Last living witness to Emmett Till's kidnapping tells his story at SIU equity symposium

The Rev. Wheeler Parker, the last living eyewitness to Emmett Till’s 1955 kidnapping, recounted the fateful events that led to his cousin’s death at a Southern Illinois University equity symposium on Thursday.

“My story is not a pleasant story,” Parker told the crowd in Collinsville. “It's not a pretty story, but it's an American story.”

Two white men were accused of torturing and beating the 14-year-old Till to death after he whistled at a white woman working at a store. Parker said Till was known for making jokes and thought it was just an innocent prank.

“1955 in Mississippi, and you wolf whistle at a white woman — that’s death,” Parker said. “When he whistled, we all made a beeline to the car.”

His death is seen as a watershed event in the American Civil Rights Movement after photos of Till’s mutilated body were widely shown at his funeral.

Parker, who said Till was his best friend, traveled with him and other family members to Mississippi from the Chicago area where they lived.

After Till whistled at Carolyn Bryant, who claimed at the murder trial that Till also touched her and made obscene remarks, Parker said he and the other family members knew the situation would be bad. Parker said Till only whistled; he didn’t do anything else he was accused of.