Daughter of lynching victim reacts to anti-lynching law - WSFA

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - On Tuesday, President Joe Biden signed into law the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act, the first bill that specifies lynching as a federal hate crime. For one Montgomery women this legislation comes decades too late.

Dec. 4, 1947 is a date Josephine Bolling McCall will never forget. It’s the day her father, Elmore Bolling, was lynched in Lowndes County.

“That date is seared in my memory,” McCall said.

“I was 5 years of age. I got to see my father lying in a ditch,” she said.

According to a Montgomery Advertiser article, the man suspected of killing her father alleged Bolling insulted his wife over the phone.

“This shows that he was shot six times with a pistol and once in the back with a shotgun,” McCall said.

His death led to efforts to pass national lynching legislation, but it would be another 75 years before Congress passed the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act that was signed into law this week.

“The laws now need to be actually enforced. Just to have them on the books does not mean anything. So they have to be enforced,” she said.

McCall has started a foundation in her father’s memory that helps meet the needs of the community. It’s a way to honor her father, who in his 39 years made a big impact.

“Had an excellent reputation, was 39 years old, married, and had seven children. And I’m number seven,” she said.

Bolling’s name is listed at the Equal Justice Initiative’s National Memorial for Peace and Justice. Police arrested one man for his death, but McCall says her research shows he was never indicted.

The new law carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and fines for anyone conspiring to commit an act of lynching that causes death or injury.

Copyright 2022 WSFA 12 News. All rights reserved.

source: https://www.wsfa.com/2022/04/01/daughter-lynching-victim-reacts-anti-lynching-law/

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