“By Parties Unknown”

Abstract

This chapter explains the myriad reasons why so many members of the NAACP and other anti-lynching communities failed to muster enough support to pass U.S. federal anti-lynching legislation before World War II. During this period, all sorts of “states’ rights” arguments were used to critique the efforts of organizations like the NAACP and the International Labor Defense (ILD) during the Jim Crow years.