Senate Must Follow House and Denounce Lynchin

WASHINGTON – Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement on the bipartisan House of Representatives’ passage of H.R. 35, the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which would designate lynching as a hate crime under federal law:

“A near-unanimous House has taken an important step to recognize the more than four thousand lynching victims, including Emmett Till. These racially motivated acts of terror – directed primarily at African Americans – have plagued our nation for too long, and now the Senate must move swiftly and take up the House bill. Senate action would move us one step closer to sending a clear message: hate crimes and bigotry are wrong and we will not tolerate them.” 

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 220 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.