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Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill

Leonidas C. Dyer, Republican representative from Missouri, sponsor of the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill.

The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill (1918) was first introduced in the 65th United States Congress by Representative Leonidas C. Dyer, a Republican from St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States House of Representatives as H.R. 11279[1] in order “to protect citizens of the United States against lynching in default of protection by the States.”[2] It was intended to establish lynching as a federal crime. The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill was re-introduced in subsequent sessions of United States Congress and passed, 230 to 119,[3] by the House of Representatives on January 26, 1922,[4] but its passage was halted in the United States Senate by a filibuster by Southern Democrats, who formed a powerful block. Southern Democrats justified their opposition to the bill by arguing that lynchings were a response to rapes and proclaiming that lynchings were an issue that should be left for states to deal with.[4]

Attempts to pass similar legislation took a halt until the Costigan-Wagner Bill of 1934.[5] Subsequent bills followed but the Congress never made lynching a federal crime due to powerful opposition from Southern senators;[6] it was not until 2018 that the Senate passed the anti-lynching legislation Justice for Victims of Lynching Act, on which the House of Representatives took no action.

On February 26, 2020, the House passed a revised version, the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, by a vote of 410–4.[7] It was reintroduced in the 117th Congress with further revision. It was passed by the House on February 28, 2022, and by the Senate on March 7, 2022, marking the first time in the history of the United States Congress that an anti-lynching bill passed both houses.[8] President Joe Biden signed it into law on March 29, 2022.

  1. ^ Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States, Volume 65, Issue 2. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. 1918. p. 297.
  2. ^ "Anti-Lynching Legislation Renewed". US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives. Archived from the original on March 10, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  3. ^ "House Passes Bill to Curb Lynching— Votes 230 to 119 Making It a Federal Crime and Providing Penalties", The New York Times, January 27, 1922, p. 27
  4. ^ a b Francis, Megan Ming (2014). "Anti-Lynching Legislation and the Sinking of the Republican Ship in Congress". Civil Rights and the Making of the Modern American State. pp. 98–126. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139583749.004. ISBN 9781139583749. Archived from the original on 2021-03-07. Retrieved 2020-06-02. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  5. ^ "NAACP History: Anti-Lynching Bill". www.naacp.org. Archived from the original on 2015-05-16. Retrieved 2015-05-12.
  6. ^ Masur, Louis P. (December 28, 2018). "Why it took a century to pass an anti-lynching law". The Guardian. Archived from the original on February 17, 2019. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  7. ^ Ella Torres (February 26, 2022). "Emmett Till bill making lynching a federal crime passes House". ABC News. Archived from the original on February 26, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  8. ^ Sonmez, Felicia (March 8, 2022). "Senate unanimously passes anti-lynching bill after century of failure". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 8, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2022.

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