FAMILY OF EMMETT TILL RELEASES STATEMENT ON EMMETT TILL ANTI LYNCHING BILL VOTE EXPECTED TODAY
FAMILY OF EMMETT TILL RELEASES STATEMENT ON EMMETT TILL ANTI LYNCHING BILL VOTE EXPECTED TODAY
The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to make history today,
February 26, 2020 by passing the Emmett Till Antilynching Act (H.R. 35), introduced by
Congressman Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill). The legislation would make lynching a criminal federal offense punishable up to life in prison.
“The significance of the House approving the Emmett Till Antilynching Act is extraordinary, especially during Black History Month” said Representative Rush. “For the first time in the history of this nation, we will have a federal statute that outlaws lynching, making it a federal hate crime.”
Founders of the Mamie Till Mobley Memorial Foundation and cousins of Emmett Till, Ollie Gordon, and daughter, Airickca Gordon-Taylor, released the following official statement regarding the upcoming U.S. House of Representatives vote on H.R. 35, the Emmett Till Antilynching Act.
“We are happy to finally see legislation introduced that would designate lynching as a hate crime under federal law. The pain and suffering endured by our family in the heinous crime committed against our cousin Emmett Till still haunts us to this day. We are eternally grateful to Congressman Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.) for pushing the needle forward on H.R. 35. His longstanding fight for social justice is commended and will help save many lives against racially motivated crimes.”
Emmett Till, a 14-year old from South Side Chicago, was brutally murdered in August of 1955 while visiting family in Money, Mississippi, for allegedly flirting with a white woman. However, many of these claims have since been debunked. His murder trial revealed the brutality of Jim Crow segregation. The image of his mutilated body pictured in an open casket by the former Chicago-based Jet Magazine fueled the civil rights movement.
Rep. Rush promised to introduce the bill at the behest of Rev Jesse L. Jackson Sr., founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and an advocate of federal antilynching legislation. Sens. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Tim Scott (R- S.C.) spearheaded a similar bill in the Senate and Rep. Rush expects President Trump to sign his bill into law because, “It’s in Trump’s best interest to do so.”
According to The Washington Post, in 1900, 120 years ago this week, the nation’s only black congressman, Rep. George Henry White (R-N.C.), stood on the House floor to read an unprecedented piece of anti-lynching legislation to a roomful of white faces. Similar legislation has come, and failed, over 200 times in the 20th century.
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