Toni Morrison included Emmett Till in her novel to explore
the high rate of deaths of black youths.
She also believes there was a great injustice at what was done to Emmett
who was lynched and killed by two white men who were acquitted of the
crime. It sparked national outrage that
such violent act can done to young boy.
His sparked the anger of the Civil Rights Movement and forced the
government to re-evaluate its investigation of hate crimes on African
Americans.