A Republican-backed invoice seeks to rename a part of a Tennessee avenue devoted to Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), the late civil rights chief, so as to “honor” former President Donald Trump.
The invoice, sponsored by Tennessee state Rep. Paul Sherrell (R) and state Sen. Frank Niceley (R), would rename a portion of Nashville’s Fifth Avenue that had been named after Lewis. The part is between James Robertson Parkway and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
The laws, which requires the stretch to be referred to as President Donald Trump Boulevard, comes lower than three years after Trump insisted that he hardly knew who Lewis was and that he couldn’t say “one way or the other” if he discovered him spectacular.
Lewis’ lunch counter sit-ins occurred alongside Fifth Avenue throughout the civil rights motion, The Tennessean noted, and Nashville’s Metro Council renamed a part of the road to acknowledge him following his demise in 2020.
The change might give Tennessee’s state legislative workplace constructing a President Donald Trump Boulevard handle, in accordance with the newspaper.
Metro Council member Zulfat Suara (D), a mom and group organizer, questioned what her state has turn out to be in a tweet concerning the invoice on Thursday.
“This isn’t tips on how to govern. That is ridiculous. We’re going to combat this. #GoodTrouble,” wrote Suara, quoting Lewis’ well-known phrases on activism, and he or she noted the “cruel” timing of the invoice as Black Historical past Month begins.
Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones (D) additionally criticized the proposed renaming and wrote on Twitter that the invoice was “about greater than a avenue identify.”
“It’s yet one more white supremacist assault on Black historical past,” Jones wrote.
“It’s spitting on the grave of our ancestor. It’s memorializing hate. Finest consider, we’ll combat again.”
The invoice might additionally take away streets from the checklist of issues that may be protected as “memorials” below Tennessee regulation, according to WKRN-TV.
lawyerroll has reached out to Sherrell and Niceley for remark.