CHARLESTON, S.C. — It took more than a century and almost 200 attempts, but Monday night the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill that will finally make lynching a federal hate crime in America.
Long championed by U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the anti-lynching legislation faced no opposition when it came before the Senate floor in a mostly empty chamber Monday night, making its passage a quiet moment that carries historic implications.
Some 122 years after an anti-lynching bill was first proposed by a Black congressman from North Carolina, a bill to make lynching a federal hate crime is on its way to the president's desk, where it is expected to be signed into law.
