Edmund Pettus Bridge

 

The Edmund Pettus Bridge was the setting of a series of marches for rights by Black Americans. The most famous being the one led by John Lewis. This was a march that was to stop the issues that arose with Black people voting. Things like literacy test stood in the way of these Americans using their voices to vote.

 

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a bare minimum of laws. African Americans were faced with many disparities in their lives. They grew tired and only wanted equality. John Lewis was inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. He wanted to lead protesters over the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Martin even agreed that on the second day he would lead a protest.

 

Alabama was heavily involved in Jim Crow laws. They had many laws that blocked these people from voting. With more than half the population being Black, the people of this state were fed up with the racism they endured every day. The bridge was named after a Grand Wizard of the KKK. Making this a perfect scene to show their issues with racism.

 

John Lewis led 600 protestors to this bridge. When arriving at the bridge they were met with law enforcement. The law enforcement urged these peaceful protestors to turn around. They stood strong and were then attacked. They were beaten and tear gassed. 60 protestors left that protest injured. John Lewis suffered from a fractured skull. He says that on that day he thought he was going to die. The big difference from this protest than others is that this one was televised. People from all over had saw that bloody day. This caused more of an outrage, and it earned the name “Bloody Sunday”.

 

Day two there was another protest that was led by Martin Luther King Jr. This held about twice as many people in this protest. They repeated the same course of action, but once they ended up at the bridge they stopped and prayed. They prayed for better days and peace among the people regardless of skin color. After they finished, they turned around and went right back to Selma. This day was the named “Turnaround Tuesday”.

 

The third march had the same course of action. Now this march had grown by the thousands. Led by Brown Chapel AME Church. Everything was working out peaceful until Viola Liuzzo was kidnapped and killed by the KKK.

 

These three marches shaped the decision to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965. These three marches had grown big in support and started to add pressure to the government. People from all over are seeing these peaceful protests turn violent in matter of seconds.  With the growth of television, it was now easier to spread information and gain support.

 

Today this bridge is a landmark for the Civil Rights Movement. Now there are issues arising in the name of the bridge. Since it is named after a Grand Wizard activist do not believe it is appropriate to keep the name. There is a movement that has grown in support to change the name to the name that started it all, John Lewis.

Sign this petition to change the name: https://johnlewisbridge.com/

Sources:

https://www.history.com/news/selma-bloody-sunday-attack-civil-rights-movement

https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/vote/selma-marches

https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/mar/7

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/07/26/john-lewis-bloody-sunday-edmund-pettus-bridge/