According to Wikipedia's article on Emmett Till, Sterling wrote the original script with the focus on the murder of the 14 year old black boy. Sterling was apparently fascinated how Mississippi whites supported the Till's murderers. The shows sponsors forced Sterling to make changes in the script to avoid mentioning Till or that the murder victim was black. In 1958, Sterling revisited this subject matter in his drama A Town Has Turned to Dust for Playhouse 90, starring Rod Steiger and William Shatner. Once again. Sterling had to make changes to his script remove any mention of the murder victim being black or that it was in the South.