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 2022 that both houses passed an Act to make lynching a federal crime.[7]

  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. ^ 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.