Changes

Renewed motivations for the passage of the Dyer Bill followed after the lynching of Oscar Mack in Kissimmee, Florida; Mack, after obtaining a government contract permitting him to deliver mail from the railroad station to the post office, angered local whites particularly as he beat other contenders for the position.<ref name=waldrep,p.76/> An assistant postmaster, foreseeing a violent attack, gave Mack a pistol, which was used in self-defense on July 16 in retaliation against a white supremacist mob firing into his home. Mack shot and killed two aggressors among the mob, intensifying anger among local whites who despised black self-defense.<ref name=waldrep,p.76/>

Renewed motivations for the passage of the Dyer Bill followed after the lynching of Oscar Mack in Kissimmee, Florida; Mack, after obtaining a government contract permitting him to deliver mail from the railroad station to the post office, angered local whites particularly as he beat other contenders for the position.<ref name=waldrep,p.76/> An assistant postmaster, foreseeing a violent attack, gave Mack a pistol, which was used in self-defense on July 16 in retaliation against a white supremacist mob firing into his home. Mack shot and killed two aggressors among the mob, intensifying anger among local whites who despised black self-defense.<ref name=waldrep,p.76/>

A government agent involved in Mack's case over the mailing contract, Leon Howe, desperately urged federal protection of Mack against a mob lynching:<ref name=waldrep,p.77>"African Americans Confront Lynching," p. 77.</ref>

A government agent involved in Mack's case over the mailing contract, Leon Howe, desperately urged federal protection of Mack against a mob lynching:<ref name=waldrep,p.77>"African Americans Confront Lynching," p. 97.</ref>

[[File:Charles Curtis.jpg|thumb|right|Sen. Curtis (R–KS).]]

[[File:Charles Curtis.jpg|thumb|right|Sen. Curtis (R–KS).]]

{{cquote|This case appears to offer an opportunity to obtain Federal jurisdiction, as Mack was a government employee. This agent holds no brief for negroes, but from my brief residence in Florida I am convinced that some federal action should be taken in such cases as these.|||Agent Leon Howe, cir. July 1922}}

{{cquote|This case appears to offer an opportunity to obtain Federal jurisdiction, as Mack was a government employee. This agent holds no brief for negroes, but from my brief residence in Florida I am convinced that some federal action should be taken in such cases as these.|||Agent Leon Howe, cir. July 1922}}