Beatty Attends Enrollment of Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Congresswoman and Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Joyce Beatty joined Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Hoyer, Representative Bobby Rush, and Representative Bennie Thompson, and others for the bill enrollment ceremony for the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act (H.R. 55), which designates lynching as a federal hate crime. In response to this historic passage, Congresswoman Beatty issued the following statement:

"The passage of The Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act recognizes that racially-motivated acts of terror have stained American history," said Beatty. "For over 100 years, Black Americans have lived in fear of this heinous act, which has taken the lives of over 4,000 innocent Black Americans. While this legislation is a reminder of how far we have come, it also shows us how much work we still have ahead of us," she continued. "Millions of Americans still face violence, racism, discrimination, and hatred in all levels of society to this day. The passage of The Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act is a cause for celebration; however, our fight for truly equality is far from complete."

The Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act is named in honor of Emmett Till, an innocent fourteen-year-old Black child who was burtually lynched by two white men after being accused of offending a white woman in her family's grocery store. Till's murderers were acquitted by an all white jury one month after his killing. The injustice surrounding Emmett Till's murder served as a driving force for the start of the Civil Rights Movement.