The Senate on Monday passed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which categorizes lynching as a federal hate crime. The bill now awaits President Joe Biden’s signature.
Although it was a momentous occasion, with the bill approved by unanimous consent in the upper chamber a week after it passed the House by a 422-3 vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the long wait remains a “bitter stain” on the United States more than a century after the first anti-lynching legislation was introduced in Congress.
“While this will not erase the horrific injustices to which tens of thousands of African Americans have been subjected over the generations, nor fully heal the terror inflicted on countless others, it is an important step forward as we continue the work of confronting our nation’s past in pursuit of a brighter and more just future,” the New York Democrat said.
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The legislation is named after Emmett Till, a 14-year-old black boy who, in 1955, was shot and killed by a group of white men in Mississippi for allegedly flirting with a white woman. His brutal murder served as one of the catalysts for the civil rights movement.
Those who are found guilty of violating the new anti-lynching law could face up to 30 years in prison.
“After more than 200 failed attempts to outlaw lynching, Congress is finally succeeding in taking the long-overdue action by passing the Emmett Till Antilynching Act. Hallelujah. It’s long overdue,” Schumer said.
He also praised the work of Sens. Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, and Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, for their efforts to get the legislation passed in the Senate as well as Rep. Bobby Rush, an Illinois Democrat, who introduced the bill in the House.
“Nearly seven decades later, the brutal murder of Emmett Till is forever seared into our collective memory. Sadly, hateful attacks are not yet a relic of the past,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement last week. “Any act of bigoted violence is an attack on the most basic promise of American Democracy: ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’ House Democrats will not rest until we guarantee these inalienable rights for every American.”
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The first anti-lynching legislation, the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, was introduced in 1918 by Rep. Leonidas Dyer, a Missouri Republican, according to the NAACP.
