SkipCaptcha
35,519
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 33:
Line 33: + +
→Senate opponents block the Act
In 1935, the Costigan–Wagner Act was reintroduced, particularly motivated in response to the brutal torture and lynching murder of Claude Neal.<ref name=archive,pp.76-77/> The legislation was blocked by Southern Democrats in what ''[[The New York Times]]'' designated "one of the most determined filibusters of recent years."<ref name=vassar/> Mississippi senator Pat Harrison, who previously led the white supremacist congressional circle defeating the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill of 1922, proposed allowing the bill to be taken up, whereupon he would immediately introduce a motion to lay it aside. The more radical Southern Democratic proposal, consistent with their parliamentary orthodoxy, was to directly filibuster it to death.<ref name=vassar/>
In 1935, the Costigan–Wagner Act was reintroduced, particularly motivated in response to the brutal torture and lynching murder of Claude Neal.<ref name=archive,pp.76-77/> The legislation was blocked by Southern Democrats in what ''[[The New York Times]]'' designated "one of the most determined filibusters of recent years."<ref name=vassar/> Mississippi senator Pat Harrison, who previously led the white supremacist congressional circle defeating the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill of 1922, proposed allowing the bill to be taken up, whereupon he would immediately introduce a motion to lay it aside. The more radical Southern Democratic proposal, consistent with their parliamentary orthodoxy, was to directly filibuster it to death.<ref name=vassar/>
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.