Politics
Civil Rights Landmark Bridge is Named for Reputed KKK Leader
JAY REEVES, Associated Press
ALLEN G. BREED, Associated Press
SELMA, Ala. (AP) — When the nation’s first black president steps onto the Edmund Pettus Bridge to honor the marchers beaten there 50 years ago, he’ll be standing on a structure that’s at once synonymous with the civil rights struggle and a tribute to a reputed Ku Klux Klan leader.
The latter fact had all but faded from local memory until recently, when a Selma student group launched an online petition to rename the landmark bridge.
During his 50th anniversary address Saturday, President Barack Obama will be flanked on one side by a new historic marker commemorating “Bloody Sunday,” when white police beat demonstrators marching for black voting rights on March 7, 1965. The sign, erected earlier this year by the state tourism department, notes Obama’s 2007 appearance there just before his election and the accolades for “Selma,” the recent film about the march.
It offers no details about Edmund Winston Pettus, a Confederate general and U.S. senator who lived in Selma after the Civil War. The Encyclopedia of Alabama, an online database sponsored by the University of Alabama, Auburn University and the Alabama Department of Education, says Pettus held the title of grand dragon of the Alabama Klan in 1877 — an assertion that’s questioned by some historians.
Just beyond the other end of the bridge, a billboard erected recently bears a heroic image of another Confederate general, Klan founder Nathan Bedford Forrest. The ad, sponsored by a group dedicated to honoring Forrest, invites visitors to see Selma’s “War Between the States” historic sites; next month is the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Selma, in which Forrest fought.
As the “Bloody Sunday” anniversary approaches, a student group in Selma is petitioning to rename the bridge, whose twin metal arches soar above the murky Alabama River. The online petition, addressed to Selma Mayor George Patrick Evans and to the National Parks Service, has been up for about two weeks. It does not propose a new name for the bridge.
John Gainey, executive director of Students UNITE, a racially integrated youth group that began the petition, said having a white supremacist’s name attached to the city’s most visible landmark illustrates the city’s deep racial divisions a half-century after the marchers were beaten at the bridge.
Just as in the 1960s, Gainey said, Selma is split by race. Blacks attend public schools, most whites go to private academies and many blacks still live in run-down shanties while whites occupy nice homes with manicured lawns, he said. Yet the town of nearly 20,000 people is about 80 percent black.
“We think it really does represent something larger,” said Gainey.
The Rev. Joseph Lowery, a veteran civil rights leader, agrees the bridge’s name should be changed to quit honoring someone with alleged Klan ties.
“They’re responsible for too much death and misery. We don’t need to honor them,” said Lowery, a lieutenant of Martin Luther King Jr. who participated in the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery march. “I’m with the kids. Let’s change it.”
However, Selma historian Alston Fitts doubts Pettus had anything to do with the KKK. Although the city was a hub of racial animus in the 1960s, Selma was known as a “safe place” for blacks aligned with liberal Republicans after the Civil War during Reconstruction partly because of a lack of Klan activity, he said.
“He was a pretty lousy Klan leader if that’s what he was,” said Fitts.
Pettus’ views on race were widely known during Reconstruction. In July 1871, when Pettus testified before a congressional committee investigating the Klan, he made it clear he believed whites, not blacks, were the victims in the post-Civil War South.
Pettus asserted that any campaign of intimidation was being waged by Republicans and “carpet-baggers” seeking to incite blacks to commit “acts of aggression on their part against the white people,” according to congressional archives.
Michael Fitzgerald, a professor of history at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, is researching a book on Reconstruction-era Alabama. He said he hasn’t found “persuasive evidence” that Pettus was a Klan officer or even member, but he said Pettus was “almost certainly” involved with the White League, a later terrorist organization.
“He is a Confederate general, he is a Democratic leader when white supremacy is their slogan — is what they exist to do,” he said. “What I would say is Edmund Pettus is definitely a strong white supremacist.”
An attorney who entered the Confederate army as a major in 1861 and rose to the rank of brigadier general by 1863, Pettus was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1897 after Reconstruction and served until his death in 1907 at age 86.
Pettus’ legacy was still well known in Selma when the bridge was constructed just east of downtown in 1940, so the span was named for a man revered locally as a tenacious Southern leader. With Jim Crow laws still in effect, blacks had virtually no say in the decision.
And until now, there has never been a serious effort to rename it.
___
Breed, an AP national writer, contributed to this report from Raleigh, North Carolina.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of December 18 – 24, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 18 – 24, 2024
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Activism
‘Donald Trump Is Not a God:’ Rep. Bennie Thompson Blasts Trump’s Call to Jail Him
“Donald Trump is not a god,” U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told The Grio during a recent interview, reacting to Trump’s unsupported claims that the congressman, along with other committee members like vice chair and former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, destroyed evidence throughout the investigation.
By Post Staff
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said he not intimidated by President-elect Donald Trump, who, during an interview on “Meet the Press,” called for the congressman to be jailed for his role as chairman of the special congressional committee investigating Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“Donald Trump is not a god,” Thompson told The Grio during a recent interview, reacting to Trump’s unsupported claims that the congressman, along with other committee members like vice chair and former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, destroyed evidence throughout the investigation.
“He can’t prove it, nor has there been any other proof offered, which tells me that he really doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” said the 76-year-old lawmaker, who maintained that he and the bipartisan Jan. 6 Select Committee – which referred Trump for criminal prosecution – were exercising their constitutional and legislative duties.
“When someone disagrees with you, that doesn’t make it illegal; that doesn’t even make it wrong,” Thompson said, “The greatness of this country is that everyone can have their own opinion about any subject, and so for an incoming president who disagrees with the work of Congress to say ‘because I disagree, I want them jailed,’ is absolutely unbelievable.”
When asked by The Grio if he is concerned about his physical safety amid continued public ridicule from Trump, whose supporters have already proven to be violent, Thompson said, “I think every member of Congress here has to have some degree of concern, because you just never know.”
This story is based on a report from The Grio.
Activism
City of Oakland Celebrates Reopening of Main Library
“Libraries are such critical facilities for all Oaklanders, whether it’s children coming to story-time, adults reading the newspapers or borrowing the latest novels, and people engaging with a range of services and programs that the library hosts,” said Council President and District 2 Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas. “Such library services and programs are only possible when the facility’s electricity, heating, roof, and lighting are fixed and running efficiently. I’m proud to join this re-opening of our Main Public Library.”
The branch had been closed since May for critical infrastructure upgrades
Special to the Post
The City of Oakland leadership and community partners gathered to celebrate the reopening of the Main Library after completion of critical infrastructure upgrades to enhance the library’s facilities and provide a better experience for patrons.
Renovations include new roof installation, skylight repair, critical electrical system upgrades, new boiler control system installation, auditorium heating and cooling system installation, and improvements to lighting, flooring and ceilings throughout the building.
“This is truly something to celebrate, the reopening of our wonderful Main Library! I congratulate the staff and our partners for this important project to make the Main Library a more comfortable place for everyone for years to come, said Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao. “Thank you to Oakland voters and the California State Library for making these crucial improvements possible.”
“Libraries are such critical facilities for all Oaklanders, whether it’s children coming to story-time, adults reading the newspapers or borrowing the latest novels, and people engaging with a range of services and programs that the library hosts,” said Council President and District 2 Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas. “Such library services and programs are only possible when the facility’s electricity, heating, roof, and lighting are fixed and running efficiently. I’m proud to join this re-opening of our Main Public Library.”
“Public libraries are a wonderful resource for our residents, offering a safe space for learning and being,” said District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife. “It is critical to improve and modernize our libraries so more members of our community can utilize and enjoy them. I’m excited that the necessary renovations to the Main Library have been completed successfully and thank everyone involved, particularly the City team, who helped secured the necessary grant funds for this work.”
“I am proud of the City staff and project partners who kept this important project on schedule and under budget,” said Assistant City Administrator G. Harold Duffey. “The library is an incredibly important resource for our community members, and this project is an investment into the library’s future.”
“December 2nd was a momentous occasion for Oakland Public Library as we proudly reopened the doors of the Main Library following extensive infrastructure repairs,” said Director of Library Services Jamie Turbak. “Closing the Main Library for six months was no easy decision, as it serves as the central hub for our library system and is truly the heart of Oakland. Yet, this renovation was essential, representing more than just physical upgrades—it reflects our ongoing commitment to creating a safe, welcoming space for everyone.”
The City Administrator Jestin Johnson also attended the press conference and signalled his support for the completion of the record-setting completion of the renovations. Gay Plair Cobb, a newly appointed Library Commissioner said the Library represents the soul and brains of our community.
The Oakland Public Library secured funding for these crititcal repairs through a variety of sources. The California State Library’s Building Forward Library Facilities Improvement Program awarded the Main Branch $4.2 million. To comply with the grant terms, the City of Oakland provided matching funds through Measures KK, as approved by the Oakland City Council in October 2023.
The Main Library will host an Open House to celebrate the reopening on February 22, 2025, 10 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
About the Oakland Public Library
The Oakland Public Library is a part of the City of Oakland in California and has been in existence since 1878. Locations include 16 neighborhood branches, a Main Library, a Second Start Adult Literacy Program, the Oakland Tool Lending Library, and the African American Museum and Library at Oakland (AAMLO). The Oakland Public Library empowers all people to explore, connect, and grow. Oaklandlibrary.org
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