Emmett Till Antilynching Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Madam Speaker, today, I rise in support of H.R. 35, the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, a bill that will specify lynching as a hate crime.

This bill corrects a longstanding omission from Federal civil rights law. Historically, nearly 200 antilynching bills were filibustered out of existence or just plain ignored.

Lynchings were violent and public acts of torture used for nearly a century to enforce racial segregation.

This legislation is long overdue. Lynchings were wrong, immoral, and inhumane.

This bill is named in honor of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American youth from Chicago who was lynched in my district in 1955 while visiting an uncle in Mississippi.

There is a memorial dedicated to Mr. Till in my district. Unfortunately, it is the only memorial in America that has to be bulletproof.

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding an additional minute.

In years past, the signs have been stolen, thrown in the river, replaced; shot, replaced again; shot again; defaced with acid; and had ``KKK'' spray-painted on them.

The signs were placed near the spot where Mr. Till's body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River in 1955.

The 14-year-old was tortured and killed by two White men after false accusations that he flirted with a White woman.

His death became an important catalyst in the civil rights movement.

With the passage of this bill, we hope to heal the past and present racial injustice. Our country is in need of reconciliation.

Lynching claimed the lives of an immeasurable number of African Americans, yet the perpetrators were never held accountable. Conversely, official inaction has left lasting scars on our communities.

Today, I represent Mississippi's Second Congressional District, which includes the area where Emmett Till was lynched. His murderers were never held accountable for what they did.

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Collins very much for yielding.

This is kind of emotional for me, because I knew this young man's mother before she died, a very wonderful lady who suffered an unfortunate tragedy at the hands of some dastardly individuals.

But more importantly, we are a better country than what that deed dictates.

I support Congressman Rush's bill. It is a bill that is long overdue. But just as important, we have to commit ourselves to making this country a better country.

In the little town of Glendora, where the fan that was attached to young Emmett's body that sank in the Tallahatchie River was found, there is a little museum dedicated not only to Mr. Till, but to the atrocities that have occurred in my district over time.

Madam Speaker, I compliment those individuals for putting the museum together and also for dedicating themselves to letting the world know what happened, but also recommitting ourselves to try not to let it happen again.

So we must pass this legislation, Madam Speaker. We must pass it to correct the inactions of those before us. The inaction of others does not relieve one of the obligation to do what is right.

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