Yancy: Talk about racism and how the brutal murder of young Emmit Till impacted your early consciousness.

Outlaw: The murder of Emmit Till had quite an impact on me, so much so that I characterize myself as being part of the Emmit Till generation: that is, I lived in Mississippi, the state in which Emmit was killed, and I was about the same age as he was when he was killed. Such a murder certainly strikes a chord when you're a Black male teenager living in Mississippi, particularly in terms of impacting my thinking about the brutal extent to which some white males were prepared to go to deal with what they took to be violations of the rules prohibiting relations between Black males and white females that in any way might involve sexuality. The racist murder of Emmit Till thus solidified firmly in my mind (and soul) certain notions regarding relationships with white females-about how and why not to be involved in relationships with such females-notions that conditioned my approach to white women for many, many years, even today. The saga of Emmit Till certainly conditioned my thinking about race, racism, and sex in America.