Three dozen black lawmakers introduced legislation this week that would make lynching a hate crime that would require an enhanced sentence.
“Lynching has never been classified as a federal crime, despite the many attempts over the years,” Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., said Wednesday. “While many may argue that lynching has been relegated to history, you only need to look at the events in Charlottesville last year to be reminded that the racist and hateful sentiments that spurred these abhorrent crimes are still prevalent in today’s American society.”
Rush said Congress needs to finish the work of Rep. Leonidas Dyer, a Missouri Republican, who first tried to pass an anti-lynching bill in 1918.
“Before legislative action occurred, trailblazing women who, with the backing of the NAACP, led the Anti-Lynching Crusaders,” Rush said. “They challenged the horrific, despicable, and racist practice of lynching, which ignited their activism,” said Rush.
“It is important that we finish their and Congressman Dyer’s work and that we rewrite the wrongs of history and pass federal anti-lynching legislation,” he said.
Rush’s bill is backed by 35 members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
