Connect with us

Northeast

African American groups call for ditching 'racist' Francis Scott Key, naming new bridge after late congressman

Published

on

African American groups call for ditching 'racist' Francis Scott Key, naming new bridge after late congressman

A coalition of African American groups in Maryland is pushing for Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge to be renamed once reconstructed over what they say is racism connected to Key’s legacy. 

The Caucus of African American Leaders of Anne Arundel County recently voted unanimously to call for changing the names of two bridges in Maryland, including the Key Bridge, and will lobby Democratic Gov. Wes Moore and the state’s Democrat-controlled General Assembly on the proposal, the Baltimore Banner first reported Tuesday. The bridge collapsed in late March when a cargo ship struck a support beam. 

The coalition includes groups such as an NAACP chapter and the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, which wants the replacement bridge to be renamed in honor of the late Rep. Parren Mitchell, the first African American elected to the U.S. House from the state of Maryland. Mitchell was also a civil rights pioneer as the first Black graduate student admitted to the University of Maryland.

MARYLAND GOVERNOR TO DISCUSS REBUILDING COLLAPSED BALTIMORE BRIDGE WITH CONGRESS

A coalition of African American groups is pushing Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on changing the name of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. (Getty Images)

Advertisement

When asked about the proposal, Moore told Fox News Digital that he remains “laser-focused on providing closure to these families, clearing the channel, and rebuilding the bridge.”

However, the Baltimore Banner said that Moore told reporters on Monday that he thinks there will “be a time for that” conservation later.

A spokesperson for the Caucus of African American Leaders told Fox News Digital they believe “public structures and buildings that taxpayers pay for shouldn’t be named in honor of people who owned slaves.”

Their issue with the bridge keeping its name after Key, the author of the national anthem, stems from his “legacy” being clouded with “accusations of racism,” the Baltimore Banner wrote.

The Banner noted that Key, an attorney by profession, purchased enslaved people but also represented some Black Marylanders in court who sued for their freedom.

Advertisement

MARYLAND’S RISING STAR DEM GOVERNOR FACES FIRST NATIONAL TEST AFTER BALTIMORE BRIDGE COLLAPSE

An Oil on Panel portrait of Francis Scott Key (fragment). Attributed to Joseph Wood (1778-1830). Collection of the Walters Art Museum. (Public Domain)

They also quote Key as having said Black Americans are “a distinct and inferior race of people, which all experience proves to be the greatest evil that afflicts a community,” which has received pushback as an “erroneous” quote from the Star Spangled Banner Foundation. 

“A racist quote attributed to Francis Scott Key, the author of the lyrics to ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,’ has been circulating in news articles and blog posts,” the foundation wrote in 2020. “Incorrectly credited to Key as a first-person expression of his attitudes about race in the United States, the quote asserts that free Blacks are “a distinct and inferior race of people, which all experience proves to be the greatest evil that afflicts a community.”

“The quote is taken from page 40 of Jefferson Morley’s generally insightful 2012 book Snow-Storm in August: Washington City, Francis Scott Key, and the Forgotten Race Riot of 1835),” the foundation continued. “Morley, in turn, cites as his sole source a quote in the 1937 biography Francis Scott Key: Life and Times by Edward S. Delaplaine. This biography is the source of confusion as to the quote’s speaker.”

Advertisement

A section of the damaged and collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge is seen in the Baltimore port, Monday, April 1, 2024. (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner via AP)

Conservatives on social media previously speculated about a possible push to rename the Key Bridge once it is eventually rebuilt, due to past efforts to “cancel” the famed attorney and poet and a news article hinting at his “controversial” past.

“Baltimore obviously won’t rename the new bridge after Francis Scott Key again,” GOP Rep. Mike Collins posted on X responding to the bridge collapsing.

“So, any guesses on the new bridge name?”

WASHINGTON POST HITS ‘CONTROVERSIAL POET’ FRANCIS SCOTT KEY AFTER NAMESAKE BALTIMORE BRIDGE COLLAPSES

Advertisement

“What do you bet, that when the Francis Scott Key Bridge is rebuilt, there will be a major push to rename the bridge?” Texas Public Policy Foundation Chief National Initiatives Officer Chuck DeVore posted on X.

Others on social media also previously pointed to an article from The Associated Press suggesting that it was the beginning of an attempt to frame the conversation around Key’s past.

The campaigns of Rep. David Trone and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, Democrats seeking the party nomination for U.S. Senate, did not respond to a request for comment on the proposal by the time of publication. 

Republican Maryland Senate candidate Larry Hogan’s campaign likewise did not provide a comment on the proposal. 

Advertisement

Democratic Rep. Kweisi Mfume, a former NAACP president whose U.S. House district includes the Key Bridge, also did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication. 



Read the full article from Here

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Maine

Wife of Colombian father killed by ICE in Maine says they had planned to grow old together

Published

on

Wife of Colombian father killed by ICE in Maine says they had planned to grow old together


“Do we accept the idea that innocent, loving partners and loving and devoted fathers of 3-year-olds can be collateral damage to this government’s policies? Do we agree that this is just an acceptable cost of doing business?” Gideon said. “We truly believe that people need to understand what the real costs are.”

“I want to be clear about something. Johan Sebastián, before he was shot to death, had been accused of committing no crime. He was in this country lawfully, and he was following a lawful process that’s prescribed by our federal government,” the attorney said, adding that Durán had been issued a work permit and a Social Security number under the Trump administration.

ICE has said it was conducting “targeted surveillance on the last known address of an illegal alien with a final order of removal” around 7 a.m. Monday, an agency spokesperson said.

“The vehicle attempted to flee the scene and fearing for public safety an officer discharged his weapon,” the ICE spokesperson said.

Advertisement

Durán, who was born and raised in Bucaramanga, Colombia, had come to the U.S. in 2023 to seek better opportunities for him and his family, relatives said.

A spokesperson with the Department of Homeland Security told NBC News in an email that Durán “illegally entered the United States” through the southern border nearly three years ago “and was released into the country under the Biden Administration.”

Entering the U.S. without proper authorization is a misdemeanor, but living in the country without legal permission is a civil violation and not a criminal offense.

At work, and everywhere he went, Durán carried an infectious joy, Rojas said.

As a father, he was devoted. Aside from working cleaning and delivery jobs to provide for his family, he took their daughter, Dulce — or “gordita” (chubby) as he lovingly called her — to the park every afternoon, Rojas said.

Advertisement

Durán always indulged his little girl whenever she had a craving for nuggets and fries, Rojas said, adding he would often marvel in tears every time he realized his daughter “was getting bigger.”

Rojas recalled a conversation she had with Durán a few months ago, wondering who their little girl would grow up to be. Durán said he would have a hard time sending off his daughter to school for the first time, she said.

Dulce now asks for her father every night, Rojas said, breaking down in tears. “And I don’t have the strength to tell her that dad isn’t coming, that she can’t give him a hug and tell him ‘I love you.’”

Gideon said that “there will come a time when those responsible for Johan Sebastián’s needless death will have to answer for what they did. But today is not that day. … Today is about Johan Sebastián and who he was as a person.”



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Massachusetts

Springfield attorney named to 2026 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list

Published

on

Springfield attorney named to 2026 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list


SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Springfield bankruptcy attorney Andrea M. O’Connor has been named to the 2026 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list.

According to the firm, Andrea M. O’Connor of Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C., has been named to the 2026 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list in the Bankruptcy: Consumer practice area, marking the fourth consecutive year she has received the recognition.

O’Connor’s practice draws on experience representing both debtors and creditors, serving as a Chapter 7 trustee and clerking for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts. The firm said she develops legal strategies tailored to her clients’ individual needs and goals.

Andrea M. O’Connor (Courtesy of Market Mentors)

O’Connor graduated magna cum laude from Western New England University School of Law, where she served as editor-in-chief of the Western New England Law Review. She is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts and Connecticut, as well as before the U.S. District Courts for Massachusetts and Connecticut, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Advertisement

Beyond her legal practice, O’Connor serves as chair of the Bankruptcy Section of the Hampden County Bar Association and is co-chair of both the Western Massachusetts Bankruptcy Conference and the MCLE Bankruptcy Conference. She also serves on committees for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts.

Before earning placement on the Massachusetts Super Lawyers list from 2023 through 2026, O’Connor was recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star each year from 2019 through 2022.

Super Lawyers is a peer-reviewed attorney rating service that recognizes lawyers in more than 70 practice areas. The organization says its selection process includes attorney nominations, independent research and peer evaluations.

Local News Headlines

Advertisement