Photos of the peaceable demonstrators, together with Lewis, being overwhelmed by police circulated broadly within the days and weeks following the
Photos of the peaceable demonstrators, together with Lewis, being overwhelmed by police circulated broadly within the days and weeks following the occasions and nonetheless resonate at the moment.
Lewis, who later served greater than three many years within the Home, had returned to the bridge yearly to reenact the march with fellow lawmakers and group leaders.
The decision from Clyburn, the Home majority whip and senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus, provides momentum to long-standing efforts to rename the bridge. Pettus, its namesake, was a Accomplice brigadier basic and U.S. senator earlier than changing into the grand dragon of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan.
The renewed push comes as the talk over monuments to the Confederacy amplifies within the wake of nationwide protests towards systemic racism and police brutality.
“I believe they may take a pleasant image of that bridge with Pettus’ title on it, put it in a museum someplace, dedicate it to the Confederacy, after which rename that bridge, and repaint it — redecorate it — the John R. Lewis Bridge,” Clyburn added. “I imagine that may give the individuals of Selma one thing to rally round.”