Posted on March 30, 2026 in Featured Review
Authors:
Jacquelyn A. KegleyOpen Casket: Philosophical Meditations on the Lynching of Emmett Till, ed. by George Yancy and A. Todd Franklin. Bloomsbury Academic, 2025. 313p, ISBN 9798881806378 $110.00, ISBN 9798881806385 $40.00, ISBN 9798765165218
Open Casket presents a set of insightful reflections on the meaning and significance of the brutal murder of Emmett Till, which occurred 70 years ago, and his mother Mamie Till-Mobley’s profound act of courage in demanding that the world view the open casket of her son, brutalized by the viciousness of white folks. As she is noted for saying, “People had to face my son and realize how twisted, how distorted, how terrifying racial hatred could be” (p. 78). The exposure of racial hatred was especially important then, in the era of Jim Crow, but it is still equally important today as the devaluation and criminalization of Black people, Black men in particular, continues. Witness the senseless killings of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and George Floyd (to name just a few). Witness the false criminalization of the Central Park Five, the accusations against Black birder Christian Cooper (also in Central Park), and the overwhelming number of Black and brown persons in prison. Linking the past to this present in his essay “Unconscious Resonances: Identification, Até, and the Mythic Emmett Till,” Sheldon George writes that “Till emerged as the sacrificial lamb of the Civil Rights Movement … whose death promises the longed-for redemption of both a suffering people tormented by racism and a blighted nation stained by the blood-spills of white racists” (p. 209). Reflecting on the discipline of philosophy’s complicity in this chain of events, Josiah Ulysses Young III reminds readers in “Bobo and the Anti-Black Logos” of the anti-Black views of classic philosophers who placed Black people at the bottom of their perceived hierarchy of humanity.
As in their other published works, editors Yancy (Emory Univ.) and Franklin (Hamilton College) here take up the theme of the devaluation of Blackness. Yancy’s Black Bodies, White Gazes: The Continuing Significance of Race in America (CH, Jun’09, 46-5544), now in its third edition, is a well-known and well-received work on this theme. Yancy has also edited works dealing with anti-Blackness, including Until Our Lungs Give Out: Conversations on Race, Justice, and the Future (CH, Sep’24, 62-0074), which was a Choice Outstanding Academic Title in 2024. Franklin works on the interface between existential thought and African American thought, evidenced in his co-edited volume, Critical Affinities: Nietzsche and African American Thought (2006). His chapter, “Emmett Till’s Body,” in Yancy’s other edited collection, Black Men from Behind the Veil (CH, Nov’22, 60-0904), is particularly relevant to the themes explored in Open Casket, exploring how the haunting evidence of the brutality Till faced, exhibited on his body, should stir everyone to anti-racist action.
Black mothers have been central to fighting racist violence and central to the struggle for Black dignity and determination
p. 157
The essays in this powerful book all contribute to setting out the theme of anti-Blackness as it has existed and still exists. Another important goal of this work is to promote Black dignity. Keri Day, in her essay “Revolutionary Black Motherhood Beyond Resistance?” writes that “Black mothers have been central to fighting racist violence and central to the struggle for Black dignity and determination” (p. 157). As she goes on to note, “Mamie refused to allow despair to overtake her in the wake of her son’s death” (p. 161). Despite facing unimaginable pain and loss, she remained bravely determined to stand against racism and push for her son’s dignity in death.
Open Casket is an important contribution to establishing a new field of philosophical inquiry into racism, focusing on the themes of witnessing and revealing. Those who murdered Emmett Till attempted to hide their crime and to vanish his body. However, thanks to the courage of Emmett’s mother and others, this attempt was aborted, and the world was able to witness his body and, in doing so, witness the viciousness of white racism. Today, civic witnessing is enabled not only by human courage but also by technology, especially smartphones. Prepared, or even propagandistic, narratives can be easily dismantled by ordinary people with courage and a phone. Witness today the challenges raised to the official narratives about the killings of two U.S. citizens, Renée Good and Alex Pretti, by ICE agents in Minnesota. The administration’s narratives about what actually happened to these two individuals have come under dispute because of phone recordings taken by ordinary bystanders who happened to be at the scene in both cases.
This book is a valuable resource for students, scholars, and the general reading public, offering insight into both past and current struggles for human rights and dignity and demonstrating the power of civic witnessing.
Summing Up: Highly Recommended. General readers through faculty; professionals.
Interdisciplinary Subjects: African and African American Studies, Racial Justice
Subject: Humanities – Philosophy
Jacquelyn A. Kegley is a retired professor of philosophy and religious studies at California State University, Bakersfield, where she taught courses on race, class, gender, and sexuality and philosophy, technology, and human values.
 | Lavonna Lovern’s review of Until Our Lungs Give Out (2023): “Speaking Truth to Power: George Yancy in Conversation with Leading Intellectuals in Pursuit of Justice and Love“ |
 | Mary K. Bloodsworth-Lugo’s review of The Case for Rage (2021): “Channeling Lordean Rage: How Anger Can Be a Tool of Anti-Racist Action“ |
 | Clarence Shole’ Johnson’s review of Prophetic Leadership and Visionary Hope (2023): “Cornel West in Review: Leading Scholars Reconsider his Theories on Race“ |
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