James Byrd Jr. was an African American man who became a victim of a racially motivated hate crime in 1998. He was brutally murdered in Jasper, Texas, when three white men attacked him, dragging him behind a pickup truck for several miles. This horrific act highlighted the ongoing issues of racism and violence in the United States. The case garnered national attention and led to significant changes in hate crime legislation. In 2009, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was signed into law, expanding federal hate crime laws to include those motivated by sexual orientation and disability, in addition to race and ethnicity.