The book describes a culture of racism in the American South that manifested in beliefs as well as practices. The primary belief, in this case, was that whites were superior to blacks. As a consequence, a series of social rules were cemented in Southern culture which held that blacks were obliged to behave in a deferential and respectful manner toward whites at all times. If they did not abide by these implicit rules, they risked violence of various kinds, from the economic violence of being denied access to bank loans to the physical violence of beatings and lynchings. Emmett Till was kidnapped, beaten, and murdered for violating the unwritten rule that black men were not to touch white women.

In addition to recounting how systemic racism and a culture of white superiority led to Emmett Till’s brutal death, the book also explores the history of racial intolerance in America. Racism has been a facet of American culture since the nation’s founding. Africans were kidnapped and then forcibly shipped across the Atlantic to America, where they worked for whites for no monetary compensation. These slaves where then excluded from the equality enshrined in the US Constitution through initiatives like the Three-Fifths Compromise, racial stratification, the one-drop rule, and segregation.