Tag Archive for Edmund Pettus

What’s in a (Bridge’s) Name?

Here’s an irony: That symbol of civil rights advancement, the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama–it’s named after a man who was not only in the KKK but Alabama’s Grand Master and an infamous racist.  His side may have lost the Civil War, but he kept up his hatred of any kind of freedom or rights for Blacks.

I wonder: is the name of the bridge an irony or a useful reminder?