A case to leave the name Edmond Pettus Bridge.

[Stinky The Clown]

There is talk of renaming the bridge something fitting to commemorate the immortality of the events that took place there 50 years ago. I have felt the only correct thing to do is to rename it the John Lewis Bridge. Tonight, on his MSNBC show, Lawrence O'Donnell put forth the same idea.

But consider.

The bridge's name remains unchanged, even as the events of fifty years ago have grown in importance to near mythic proportions. The citizens of Alabama could change the name pretty much whenever their local powers that be decide to do so. But they haven't.

Edmond Pettus was a slave owner. He was a Civil War Confederate General. He was Grand Dragon of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan.

It seems to me a fitting monument to all forms of racism, including its most contemporary manifestations, to allow the bridge to keep its name until those who can, with the stoke of a pen, change it decide to do exactly that.

I am down on (not with) Dumbfuckistan of late. The fact that the bridge's name remains unchanged is just one more manifestation of the will of its finest citizenry. Let the will of the Dumbfuckistanians have the bright lights shone upon it. Let the monument stand.

[Hoyt]

1. I think I agree. Alabamians should have changed the name long ago.

They chose to let it stand. Until the yahoos come to their senses and prove they are sorry, the world should see them as they are, not as we think they should be. The South's story is very ugly.

[Chipper Chat]

2. Keep the name for historical purposes.

I remember President Johnson renamed Cape Canaveral "Cape Kennedy" following his assassination. The locals didn't like it because JFK had no historical connection with the town or the space center. It was finally changed back to Cape Canaveral several years later.

[DreamGypsy]

3. Leave the Edmond Pettus bridge standing ...

... just tear out the roadway/walkway.

Route U.S. 80 across a newly built, adjacent, Path to Equality bridge.

Let those who have doubts about which path to choose go where they will. Losing a few adamant KuKluxers every year in the Alabama River might not be such a bad thing.

[Hekate]

4. You have a very good point. Let it stand as it was. nt

[MADem]

5. I say rename it the John Lewis-Edmond Pettus bridge.

Put up a plaque with a short bio of each man, leaving out no unsavory details about the latter's history and attitudes, and a brief description of what happened on that site fifty years ago.

That way, you preserve the history in all its rich fullness.

[mfcorey1]

6. Let it stand because too many times our children do not question what they

do not see and often cannot relate to historical events. Some reminders of the violent past do need to be destroyed. However, let them ask the question, Who is Edmond Petttis, and generate a teaching moment. Know that each year during a period of remembrance, the vile actions on that bridge will always be woven into the fabrics of discussions and calls for action for years to come. Reminders of the holocaust still exist today and it is too is a reminder to the Jewish people, Never Again.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

7. i think the citizens of Dallas County and Selma proper

have the matter well in hand. The demographics of the county put Dallas at nearly 70% AA and Selma is over 80% AA. If they felt the name change were proper it could easily be passed. I have not spoken to anyone from there in a long while, but it would seem that they have every intention of letting that name stand... perhaps as a memorial... sometimes you leave horrible things be, not because you're a citizen of Dumbfuckistan (I am sure those who live in Selma appreciate your choice of applied moniker), but because you want the pain to be remembered... not forgotten... not repeated.

sP