Gavin Howe
Between 1882 and 1968, nearly 200 anti-lynching bills were introduced in Congress, and three passed the House. Seven presidents between 1890 and 1952 petitioned Congress to pass a federal law. However, until 2022, no bills were approved by the Senate due to the powerful opposition of the conservative Southern Democratic voting bloc. The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, first introduced in 1918, passed the House in 1922 but was blocked by Southern Democrats in the Senate. Similar attempts to pass anti-lynching legislation, such as the Costigan-Wagner Bill of 1934, met the same fate due to filibusters and strong opposition from Southern senators.
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What You'll Learn
The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill
The bill was passed by a large majority in the House of Representatives in 1922 but was prevented from coming to a vote in the U.S. Senate until 1935 due to filibusters by the Southern Democratic bloc. Southern Senators opposed anti-lynching laws on the grounds that blacks were responsible for more crime and that lynchings were a response to rapes—an issue that should be left for states to deal with.
The Dyer Bill was defeated by filibuster in the Senate by Southern Democrats. When another bill, the Costigan-Wagner Bill, was introduced in 1935 and 1938, it was opposed by Senator William Borah, who argued that it was no longer needed as the number of lynchings had dropped sharply. It wasn't until 2022 that both chambers of Congress passed an Act to make lynching a federal crime.
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Southern Democrats' opposition
The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill was first introduced to the United States Congress on April 1, 1918, by Republican Congressman Leonidas C. Dyer of St. Louis, Missouri. The bill made lynching a federal crime, and those who participated in lynching would be prosecuted by the federal government. Despite the bill's passage by the United States House of Representatives in 1922, its progress was blocked by Southern Democrats in the Senate. This was due to the powerful opposition of the conservative Southern Democratic voting bloc, who argued that lynchings were a response to rapes and that it was an issue for individual states to deal with.
Southern Democrats opposed anti-lynching laws and other civil rights legislation on the grounds that blacks were responsible for more crime, more babies born out of wedlock, and required strong measures to keep them under control. They also believed that punishing state officials for failing to prevent lynchings was unconstitutional and that federal legislation would not be effective if states could not prevent such murders.
The Dyer Bill was not the only anti-lynching legislation to face opposition from Southern Democrats. The Costigan-Wagner Bill, introduced in 1934 and 1935, was also killed by Democrats without a definitive vote. In 1937, an attempt to add an anti-lynching bill as a rider to a train-limit bill was voted down, with the majority of Democrats, including many from the North, voting against it.
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The Costigan-Wagner Bill
The bill aimed to end mob rule and vigilante justice that targeted the Black community. It received support from many members of Congress, but intense opposition from Southern members and apathy from many Northern senators ultimately defeated it. Southern Democrats justified their opposition by arguing that lynchings were a response to rapes and that they were an issue that should be left for states to deal with.
In 1935, there was mounting pressure and lobbying to persuade President Franklin D. Roosevelt to support the bill. However, Roosevelt refused to speak out in favour of the legislation, arguing that it would alienate white voters in the South and cause him to lose the next election. The bill died without ever going to a vote in the Senate.
The failure of the Costigan-Wagner Bill was part of a broader pattern of Democratic senators killing federal anti-lynching legislation. From 1882 to 1968, nearly 200 anti-lynching bills were introduced in Congress, and only three passed the House. It was not until 2022 that an anti-lynching bill finally became law.
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The Justice for Victims of Lynching Act
Between 1882 and 1968, nearly 200 anti-lynching bills were introduced in Congress, with three passing the House. However, none of these bills were approved by the Senate due to the opposition of the conservative Southern Democratic voting bloc. The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, for instance, was passed by a large majority in the House of Representatives in 1922, but was prevented from coming to a vote in the Senate by Southern Democrats, who formed a powerful block.
A revised version of the bill was introduced in the 117th Congress, which included a serious bodily injury standard. This version was passed by the House on February 28, 2022, and by the Senate on March 7, 2022.
It is worth noting that some critics, such as Senator Rand Paul, argued that the bill was unnecessary as lynching was already illegal under federal law. Despite this, supporters of the bill, like Senator Kamala Harris, criticized attempts to amend or weaken it.
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The Emmett Till Antilynching Act
The Act was introduced in the House of Representatives by Representative Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) as H.R. 55 for the 117th Congress. It was passed by the House on February 28, 2022, by a vote of 422-3. The bill was then introduced in the Senate by Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.), and it passed unanimously on March 7, 2022. The Act amends section 249(a) of Title 18 of the United States Code to include lynching as a federal hate crime.
The passage of the Emmett Till Antilynching Act represents a significant step towards addressing racial injustice and providing equal justice for all citizens in the United States.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, despite nearly 200 anti-lynching bills being introduced to Congress since 1918, all were voted down until 2022. Democrats killed every effort to pass federal anti-lynching legislation, including at least six times during the New Deal Coalition.
Democrats used filibusters, led by the Southern Democratic bloc, to prevent anti-lynching laws from coming to a vote in 1922, 1923, and 1924.
Southern Democrats opposed anti-lynching laws on the grounds that they believed blacks were responsible for more crime and that lynchings were a response to rapes. They also believed that it was an issue for individual states to deal with, rather than the federal government.
Yes, in 2018, Senators Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, and Tim Scott introduced the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act, which passed the Senate unanimously. However, the bill ultimately failed because it was not passed by the House before the end of the congressional session.
