEEL GOOD THAT I'M ABLE TO HELP SHED THE LIGHT AND GET THE STORY TO THE SCHOOLS. I FEEL BETTER ABOUT IT NOW. I STILL -- AT THE END, I THINK ABOUT HOW HE DIED AND THE PRICE HE PAID. >> REVEREND, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TALKING WITH US TODAY. >> MY PLEASURE. LOOK FORWARD TO MEETING YOU.