A group of 12 cadets from the U.S. Military Academy West Point will be in Greenwood on Monday to learn about the struggle for civil rights.
State Sen. David Jordan, D-Greenwood, will lead the cadets on a tour of Delta landmarks.
“They’ve been to the South but never the Delta,” Jordan said.
The landmarks will include Greenwood’s City Hall, Booker’s Place and the Tallahatchie County Courthouse. The trial of Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam for the murder of Emmett Till was held at that courthouse in 1955.
Till, 14, had whistled at Bryant’s wife, Carolyn, while she was working at the Bryant Grocery and Meat Market in Money in Leflore County.
Both Bryant and Milam were acquitted by an all-white jury after a five-day trial. They later admitted in an interview in Look magazine that they had killed Till.
The visitors are scheduled to meet at Greenwood City Hall at 11 a.m. Monday, and the meeting will be open to the public. Jordan said some Greenwood veterans and ministers plan to attend.
Jordan said Maj. Daniel Sjursen, a professor of U.S. and civil rights history at West Point, began contacting him in January. He sent a letter saying that the department sends eight “hand-selected cadets (and future officers) to study and visit several key civil rights locations throughout the south.”
He said the cadets would be “familiar with the broad contours of the civil rights movements in the Delta” and would be prepared to ask questions. He also said they are “interested in contemporary issues of injustice — to include mass incarcerations, police brutality and systemic poverty.”
Jordan said the arrival of the cadets is a noteworthy event.
“They chose Greenwood over all the other Delta cities,” he said.
•Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
