Nobody would be less surprised than Dr. T.R.M. Howard by the news that Carolyn Bryant, the white woman at the center of the racially charged Emmett Till murder case, lied that the victim had sexually harassed her.

Till was a 14-year-old African-American who in 1955 was lynched, mutilated and dumped in the Tallahatchie River by Bryant’s husband, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother, J.W. Milam, after Till allegedly whistled at Carolyn Byrant.