Effort to Rename Historic Bridge Talk of the Town in Selma
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From the West Alabama Newsroom– A resolution approved by the Alabama senate to rename Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge — has people in the historic city speaking out.
The Edmund Pettus Bridge has become an iconic civil rights symbol since marchers were beaten during the voting rights movement of 1965.
Pettus was a U-S senator, a Confederate general — and a grand dragon of the KKK. Lawmakers want to rename the bridge the Journey to Freedom Bridge.
“I think it would be a nice change,” said Leslie Lynch of Stewart, Florida.
But while some say a name change is needed, others say you can’t re-write history.
“It would be a shame to change the name. The real history here is not Edmund Pettus’ history, its the civil rights history,” said Trent Cox.
Alabama Tourism officials say changing the bridge’s name could threaten its status as a national historic landmark.
