Lynching Never Stopped. It Just Changed Its Name. 70+ Modern-Day Lynchings Since 2000. Zero Federal Prosecutions
Between 1865 and 1950, nearly 6,500 Black people were lynched in the United States. Many of those deaths were public spectacles — advertised in newspapers, attended by crowds of thousands, with postcards made of the bodies and mailed as souvenirs. Congress introduced more than 200 anti-lynching bills over the course of a century. The Senate blocked every single one. The Emmett Till Antilynching Act was finally signed into law in 2022 — making lynching a federal hate crime for the first time. It has never been used to prosecute a single case. And in 2026, a civil rights organization published a report — inspired by Ida B. Wells' historic Red Record — documenting more than 70 suspected modern-day lynchings across seven Southern states since the year 2000. Black men and women found hanging from trees. Officials ruling it suicide. Families saying no. Independent medical examiners sometimes agreeing with the families. The Emmett Till Antilynching Act sitting on the books, unused. In this episode, XO, AZ, and CDA sit down and go through all of it — the full history, the documented cases, the systemic failures, and what the community needs to know and demand right now.
Keywords: lynching history America, modern day lynching 2024 2025, Black men found hanging trees, Crimson Record report 2026, Emmett Till Antilynching Act never used, Trey Reed Delta State University, Javion Magee North Carolina, Trevontae Shubert-Helton Georgia, Dennoriss Richardson Alabama, Ida B. Wells Red Record, Equal Justice Initiative lynching report, lynching ruled suicide, Past Present Pushback podcast
• Equal Justice Initiative — Lynching in America report — lynchinginamerica.eji.org
• Equal Justice Initiative — National Memorial for Peace and Justice — equal justice initiative.org/national-memorial
• JULIAN Organization — 'A Crimson Record' 2026 report — julianjustice.org
• NAACP — History of Lynching in America — naacp.org
• Ida B. Wells — 'A Red Record' (1895) — available free at Project Gutenberg — gutenberg.org
• Department of Justice Civil Rights Division — report a civil rights violation — justice.gov/crt
• Emmett Till Antilynching Act — full text — congress.gov
MENTAL HEALTH NOTE: This episode covers deeply painful history. If you are struggling after listening — please reach out. Crisis Text Line: text HOME to 741741. National Alliance on Mental Illness: 1-800-950-6264. You are not alone.
