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Civil Rights Groups Push To Rename Baltimore Bridge Due To Slavery Ties

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Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapses After Being Struck By Cargo Ship
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – MARCH 26: In an aerial view, the cargo ship Dali sits in the water after running into and collapsing the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, 2024 in Baltimore, Maryland. According to reports, rescuers are still searching for multiple people, while two survivors have been pulled from the Patapsco River. A work crew was fixing potholes on the bridge, which is used by roughly 30,000 people each day, when the ship struck at around 1:30am on Tuesday morning. The accident has temporarily closed the Port of Baltimore, one of the largest and busiest on the East Coast of the U.S. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Civil rights groups are urging political leaders to rename Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge following its collapse last month.

According to NBC News, the caucus of African American Leaders, whose members include various civil rights groups like the NAACP and National Coalition of 100 Black Women, voted last week to petition the Maryland state government to reconsider the name of the Baltimore bridge.

The group said the bridge should not be named after the writer of the national anthem, who was a slave holder and who the group said was against abolition.

Key wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner” while he was a prisoner aboard a British ship in the Port of Baltimore during the War of 1812, according to WTOP.

He grew up on a slaveholding plantation in Maryland and owned at least six enslaved individuals himself. He did free several of them eventually.

His relationship with the slavery is complicated. He opposed the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and as an attorney, he defended enslaved people seeking their freedom. But he also represented slaveholders hoping to regain their runaway “property.”

“Of course the naysayers will not be happy and we anticipate opposition,”

The Caucus of African American Leaders of Anne Arundel County is urging that the bridge should be named after late Congressman Parren J. Mitchell — the first black man from Maryland elected to the US House of Representatives.

“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, told NBC News.

“Of course the naysayers will not be happy and we anticipate opposition,” Snowden added.

The recommendation is set to be shared with Governor Wes Moore (D) this month. The caucus is also seeking a memorial for the six Latino workers who were killed on March 26 when a cargo containment ship crashed into the bridge.

“Every single public structure that is built to honor someone is being done using all taxpayers’ money,” Snowden said. “Whoever the bridge is named after should be somebody that all taxpayers can respect.”