Vigalantee made the song as a tribute to Till, but the song has not been without controversy. Beyond speaking on a painful time in American history, the song also uses a shotgun as part of the beat. When he was asked to remove the shotgun blast from the song, the rapper refused to do so. I agree with him. There is no point in sugar coating the story for anyone.

The Emmett Till story is one that reminds us of our country's sick racial foundation. This event happened just a few decades ago, and many members of Congress, heads of corporations, major media executives and teachers of our children were alive and well during that era. They were raised by people who thought that whistling at a white woman was an unacceptable thing for a black man to do. So, given the direct impact that such warped attitudes had on the creation of modern-day America, it might be a bit silly to think that we live in a post-racial society.

If our nation doesn't work hard to fulfill Dr. King's dream, we will always be living a big American lie. In some ways, when it comes to honestly dealing with racism, we are still a nation of cowards.

The video for the song is below.