Paul McCartney calls for Pettus Bridge to be renamed after late civil rights activist John Lewis

The bridge is currently named after a former Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan member

Paul McCartney has called for the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, to be renamed in honour of the late civil rights activist and US Congressman John Lewis.

Lewis died at the age of 80 on Friday (July 17) from pancreatic cancer. He was the last survivor of the ‘Big Six’ civil rights activists, a group led by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

In March 1965 the bridge was the site of a major flashpoint in the civil rights movement. During marches from Selma to Montgomery to protest the lack of voting rights for African Americans, peaceful protesters including Lewis and King were attacked by armed police while crossing the bridge in an incident that later became known as Bloody Sunday.

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The bridge is currently named after Edmund Winston Pettus, a former senator, Confederate brigadier general and head of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan, and there have been longstanding campaigns for it to be renamed. An attempt in 2010 to remove Pettus’ name was unsuccessful.

Following Lewis’ death, many called for the Pettus bridge to be renamed in his honour, with McCartney lending his support to the campaign.

“Sad to hear the news that civil rights legend John Lewis died yesterday,” McCartney tweeted on Saturday. “He was such a great leader who fought with honesty and bravery for civil rights in America. Long may his memory remain in our hearts.

“How about renaming the famous Pettus Bridge that he and Martin Luther King Jr. and others walked across in the 60s for the civil rights movement and rename it the John Lewis Bridge?!!!”

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McCartney was not the only musician to pay tribute to Lewis following news of his death, with the likes of Katy Perry and Ice Cube also posting statements.

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