‘HALLELUJAH’

Senate Passes Anti-Lynching Bill, Sending Emmett Till Act to Biden’s Desk for Signature

The legislation will finally make lynching a federal hate crime, after “more than 200 failed attempts,” according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

By unanimous consent, the U.S. Senate on Monday night passed legislation that would designate lynching as a federal hate crime. “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,” Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in remarks from the floor. “Hallelujah. It's long overdue.” The first attempt to introduce anti-lynching legislation was made in 1918, according to Axios. “That it took so long is a stain—a bitter stain—on America,” Schumer added. Under the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which will now go to President Joe Biden for his signature, a convicted perpetrator of lynching would face up to 30 years in prison for a hate crime. The bill, authored by Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL), is named after the 14-year-old Black boy who was tortured and killed in Mississippi in 1955. When the bill reached the House of Representatives one week ago, it was passed by a vote of 422 to three. Voting against it were three Republicans: Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Chip Roy of Texas, and Thomas Massie of Kentucky.