In Selma, whose population is 82% Black, renaming the Edmund Pettus Bridge has long been a divisive idea.
Lynda Lowery was just 14 when she was one of hundreds of civil rights marchers beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965,. She got seven stitches over her right eye, and 28 on the back of her head.
Lewis’ death brought new attention to efforts to rename the Selma bridge that was the stage for a terrifying turning point in the civil rights movement. But leaders of those efforts have stressed that any decision to rename the Edmund Pettus Bridge, named for a Confederate general, need to be left to the people of Selma.
From a strict legal standpoint, renaming the bridge would be difficult. In 2017, the Alabama Legislature passed the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act, which makes it all but impossible for local governments to rename, alter or remove monuments or memorial structures 40 years old or older. The Legislature would have to repeal the law or pass a separate bill addressing the name of the bridge.
Selma commemorates Bloody Sunday every year with an event known as the Bridge Crossing Jubilee. Lewis regularly led bipartisan congressional delegations to the event. Lowery said the terror she and so many others faced on the bridge that day gives them a deep connection to it. “I just want to reiterate I can’t think of a better name than that of John Lewis,” she said. “But that’s a community discussion, not something to be decided by me.”
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