Lynching is Now a Federal Hate Crime
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden signed a bill that now makes lynching a federal hate crime. The bill that is now a law is known as The Emmett Till Antilynching Act of 2022. The bill is named after Emmett Till, a black child who was brutally murdered in 1955 by white men for allegedly whistling at a white woman.
The ceremony which took place in the Rose Garden of The White House was attended by Congress, advocates and the great-granddaughter of Ida B. Wells-Barnett. Ms Wells was an American journalist and civil rights leader. She was one of the founding members of the NAACP.
During the signing, President Biden stated that this bill represented all of the black people who lost their lives as a result of hate crimes even naming Ahmaud Arbery, a black man who was murdered in a racially motivated hate crime.
What’s surprising is how long this bill took to get passed. It has taken advocates more than a century to get the bill passed. Vice President Kamala Harris stated that the first bill was brought before Congress in 1900 and has been introduced over 200 times to Congress. Back in 2018 as a senator Harris along with New Jersey Senator Cory Booker and Tim Scott, a Republican Senator from South Carolina brought a bill before Congress that would make lynching a federal hate crime. The Justice For Lynching Victims Act was approved in the Senate but did not pass through The House of Representatives. It should also be noted that three Republicans still voted against the bill and they are Chip Roy of Texas, Andrew Clyde of Georgia and Thomas Massie of Kentucky.
Emmett Till’s cousin reacted to the news by stating that his family was devastated that no one was ever held accountable for this brutal murder. He also went on to say that this new law shows that the memory of Emmett is still powerful and that this law should make sure that no one can get away with such a crime again.
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