The Barn: The Murder of Emmett Till and the Cradle of American Racism

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How forces from around the world converged on the Mississippi Delta to cause one of the most notorious murders in US history. Emmett Till's murder is one of the most infamous in American history; a moment that, more than any other, awakened the world to the racism of the Deep South. Yet despite growing up just a few miles from where it happened, Wright Thompson knew nothing of it until he left Mississippi. This is no accident- the cover-up began at once, and it is ongoing. Over the course of five years' research, Thompson has learnt that almost every part of the standard account of Till's killing is wrong. In August 1955, after the two men charged with the murder were acquitted by an all-white jury, they gave a false confession to a journalist- one that was misleading about where the murder took place and who was involved. We now know that at least eight people were present, and many more complicit. And we now know precisely where it took place- inside a barn on a 36-square-mile grid called Township 22 North, Range 4 West. This book tells the story of that barn. It is the story of what really happened on the night of August 28, 1955, and of the individuals who have spent decades bringing the truth to light. And it is the story of the centuries-old forces that made that night inevitable- forces that, over the course of 200 years, transformed Township 22 North, Range 4 West from Choctaw land, to a slave plantation, to a sharecropper's farm, to the site of the most significant murder in US history. The result is a revelatory work of investigative reportage and a panoramic new history of white supremacy in America. It maps the road that the US - and the world - must travel to heal its oldest, deepest wound.

Reviews

Haunting . . . The Barn is part investigative journalism, part catharsis. Thompson travels back and forth through space and time, describing a brutal murder on one page, riffing about the blues on another. The story meanders like the myriad tributaries of the Mississippi. The writing is often breathtaking, brutality amplified through perfectly crafted prose. -- Gerard deGroot * The Times *
Extraordinary . . . Not only an intimate history of the tragedy, but also a deep meditation on Mississippi and America . . . While sifting through the dirt that buried the facts about Tills death, Thompson credits the work of the historians, journalists and filmmakers who have sought to tell the true tale. But he crafts a wider, deeper narrative. The Barn is serious history and skillful journalism, but with the nuance and wallop of a finely wrought novel . . . Describes not just the poison of silence and lies, but also the dignity of courage and truth. * Washington Post *
With a passion for truth and justice, and a fierce determination to dig for the secrets, Wright Thompson has produced an incredible history of a crime that changed America. -- John Grisham
It literally changed my outlook on the world . . . incredible. -- Shonda Rhimes
Powerfully pieces together the true story of a horrific murder in the Mississippi Delta in 1955. -- Books of the Month * Independent *
Powerful and unflinching . . . Whats unforgettable by the end of Thompsons book is just how thoroughly this country was built on a belief that some people were worthless and expendable because of the color of their skin . . . Books like The Barn offer some hope that America can heal its oldest and deepest wound. * Associated Press *
The most brutal, layered and absolutely beautiful book about Mississippi, and really how the world conspired with the best and worst parts of Mississippi, I will ever read . . . Every generation you get a few writers with the engine of a 747 and the skill of a wizard. We see it in Ward, Wright, Faulkner and Trethewey. And that finely crafted motor is on full display in this work by Wright Thompson. The Barn is the new standard in research and book-making. -- Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy: An American Memoir
In this important, diligently researched, and beautifully rendered story, Wright Thompson takes up one of the most consequential and tragic events of the twentieth century, the murder of Emmett Till, in the place where it happened. The land, the people, and circumstance are vivid on every page. With integrity, and soul, Thompson unearths the terrible how and why, carrying us back and forth through time, deep in Mississippi - baring, sweat, soil, and heart all the way through. Most of all, Thompson teaches us that history is the most important ghost story there is to tell, and that we - the haunted - must be healed. -- Imani Perry, Professor in African and African American Studies, Harvard University
Terrifying and humbling, The Barn is a chilling examination of the American strain of a nasty human disorder: the slow immolation that some communities initiate when they choose enabling mythologies, deceit, silence, injustice, and willed ignorance as their moral orders. * Boston Globe *
A gut-punch of a book . . . Foregoing the harrowing photos that emphasize Tills martyrdom, Thompson dives instead into family trees, court transcripts, witness memoirs and more to unearth the enormous human tragedy we forget at our peril. * LA Times *

Author Bio

Wright Thompson grew up in the Mississippi Delta, just a few dozen miles from the place of Emmett Till's murder. His 2021 article in the Atlantic, 'His Name Is Emmett Till', led to nationwide calls for a memorial at the site. The New York Times bestselling author of Pappyland and The Cost of These Dreams, he lives in Oxford, Mississippi with his family.