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==Senate opponents block the Act==

==Senate opponents block the Act==

[[File:Edward P. Costigan 1935 subcommittee hearing.png|thumb|right|200px|Costigan at a subcommittee hearing.]]

[[File:Edward P. Costigan 1935 subcommittee hearing.png|thumb|right|240px|Costigan at a subcommittee hearing.]]

[[File:Joseph T. Robinson of AR.jpg|thumb|right|230px|Prominent progressive leader [[Joe T. Robinson]] attempted to defeat the Act using a motion to adjourn the Senate.]]

Due to the Senate under the control of Democrats, who swept elections nationwide in the wake of the [[Great Depression]] amid backlash against Republican policies, the battle for the bill's passage was uphill from the start. The fact that the [[Senate Majority Leader]] was [[Joseph T. Robinson]] of [[Arkansas]] only ensured the bill's defeat. Although mainstream sources mostly ignore his anti–civil rights role,<ref group=note>This is likely due to Robinson's indisputable reputation as a hardline progressive leftist among the Southern bloc; due to contemporary left-wing academics defining civil rights as a "left-wing" position and white supremacy as "right-wing," pointing out Robinson's role as an obstructor of civil rights legislation would destroy their own narratives.</ref> When Costigan asked Robinson to help pass the Act on the grounds that FDR voiced a limited level of support (Roosevelt issued a reply at a presidential news conference, the day after meeting with White, where he expressed lukewarm backing for a Senate vote), no reply was returned by the Arkansas Democratic leader.<ref name=archive,pp.76-77>"The Anti-Lynching Bill of 1935," pp. 76–77.</ref> The Colorado senator soon requested unanimous consent on the Senate floor to take up the bill as a means of bypassing sought-out approval from the chamber's leadership; the motion was denied when Southern Democrats Kenneth McKellar and Ellison D. "Cotton Ed" Smith refused consent.<ref name=archive,pp.76-77/>

Due to the Senate under the control of Democrats, who swept elections nationwide in the wake of the [[Great Depression]] amid backlash against Republican policies, the battle for the bill's passage was uphill from the start. The fact that the [[Senate Majority Leader]] was [[Joseph T. Robinson]] of [[Arkansas]] only ensured the bill's defeat. Although mainstream sources mostly ignore his anti–civil rights role,<ref group=note>This is likely due to Robinson's indisputable reputation as a hardline progressive leftist among the Southern bloc; due to contemporary left-wing academics defining civil rights as a "left-wing" position and white supremacy as "right-wing," pointing out Robinson's role as an obstructor of civil rights legislation would destroy their own narratives.</ref> When Costigan asked Robinson to help pass the Act on the grounds that FDR voiced a limited level of support (Roosevelt issued a reply at a presidential news conference, the day after meeting with White, where he expressed lukewarm backing for a Senate vote), no reply was returned by the Arkansas Democratic leader.<ref name=archive,pp.76-77>"The Anti-Lynching Bill of 1935," pp. 76–77.</ref> The Colorado senator soon requested unanimous consent on the Senate floor to take up the bill as a means of bypassing sought-out approval from the chamber's leadership; the motion was denied when Southern Democrats Kenneth McKellar and Ellison D. "Cotton Ed" Smith refused consent.<ref name=archive,pp.76-77/>

Several Southern Democratic senators employed different arguments in denouncing the Act when filibustering. [[South Carolina]] senator "Cotton Ed" Smith, a virulent demagogue, spouted racially motivated diatribes while [[Walter F. George]] of [[Georgia]] denounced lynching though spoke out against the bill on professed constitutional grounds.<ref name=archive,pp.79-82>"The Anti-Lynching Bill of 1935," pp. 79–82.</ref> Alabama senator [[Hugo Black]] (previously a member of the [[Ku Klux Klan]]) attacked the Act in absurdly arguing that it was an attack on labor unions, and the filibuster continued from Hugo Black, [[Josiah Bailey]], John H. Bankhead, [[Tom Connally]], and [[James F. Byrnes]].<ref name=archive,pp.79-82/> Costigan and Republican leader [[Charles McNary]] diligently led the support for the bill, though faced endless tirades of Southern Democrats employing various arguments, including Bankhead claiming that the Republican Party used it to hinder New Deal legislation.

Several Southern Democratic senators employed different arguments in denouncing the Act when filibustering. [[South Carolina]] senator "Cotton Ed" Smith, a virulent demagogue, spouted racially motivated diatribes while [[Walter F. George]] of [[Georgia]] denounced lynching though spoke out against the bill on professed constitutional grounds.<ref name=archive,pp.79-82>"The Anti-Lynching Bill of 1935," pp. 79–82.</ref> Alabama senator [[Hugo Black]] (previously a member of the [[Ku Klux Klan]]) attacked the Act in absurdly arguing that it was an attack on labor unions, and the filibuster continued from Hugo Black, [[Josiah Bailey]], John H. Bankhead, [[Tom Connally]], and [[James F. Byrnes]].<ref name=archive,pp.79-82/> Costigan and Republican leader [[Charles McNary]] diligently led the support for the bill, though faced endless tirades of Southern Democrats employing various arguments, including Bankhead claiming that the Republican Party used it to hinder New Deal legislation.

Robinson played a crucial part in killing the Costigan–Wagner Act. He introduced a motion to adjourn the Senate until the chamber would hold a debate over a separate piece of legislation, thus indefinitely stalling off passage of the Act.<ref name=vassar/> This stood in contrast to the two other proposals by anti–civil rights forces which suggested either laying it aside or directly filibustering it to death.

Robinson played a crucial part in killing the Costigan–Wagner Act. He introduced a motion to adjourn the Senate until the chamber would hold a debate over a separate piece of legislation, thus indefinitely stalling off passage of the Act.<ref name=vassar/> This stood in contrast to the two other proposals by anti–civil rights forces which suggested either laying it aside or directly filibustering it to death.