- Rep. Justin Amash (I–Mich.)(who really doesn’t understand how some states work)
- Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX)
- Rep. Thomas Massie (R–Ky.)
- Rep. Ted Yoho (R–Fla.)
History repeats: From 1922 – “The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, proposed by Missouri Republican Representative Leonidas C. Dyer, classified lynching as a federal felony, which would have given the federal government authority to prosecute lynching cases at a time when state and local authorities rarely did.
Action – Call your legislators. H.R. 35 is long overdue.
The Senate passed legislation to make lynching a federal crime in February, last year. The bill, introduced by Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.), makes lynching punishable as a hate crime.
Some people may be under the misapprehension that lynching violence is a long-ago historical travesty. They are mistaken.
“We’ve already waited way too long. Far too often we’ve seen in Mississippi over and over again (people) hanging from trees or hanging in a jail cell, and what do they call it? A suicide.” – Rukia Lumumba, lawyer.”
H.R. 35, the Emmet Till Antilynching Act, was introducted by Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-IL) . Emmett Till, was only 14 years old when he was kidnapped, tortured and brutally murdered in 1955 after he allegedly whistled at a white woman in Mississippi. His death was a turning point in the civil rights movement. Rep Rush said in a statment last week: “For too long, lynching has not been classified as a federal crime, but to borrow a quote from Rev. King, ‘the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice'”
Minimal Script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Rep. [___] to pass H.R. 35 – Emmett Till Anti-lynching Act.
More script if you want it.: That this law wasn’t passed 120 years ago when first introduced, nor any of the nearly 200 antilynching bills introduced afterwards, is a national disgrace.
“May this nation, too, refuse to rest in the fight to guarantee all its citizens equal protection under the law.” – Tulani Salahu-Din, Museum Specialist, Office of Curatorial Affairs
Here is the actual text of H.R. 35, with some additions from us.
(10) Between 1890 and 1952, seven Presidents petitioned Congress to end lynching.
(11) Between 1920 and 1940, the House of Representatives passed three strong antilynching measures, of which Congress came closest to enacting antilynching legislation sponsored by Congressman Leonidas C. Dyer in 1922.
(12) On all three occasions, opponents of antilynching legislation, argued States’ rights and used the filibuster, or the threat of it, to block the Senate from voting on the measures.
(13) The enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 was the closest Congress ever came in the post-Reconstruction era to enacting antilynching legislation.
(14) In 2005, the Senate passed a resolution, sponsored by Senators Mary Landrieu and George Allen, apologizing for the Senate’s failure to enact antilynching legislation as a Federal crime, with Senator Landrieu saying, “There may be no other injustice in American history for which the Senate so uniquely bears responsibility.”
(15) To heal past and present racial injustice, Congress must make lynching a Federal crime so our Nation can begin reconciliation.
SEC. 3. SPECIFYING LYNCHING AS A HATE CRIME ACT.
Section 249(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5); and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
“(4) OFFENSES INVOLVING LYNCHING.—Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, willfully, acting as part of any collection of people, assembled for the purpose and with the intention of committing an act of violence upon any person, causes death to any person, shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined under this title, or both.”.
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift from Dawn Simon Spears and Alvin Spears, Sr.