After more than 200 failed attempts, including a blocked measure as late as 2020, the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act was finally signed into law by President Joe Biden on Tuesday. USA Today reports that many Black leaders around the country have praised its passage, acknowledging this is long overdue given the atrocities done to Emmett Till and others throughout history. While this is a massive victory, others note that more fights are to be had concerning Black rights in America.
The President of Color of Change, Rashad Robinson, stated that while the legislation is essential, there is more work ahead concerning police brutality and voting rights.
“I think it’s important to ensure that we put this legislation in place and that it’s enforced,” said Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change, an online-focused civil rights group. “At the same time, it’s important that we continue to work to deal with all the ways that anti-Black racism shows up, from police violence to the ways in which our votes and ability to express ourselves in a democracy are being stolen.”
On Twitter, former first lady Michelle Obama spoke about the law’s passage coming with a “lot of different emotions.”
“For many Black folks, this historic moment comes with a lot of different emotions — I know it does for me,” she wrote. “Antilynching legislation was first introduced over a century ago—and failed to pass over 200 times. Now, the Emmett Till Antilynching Act is a chance to reckon with our history, and move in a new direction—one that makes this country safer and more just for us all.”
Chief of staff and culture at the Southern Poverty Law Center, Lecia Brooks, noted the law’s passage was “thrilling and tremendously important.”
“It brings attention to racism, made manifest through the lynching of Black people, at a time when people are pushing back on teaching about our full history,” Brooks said. “So it’s important on a number of levels, and it holds us accountable in new and important ways.”
Rep. Bobby L. Rush, a sponsor of the house version of the bill and who will retire after 15 terms, called the signing “a day of enormous consequence for our nation.”
“When I think of what this means — that we can finally provide justice for the victims of this heinous act; that we will be able to reckon with our nation’s legacy of lynching; and that we will, once and for all, send a strong message that we will not stand for these abhorrent crimes — I am elated,” Rush said in a statement.