Biden admonishes Republican attempts to ‘bury history’ as he creates Emmett Till national monument

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy President Joe Biden has signed a proclamation to establish a national monument recognising the killing of Emmett Till, whose lynching in 1955 magnified an era of racist violence and galvanized a civil rights movement. President Joe Biden embraces Rev Wheeler Parker, Emmett Till’s cousin and one of the last people to see him alive in 1955 Joining the president and Vice President Kamala Harris was Till’s cousin, 83-year-old Rev Wheeler Parker, who was 16 years old and one of the last people to see Till alive when Roy Bryant and JW Milam abducted Till. I will not be silent nor will you be silent about it.” The Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument will include three federally protected sites spanning Illinois and Mississippi central to the family’s story. In a White House ceremony to sign the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act, the president condemned the “pure terror to enforce the lie that not everyone belongs in America, not everyone is created equal.” The proclamation signed by Mr Biden on 25 July also directs the National Park Service to develop plans with local communities and organizations to support other potential sites in Mississippi and Illinois that tell the story of the Till family.