Civil Rights Leaders Fight For Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge To Be Renamed

After the unfortunate collapse of a bridge in Baltimore, civil rights groups are considering changing its name.

According to NBC News, civil rights groups voted unanimously last Wednesday to petition the Maryland state government to rename the Francis Scott Key Bridge because Key, who is the author of The Star-Spangled Banner, was a slave owner. The bridge was destroyed by a cargo ship last month.

The Caucus of African American Leaders, which includes members of the NAACP and the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, among others, is trying to get Wes Moore, a Democrat, as well as the General Assembly, to change the bridge’s name, especially since Key was a controversial and many times contradictory figure in the anti-slavery movement. The groups suggested that the bridge be renamed after Rep. Parren J. Mitchell, who was the first Black Marylander to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1970.

“He spent a life, his entire life, creating a bridge between the African American community and literally the larger society,” Carl O. Snowden, the convener for the Caucus of African American Leaders, said. Mitchell died in 2007.

On the Eastern end of Baltimore, the bridge collapsed back on March 26 following a cargo containment ship crashing into it. In talks about plans to rebuild the bridge are federal and state leaders. Officials had over 11 million plans to rebuild the bridge, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority.

Additionally, the caucus recommends the Sen. Frederick Makus Memorial Bridge be renamed after Gloria Richardson, who was the first woman in the US to lead a grassroots civil rights organization outside of the Deep South.

Also, the caucus is urging the governor as well as the state government to create a memorial for the six Latino workers who were killed when the bridge collapsed.

Back in 1987, Governor Harty R Hughes, a Democrat, was opposed to naming the bridge after Malkus, who was known for being resistant to desegregation efforts. Unfortunately, his dissent was overruled by the Legislature.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge was developed in 1977 and it overlooks the Patapsco River, which is the same river where Key wrote The Star-Spangled Banner following witnessing the British being defeated at the Battle of Baltimore in 1814.

Photo Credit: DepositPhotos.com