"'What'd he do it for?' asked Freddie. "He Knew he was in Mississipi. What he think he was at Tom Sawyer land?" Song of Solomon Pg. 81
In this quote one of the characters is discussing the murder of Emmett Till after it was announced at the barber shop. Till was killed or "stomped" to death in Mississippi upon supposedly whistling at a white woman. The analysis here comes in when Freddie enters the conversation. While some of the men in the barbershop (all black) respond with anger and outrage as seems appropriate there is another viewpoint present as well. Freddie seems to instead see the fault as laying with Emmett for not knowing better than to do what he did while in a southern state. This view is important as it indicates a certain attitude of the time. The acceptance that a person can be killed not for breaking any rule or law, but for simply stepping out of their place.
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