U.S. President Joe Biden has signed a bill into law that makes lynching a federal hate crime in the country. Civil rights groups have pushed for the measure to be passed for more than a century.

The legislation has been named after Emmett Till, who is a 14-year-old brutally murdered in a racist attack in Mississippi in 1955, according to an Aljazeera News report.

The incident has captured the attention of the nation due to the violence that African Americans faced, prompting the U.S. civil rights movement.

Biden said on Tuesday after signing the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act that no federal law has overtly prohibited lynching until today.

The president also recalled a deadly 2017 protest by white nationalists in Virginia. He said that racial hate is not an "old problem," adding that it is a "persistent problem."

The U.S. continues to confront systemic racism in the light of the Black Lives Matter protests that shook the nation in 2020 after the police killed George Floyd in Minneapolis.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said during the signing ceremony that victims of lynching were targeted as "they were working to build a better America."

Harris said that those killed were business owners, creating economic opportunities in their community.

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Lynching a Federal Hate Crime

Biden noted that making lynching a federal hate crime is not about the past, rather it is about the present and future, as well, according to The Hill News report.

Biden also cited Ahmaud Arbery's case, as well as mobs carrying torches out of the fields of Charlottesville a few years ago.

The president was joined by civil rights leaders and members of Congress, including Rep. Bobby Rush, who authored the bill in the House.

Harris said that lynching is "not a relic of the past." She added that racial acts of terror are still happening in the United States.

Biden and Harris praised Sens. Cory Booker and Tim Scott, the sole two Black Senators, for their efforts in getting the bill passed.

Sen. Rand Paul objected to clearing it by unanimous consent in the Senate when the House previously passed the measure in 2020.

This year, the bill passed the Senate by unanimous consent, which means that every senator signed off on it moving forward.

Hate Crime in The U.S.

Hate crimes in the U.S. have increased to the highest level in 12 years, which was triggered largely by a jump in assaults on Black and Asian Americans based on a Federal Bureau of Investigation's report.

The FBI received 2020 data identifying 7,759 hate crimes, which is a six percent increase in 2019 and the highest number since 2008, according to The Guardian news report.

Anti-Black assaults rose from 1,930 to 2,755, which is a 40 percent increase. Meanwhile, Anti-Asian assaults jumped from 158 to 274, a 70 percent spike.

U.S. attorney general, Merrick Garland, said preventing and responding to hate crimes and hate incidents is one of the Department of Justice's highest priorities.

Garland added that most hate crimes were initiated through motivations by race, ethnicity, ancestry, and gender identity.

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Biden signs Emmett Till bill making lynching a federal hate crime - from ABC News